In January of 1944 Howell was moved once again to England where he was stationed at Horsham St. Faith Airfield with the 755th Bombardment Squadron, 458th Bombardment Group. While stationed there Howell Co-Piloted the B-26 Liberator nicknamed “Ole Satan” with nine other men on the crew.
The bombings of Berlin by the 458th began on March 2nd and on that day Harold Howell met another pilot, Robert Herman Howell, in a pub3. The two men were both from Neshoba county and had planned on meeting again the next night. This, however, never came to pass as the next day Howell was chosen to take part in the first daylight raid over Berlin.
Howell’s mission was a success and the raid went as planned, however on their return the aircraft was seen going down over the North Sea going towards the English Channel. A witness to the event stated the following:
“……That day [March 3rd] was the coldest we ever saw. It was the nastiest weather. The North Sea looked like a cauldron from 20,000 feet above it. They had a breakdown of some sort and went into the sea. They didn't have a chance of surviving. We also aborted, but I realized much later that it was Mattson looking for a way to avoid going on. My log is confusing because I was confused at the time.” -2nd Lieutenant John Woodworth, navigator Crew 75 All ten of the crew members died that day.