February 20, 1944

1944: 1st Lt William R. Lawley Jr. of the U.S. Army Air Corps, 364th Bomber Squadron, 305th Bomber Group managed to save some of his crew members that were not able to bail after coming off target with his B-17 and being attacked by 20 enemy fighters over Europe. His plane had been severely crippled, and he was seriously wounded but he refused to bail and successfully crash landed at a small fighter base with his remaining crew.