S/Sgt Burgin was assigned to the 723rd Bomb Squadron in the 450th Bomb Group, based in Manduria, Italy. On March 19, 1944, he was the top turret gunner/engineer
on the Breezie Weezie, a B-24H,
serial #42-52613. His target for the day was Steyr, Austria. One US witness, a nose gunner in another B24, saw Burgin's ship leave the formation about 10 minutes before the target; when last seen,
Burgin's ship was at 10,000 feet and the #4 propeller was feathered but the B-24 still appeared under control. This witness saw no parachutes. Another witness, the top turret gunner in a different ship,
saw your grandfather's plane leave the formation at 21,000 ft. He reported, "The ship went down in a 20 percent glide with one engine feathered and losing altitude rapidly." When he law saw the plane,
it was smoking badly but it seemed under control. He also saw no parachutes leave the plane.
According to the German records, the plane impacted 200 meters west of the middle of Burgstallt near St. Margarethen on the Raab in Steiermark.
They said it was shot down by fighters. Condition of the plane: 100 percent cracked up, up to the 2 guns in the tail gun position. Tail gun position completely destroyed.
S/Sgt. Burgin and 7 others in the crew were captured by rural police at 2:10 PM.
Eight of the crew became POWs but 2 were killed. Sgt. Prescott and Sgt. Hentz were last seen in the waist or tail of the plane. Fighter attacks continued while the rest of the crew bailed out, so
they may have been killed before they could exit the plane.
There is a handwritten note in the MACR where copilot 2Lt Walter R. Keesling recommended his crew for a Distinguished Flying Cross for "flying flack shot up plane and fighting off 12 ME 109s
between Steyr to other side of Graz (20 mi. ??) before bailing out." There is nothing in the MACR that says whether the crew was awarded the DFC or not.
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