The target for the 8th Air Force was synthetic oil plants in Germany. The 457th was assigned to bomb industrial targets in the city of Gelsenkirchen. The group and wing assembly was accomplished without difficulty and the bomb run was in squadron formation. Contrails, haze and low fog made visual bombing impossible and bombs were dropped using G-H equipment. Bombing results were fair. Flak was moderate but accurate and one plane, s/n 44-6831, took a direct hit in the right wing. the wing broke off and the plane rolled and spun out of sight. The group landed at another field that night because of inclement weather at Glatton.

Plane s/n 44-6831, 749th Squadron, piloted by Lt Roland H. Brazier, was hit in the right wing by flak while over the target. The burst occurred near engine #3 and the right wing broke off and folded over the cockpit. The plane immediately began to roll and then went into a flat spin. It was not seen to explode and no parachutes were seen. Six members of the crew were killed and four were POW's.