SSgt Charles Lapham Roth, radio operator of the B-17 41-24567 “Beats Me”, took off from station 107 in Molesworth, Cambridgeshire, UK on a bombing run over the submarine pens of Lorient. The plane, named from the “Beats me” shrugs of the crew when asked what they wanted the name to be, was hit over the target area by a bomb dropped from a friendly aircraft that took out the tail and killed the tail gunner. In the chaos, Roth’s oxygen mask was ripped away, but waist gunner Dobbins fetched him a new one. Flipped upside down, the pilot managed to right the plane again but then both he and his co-pilot were killed by Fw-190 fighter attacks as the formation scattered to avoid further mishaps. The plane nosed over and slowly spun down to the forest floor around 1350, but not before three crew members bailed out, including Roth. He was taken prisoner and sent to Stalag 17B in Braunau, Gneikendorf.