On the 9th of June, 1944, 1st Lt Cornelius Rogers was in a formation of aircraft accompanying a group of bombers to Northern Italy. Enemy aircraft was encountered over the Alps, the formation started back to base. When they arrived over Pola, Italy, Cornelius called that he was having engine trouble approximately 10 miles southwest of Pole. He told a fellow crew member that he thought he could make it to home base. In July, he was listed as missing in action, and in November, the Chicago paper reported that he was being held in a German POW Camp.
Note from Enzo: Thanks to Luca Gabriele Merli and friends of the AircrashPO Facebook page for this search of a pilot taken off from Ramitelli, LT. Cornelius G. Rogers. They gave him as a crash in the Adriatic near Pola, but he managed to get further south but he was caught by the flak, per USAAF and also Luftwaffe documentation.
Learn more about 1st Lt Cornelius Rogers in Tuskegee Airmen Profiles!