On the same day, Germany also came under fire. More than 1,100 US planes were on their way to German ground targets, including a machine factory in Hanover and an oil refinery in Magdeburg. One of the many long-range bombers was pilot Richard Vogel's B24 Liberator, No love no nothing*.   

While the other planes turned left before Hannover, Vogel flew straight towards Magdeburg. There, the crew came under heavy anti-aircraft fire: just as their bombs fell, one of the engines was hit. With the plane empty, they could rely on the thrust of the three remaining engines. Still, they were vulnerable on their retreat as they lost speed, but fortunately two Mustangs from the Hanover group came to escort them. 

Then, something happened which nobody expected. One of the Mustangs got very close, too close. ‘The Betty Lee’ gets into the airflow of a hard-working engine, causing the Mustang to crash into the tail of Vogel's B24. As the Betty Lee went down towards Eerde, the crew of Vogel's B24 managed to bail out in two groups. The first five pilots were captured by the Germans near Vilsteren. The second group was luckier and were taken care of by the locals. 

And Vogel? With the unpleasant realisation that his loyal colleague John was trapped as tail gunner, he was the last to leave his plane just before the river Vecht. Just barely on time. On 10 April, he and his co-pilot, Leslie Sellers, would witness the liberation by the Canadians at a safe house in Lemele. 

John Lougheed, pilot of the Betty Lee, was buried in Ommen on 13 September 1944, and later reburied in America. He flew in the borrowed plane of his colleague William Kemp (pictured with his new Betty Lee – October 1944) 

*ELLA MAE MORSE ~ NO LOVE, NO NOTHIN` ~ 1943. Popular song during wartime: “no love, no sir, no nothin’, until my baby comes home” 

Text Hugo van den Ende 
Research Stefan Hendriks