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Service Details |
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Last Photo |
Personal Details
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Home State
 South Carolina | |
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Year of Birth Not Specified |
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This Military Service Page was created/owned by
CMSgt Don Skinner-Deceased
to remember
Anderson, Robert Moffat, 2nd Lt.
If you knew or served with this Airman and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
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Casualty Info
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Home Town Chester |
Last Address Chelveston, England
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Casualty Date Jan 13, 1943 |
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Cause Hostile, Died while Missing |
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Land |
Location Belgium |
Conflict World War II |
Location of Interment Evergreen Cemetery - Chester, South Carolina |
Wall/Plot Coordinates Not Specified |
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Last Known Activity Robert Moffat Anderson, the son of Mr. and Mrs. F.W. Anderson, was born in 1920 in Chester, South Carolina. He graduated from Chester High School, and then attended Clemson University, graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1941. While at Clemson, he was a member of the ROTC unit as a 1st Lieutenant, holding the position of Platoon Leader with the company.
He enlisted in the Army Air Corps' Aviation Cadet program on July 15, 1941. He received flight training and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. After organizational and combat crew training, he was sent overseas in October, 1942. He arrived at Chelveston, England and was assigned to the 365th Bomb Squadron of the 305th Bomb Group.
He was assigned as co-pilot to a crew headed by Lt Conrad Hilbinger. On January 13, 1943, the crew was scheduled for a mission against the locomotive works at Lille, France. Once the target was reached, the flak was intense but not especially accurate. It was on the return trip over Belgium that Hilbinger's B-17 was hit with 5 bursts of flak. The aircraft crashed near Pollinkhove, Belgium.
All the crew were killed. The bodies were recovered and buried locally. After the war, the remains were transferred to Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium. Sometime later (approximately 1945 - 1948) Lt Anderson's remains were returned to the U.S. and buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Chester, South Carolina, where he lies today.
In 2003, the inhabitants of Pollinkhove erected a monument to the crew of this aircraft.
www.culamni.clemson.edu
www.305thbombgroup.com/History.html
www.aviationheritage.eu/.../monuments-bemanning.
www.gallery2.384thbombgroup.com/6292-1/FORTLOG.doc
www.findagrave.com/search
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/archives/index.php??-24638.html
NARA Enlistment records
"State" newspaper, Columbia, SC issue of 8/15/48
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Comments/Citation Lt Anderson was co-pilot of B-17F # 41-24601, nicknamed "Buckeye Blitz," assigned to the 365th Bomb Squadron.
Missing Air Crew Report 15639 covers this incident. (One account gives this as 15638, but that is incorrect.) It identifies the crew as composed of:
1 Lt Conrad J. Hilbinger p
2 Lt Robert M. Anderson c-p
2 Lt Arthur P. Halbrooks nav
2 Lt John J. Killinger bomb
SSgt Ward H. Brown eng/tt gun
SSgt Joseph B. Anderson r/o
SSgt Hugh G. Erwin btg
SSgt Robert S. Dickson rwg
Sgt John C. Parise lwg
Sgt James A. Boyette tail gun
These are the names and spellings from the MACR and 305th BG records. The monument in Belgium spells these names differently:
Killinger = Kellinger
Parise = Paris
Most of the crew are still buried in the Ardennes American Cemetery.
Service photo source:
www.cualumni.clemson.edu
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