A/C #191 was shot down by E/A on their first pass through the formation at 1518 hours. it went down under control circling to the right. Six chutes came out as a/c went down. When last seen all props were turning and there was no smoke coming from the a/c. The crash was seen by some fishermen from Rodbyhavn and they went to the crash point and picked up Lt. Barbour, but despite intense search in the area no other survivors were found. Body of S/Sgt Hick was found at sea near Vejlo Island in Nakskov Fjord on 24/7/44 and he was buried at Sandby Cemetery. Body of Haswell & Hicks was found at sea 12 km W of Rodbyhavn on 22/7/44 They were buried in Rodby Cemetery. In 1948 S/Sgt Hick's remains were exhumed and returned to U.S.A. S/Sgt Haswell is still resting in the Rodby Cemetery.

Statement by Lynn Barbour
"At the time of the first attack fire was started by enemy action, near the forward escape hatch. I immediately tried to extinguish it. In moving from my position; in the nose of the ship to the location of the fire, my inter phone & oxygen system were disconnected, therefore I was not in communication with the other members of the crew from the time the attack started until I bailed out. As we were immediately put out of action, and the plane was out of control, there was no time to re-establish inter-phone communications. Not certain whether the crew had been notified to abandon ship, I shouted at the navigator to ascertain that fact and he did so. The plane being out of control and pilotless we had no choice but to bail out.

In your investigation as to the fate of my crew members, I suggest you contact Mr. James MacDougall, Nakskov Hospital, Nakskov, Denmark. He did, and should still be able to contact fishermen who rescued me from the Baltic Sea. I believe I was docked by these fishermen at a small town named Rodby, which is a small fishing village, believed to be East of the town of Nakskov on the Island of Lloland. I am not certain this is the correct name of the village, but this could be definitely ascertained from Mr. MacDougall, mentioned above. Mr. MacDougall could also put you in touch with a Doctor from this village who attended me at the dock. When rescued from the sea I was unable to make the fishermen understand that there were other crew in the area, due to my own mental and physical incapacity from injuries and exposure and also due to the language difficulties. None of the fishermen could speak or understand English. Upon reaching land, I was able to contact a person who spoke English. When the situation was described to him he promised to send the boats to conduct a search for the other crew members. I personally believe this was not done and also further believe that if such a search had been conducted other members of the crew would definitely have been found alive or their bodies would have been found floating with the support of their Mae West life vests.

I was a patient at Nakskov Hospital for a period of three months, and during this time, upon repeated inquiries, I never received definite confirmation other boats were sent out. All inquires were instituted through Mr. MacDongall, who is the son of Dr. MacDongall, Head of the Nakskov Hospital, Nakskov City, Island of Lloland, Denmark."

Items found on the body of Sgt Hick, which washed ashore on 24 Jul 1944 : Plain finger ring, Chain with I.D. Tag. Eight photos, Bracelet with plate engraved with Thomas E. Hicks and Caroline V. Barth, Box of pills, rubber bag and dictionary wrapped in cellophane.. Signed: Lynn H. Barbour, 1st Lt A.C. O-761287