A Consolidated B-24 Liberator known as Black Cat was the last American bomber to be shot down over Germany during World War 2.
On the morning of April 21, 1945, days before the end of the war, the 466th Bombardment Group sent 137 B-24s to a mission in Salzburg, Austria. The operation should have been canceled before takeoff because of poor weather conditions, but the group still left the base in Norfolk, England, to carry out their 230th mission.
The squadron soon realized the endeavor was impossible, and the pilots were forced to return. However, as they flew over the heavily-defended city of Regensburg, they encountered heavy resistance.
The Liberators would give it their all against a desperate enemy ready to put up a frenzied and hopeless charge that missed most of its targets.
But the Black Cat wouldn’t be so lucky.
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