History for Chron

Tech. Sgt. Francis L. Krueger of Trentwood was killed on Jan. 7 over western France when his B-24 Liberator was attacked by a German fighter.

Krueger and his crew were on the return leg of a bombing raid on Mannheim when his plane was shot down.

The former Gonzaga Prep and West Valley high school student enlisted in the Air Force shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Krueger was shot down on his seventh mission.

American B-29 Superfortresses struck Japanese industrial sites in eastern Manchuria. The bombs, dropped in a high-altitude daylight mission, struck installations that built munitions for Japan. Officials estimated that the raid put the facility out of action for 12 months.

German forces adopted a new “mass attack” technique by sending flying bombs at London and southern England The bombs, later known as V-1 “buzz bombs,” were referred to in this early attack as “robots.”

One flying bomb damaged a hospital. Among the victims were nurses, who nonetheless continued to help evacuate patients amid showers of sparks and flying embers.