This painting portrays the historic first combat mission flown by the U.S. Army Air Force against the Germans, from England during World War II. On July 4, 1942 the 15th Squadron, who had been training in planes borrowed from the RAF's No. 226 Squadron attacked the Luftwaffe airfield at DeKooy. The lead plane dropped its bombs and hightailed it for home. The second plane, a Douglas A-20 "Havoc" flown by Captain Charles C. Kegelman, took a hit in the right engine, knocking its propeller off. Momentarily losing control, Kegelman's right wing tip, then his belly hit the ground, but he bounced back into the air, whereupon he regained sufficient control to get safely back to his base at Swanton Morley with his entire crew unscathed. Captain Kegelman was awarded the DSC and each of his crew, the DFC for this extraordinary mission.
In 1944 while leading his group of B-25's on a routine bombing run over the Japanese-held island of Mindinao, in the Philippines, Kegelman's wing man lost control; the two planes collided and plunged into the jungle. At the time of his death, Kegelman was 29 years old.
