Posted By splasher6@yahoo.com on June 23, 2005 at 16:36:31:
In Reply to: MACR Interpretation posted by Nancy J. Koeber on June 22, 2005 at 10:00:40:
"In Distress" means there was some problem with the aircraft - perhaps mechanical or from flak or fighters. The aircraft was exhibiting distress - perhaps a fire from an engine, dropping out of formation, or something like that. It does not mean it crashed at that location. Keep in mind the bomber crewman are the ones who made these reports to the Navigator at the time of the incident or at Debriefing. I've seen MACRs where a tailgunner, for example, said he saw a plane go down at Eisenach, when in reality it went down hundreds of miles away.
Cloud cover over the Continent could be severe. Many times bombers were listed as distressed, and then disappeared into clouds. Many crashed and many hooked onto another Group or Wing once the problem was corrected.
This will make your search more difficult and you need to look for the Luftgaucommando KU report I told you about last week from the National Archives.
Kevin