Second Lieutenant Douglas Lamar Murdock was born on September 2, 1920 in Goggins, Georgia. His parents, Douglas Murdock and Willie Murdock (nee Wilson) were both from Pike County, Georgia. His father worked as a carpenter and his mother was a garment inspector at an underwear mill.

Douglas was the oldest of their three children. His brother and sister, William and Winona, were twins. He was a member of the First Baptist Church in Barnesville, Georgia. Douglas attended Gordon Military College and worked as a salesman for a short time in Atlanta before entering the Army on 21 Jan 1942 at Ft. McPherson in Atlanta, Georgia. Murdock graduated from the Army Flying School in Columbus, Mississippi on November 10, 1942 and earned a commission as a Second Lieutenant.

In World War II, Douglas served as the pilot of a B-17 Flying Fortress, a four-engine heavy bomber developed for the United States Army Air Corps. His plane, tail number 42-29952, was nicknamed “Sizzle” by the crew. It was newly manufactured during the war and delivered on March 16, 1943. He was part of the 364th Bombardment Squadron under the 305th Bomber Group in the Eighth Air Force that took part in the daylight strategic bombing campaign over Europe. His squadron operated out of RAF Chelveston, England. The unit flew long-range strategic bombardment missions on military targets, enemy cities, manufacturing centers, transportation links and other targets.

Crews flying with the Eighth Air Force had to complete tours of twenty five missions before they could rotate back to the states. Unfortunately, the average life expectancy of those serving on B-17s was only fourteen missions. The crew of the Sizzle would not beat those odds. On October 14, 1943, the Eight Air Force had a mission to impact wartime weapons production by attacking the concentration of ball bearing factories in Schweinfurt, Germany. This was the second raid against the strategic target and the first raid on August 17, 1943 had been costly, with sixty bombers lost and many more damaged. This repeat visit to Schweinfurt on October 14 would be so deadly it came to be known as “Black Thursday.”

As the B-17s flew toward Schweinfurt, a number aborted the mission for various reasons, including navigation, weather that impacted joining formations and mechanical failures. Because of these reductions only 291 of the 351 bombers planned for the mission actually got to Germany.

The bombers left England with P-47 fighter escorts, but the fighters soon reached the limits of their range and these escorts turned back just inside the German border. The Luftwaffe was apparently aware of the range limitations of the P-47s, and most of the German fighters delayed their attacks until the escort turned back. The bombers were quickly swarmed once they lost their air cover. The Luftwaffe attacked in large numbers and from all directions. The official Army Air Forces history described the Luftwaffe fighter attack as “unprecedented in its magnitude” and “in the severity with which it was executed.” It was estimated that more than 300 German fighters participated in the day’s combat at some point. The bomber formations fought a running battle alone against the Luftwaffe. The bomber crews also faced heavy flak over the target and then had to fight their way back across central Europe.

Sixty of the B-17 bombers were lost over Europe, along with 642 airmen. Another five bombers were lost near or over England; 121 of those that returned had moderate damage, and seventeen were damaged beyond repair and had to be scrapped. Outright losses represented over twenty-six percent of the attacking force. Losses in the crewmen were equally heavy, with 650 men lost of the 2,910 in the fight, and 600 of them lost over enemy territory.

The percentage of bombers lost during the second Schweinfurt attack had the dubious honor of being the highest bomber losses to date in the campaign and the costliest mission of the entire war for the Eighth Air Force. Because of the shocking losses in this raid and the previous two months, United States Army Air Corps leaders suspended strikes against targets beyond the range of fighter escort.

Unfortunately, Douglas Murdock’s plane was one of the bombers lost on the mission. At about 14:10 (London Time) the Sizzle crew heard all the guns of the bomber formation engaging. Suddenly there was a massive explosion from an air-to-air rocket that exploded between the number one and the number two engines. This explosion dazed the copilot for 30 to 45 seconds and knocked Murdock unconscious.

When the copilot regained consciousness, the bomber was so far out of formation with only two engines, the damaged plane would never catch up with its protective configuration. He took the plane down in altitude and was engulfed by German fighter aircraft, with multiple planes attacking from above and below. At this point Murdock regained consciousness and took back control of the aircraft. They realized continuing with the damaged plane was hopeless and ordered the crew to bail out.

Of the ten crew, four survived and were taken as prisoners of war. The radio operator evaded capture and made his way home. The bombardier also evaded capture that day but he did not make it back from the theater. There are rumors that he may have worked with the Dutch underground and died on 26 March 1945; 17 months after the crash.

The plane crashed in Bosseveldt, near Maastricht, Holland. Sizzle was completely destroyed by the detonation of the bomb load upon impact.

Four of the crew, including 2nd Lt. Douglas Lamar Murdock were killed in the crash. He paid the ultimate sacrifice and would not return from the war.

The Germans reported Navigator 2nd Lt. J.C. Manahan, Engineer S/Sgt. R.J. Kiggins, and Right Waist Gunner S/Sgt. T.E. Dienes killed. They had not identified Douglas Murdock and he was listed as missing in action on November 19, 1943. It was more than five years later, after an investigation, on Jan. 31, 1949, that Douglas Murdock’s remains were disinterred at the city Cemetery in Mastricht where the locals had buried him. He was brought home and his family held a service and buried him on April 15th, 1950 at Greenwood Cemetery in Barnesville, Georgia. He was awarded the Air medal, which is given for heroic or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight, along with a posthumous Purple Heart.

Of note, another pilot, First Lieutenant Ernest Sikes, was the usual pilot for Sizzle but he took his last flight onboard the plane on October 8th, and was replaced as pilot by Douglas Murdock on the next mission. It is unclear from the records why this occurred, but Sikes was spared the fate of the other crew. He went on to fly one more mission in a B-17 and he flew 31 more missions in a B-29 from Saipan with the 499th Bomber Group.

October 14, 1943, Crew of tail number 42-29952 “Sizzle”

Pilot 2nd Lt. D.L. Murdock O-793820 KIA Initially buried at Maastricht
Co-Pilot 2nd Lt. E.L. Smith O-745758 Survived POW
Navigator 2nd Lt. J.C. Manahan O-734952 KIA Buried at Margraten K-1-19
Bombardier S/Sgt. J.E. Miller 19160829 Survived, MIA
Engineer S/Sgt. R.J. Kiggins 32383681 Buried at Margraten O-21-20
Radio Operator T/Sgt. T.B. Wiggins 34357159 Survived POW
LW Gunner Sgt. L.J. Levy 38313927 Survived POW
RW Gunner S/Sgt. T.E. Dienes 35407658 KIA Buried at Margraten K-8-20
BT Gunner Sgt. J.F. Lloyd 35380603 Survived POW
T Gunner S/Sgt. W. Menzies 16111264 Survived POW

Sources:

http://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/46858

https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/1519661/black-thursday-schweinfurt-october-14-1943/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Raid_on_Schweinfurt

https://www.newspapers.com/image/397829799/?terms=Douglas%2BL%2BMurdock

https://www.airforcemag.com/article/0210schweinfurt/

http://home.kpn.nl/slang075/breeden-mission-115-305bg-sizzle-murdock.html

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

305th_BG_366th_42-29952 KY-J Sizzle bottom right.jpg

Douglas L Murdock