Albert Leo Natkin was born on May 11, 1925, in Bexar County, Texas. He served in the 66th Bomber Squadron, 44th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Staff Sergeant and Gunner on the B-24H 42-95095 "Sleepy Time Gal" during World War II.

Their plane took off from Prestwick at 13.50 on June 13, 1945, on a route that should have taken them by the Mull of Kintyre to Stornoway, then on to Meeks Field Iceland, to refuel before the last leg to the States. At some point during the flight, the plane was thought to have developed an engine fire in the outboard starboard engine.

The Liberator was fitted with fire extinguishers, but these did not always work, and so being 6000’ up above the Minch, Ketchum may well have put the aircraft into a steep dive to try to extinguish the fire. But Sleepy Time Gal was not above the Minch, the aircraft was 25 miles too far east, and over the high mountain area around Loch Maree. A desperate attempt to pull the aircraft out of the dive would have put enormous stress on the veteran aircraft, pieces may have broken off and struck the tail fin, rendering the aircraft uncontrollable. Sleepy Time Gal swept over Gairloch before turning fully anti-clockwise back inland, and crashing into the Fairy Lochs, on the lower slopes of Sithean Mor, taking the lives of the 15 men on board.

SSgt Natkin is now buried in the Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, http://www.scottishhills.com, www.abmc.gov