Messerschmitt test pilot Ludwig "Willie" Hofman ("Hoffman" in American source) attempts to ferry captured Messerschmitt Me 262A1a/U4, Werke Nummer 170083, originally coded V-083, named Happy Hunter/Wilma Jeanne II, from Lagerlechfeld, near Augsburg, Germany, to Airfield A-55 near Cherbourg, France on behalf of the USAAF Air Technical Intelligence ("Watson's Whizzers") for loading aboard HMS Reaper D82 6 , suffers catastrophic failure of starboard engine at roughly 9000 feet altitude and is forced to bail out over Normandy, suffering massive bruising as he deploys parachute at high speed.