On February 20, 1944, during a bombing mission over enemy-occupied Europe, Sergeant Mathies served as engineer and ball turret gunner on an aircraft attacked by a squadron of enemy fighters, leaving the co-pilot dead, the pilot wounded and unconscious, the radio operator wounded, and the plane severely damaged. Sergeant Mathies and other crew members managed to right the plane and fly it back to their home station, where they contacted the control tower and reported the situation. Sergeant Mathies and the navigator volunteered to attempt to land the plane, while the other crew members were ordered to jump. After his commanding officer, observing from another plane, decided the damaged aircraft could not be landed by the inexperienced crew and ordered them to abandon it, Sergeant Mathies and the navigator refused to leave because the pilot was still alive and could not be moved. They were then told to attempt a landing, but after two unsuccessful efforts the plane crashed in an open field on the third attempt, killing Sergeant Mathies, the navigator, and the pilot.