TARGET: RAILWAY STATION
BERLIN, GERMANY
24 MAY, 1944
Mission No. 50 for the 457th, represented the thirteenth take off for Berlin and the tenth time over the city. Again the target for the eighteen crews assigned to fly the mission was the Friedrichsirasse Railway Station. The Group led the 94th Combat Wing with Lt. Col. Henry B. Wilson serving as Air Commander and Lt. Russell M. Selwyn as pilot.
The primary target was attacked with poor results. There was no fighter opposition. Flak was intense and accurate. Fourteen aircraft suffered damage. The aircraft piloted by Lt. Harry Stafford did not return from the mission. The craft ditched in the North Sea and the crew was later picked up by the Air/Sea Rescue in the afternoon of the second day, amid big swells that began to rise in the North Sea.