A Close Call in the Skies

The Hummel crew’s third mission came quickly—February 16, 1945—just one day after Magdeburg. The target was the fuel plant at Salzbergen, with a secondary assignment on the Rheine marshalling yards.

Briefings were held at 7:15 and 8:30 a.m., but heavy fog delayed takeoff until 11:30. Twenty-seven Liberators eventually launched, each carrying ten 500-pound bombs. The primary was hit through radar, though results were hidden once again by the thick clouds.

For the Hummel crew, the mission stretched out in tense silence. No enemy fighters appeared, and the flak was manageable. But as their formation completed its run, news began filtering back of a near-tragedy involving another Wendling crew.

The ordeal of Lt. Novik

Flying with the 392nd that day was 1st Lt. Albert J. Novik of New York. His crew’s mission turned into a harrowing fight for survival. Just seconds after releasing their bombs, another Liberator above them released too close, and six bombs tore through Novik’s tail assembly, shredding the left rudder.

His B-24 immediately became nose-heavy, plunging 500 feet. For more than four hours, Novik wrestled with the controls, muscles straining as the bomber shuddered with every adjustment. Against all odds, he chose to stay in formation over the target to protect his crew from fighters, then struggled home across Germany with his crippled ship.

Fog had closed Wendling, forcing the group to divert to France. Novik realized his battered plane could not make it. With no safe field in sight, the order came to bail out over The Wash. One by one, his crew jumped, leaving Novik alone at the controls. At last he let go, but the moment he released the wheel, the bomber dove like a stone. He was slammed against the ceiling as fire spread through the fuselage. Pinned, burned, and certain he would die, Novik clawed his way to the bomb bay. He fell through just as the bomber exploded above him.

Novik’s parachute barely opened in time—around 700 feet from the ground. He drifted down through burning wreckage, landing in a tree that saved him from the fiery debris below.

He survived with burns, cuts, and singed hair. His fingers were numb for days from holding the controls. But every man in his crew made it out alive that day—a remarkable outcome considering the destruction of their plane.

Another reminder

For the Hummel crew, Salzbergen marked their third mission and another long flight into uncertainty.

They returned to Wendling safely, but stories like Lt. Novik’s reminded them just how quickly everything could change in the air.

Each mission was a gamble. Each return was a gift.