Robert Lee Saferite

Military

Connections

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Units served with

Places

Azeville

  • Site type: Airfield
  • Known as: Fontanay-Sur-Mer

Beaulieu

  • Site type: Airfield
  • Known as: RAF Beaulieu
Prisoners of war, including Colonel Hubert Zemke of the 479th Fighter Group at Stalag Luft I.

Stalag Luft I

  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Stalag Luft I, Barth, Germany

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Neosho Falls, Kansas 22 December 1922

Enlisted

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 10 February 1942

Other

Shot Down/Captured

Liseux, France 20 August 1944 Flak hit is propeller forcing him to belly land near Liseux.

Other

POW

Barth, Germany 25 August 1944 Stalag Luft I
Eureka, Kansas 1 March 1948

Died

El Dorado, Kansas 13 December 2009 El Dorado Times (KS) - December 15, 2009: Robert Lee "Bob" Saferite was born Dec. 27, 1922 at Neosho Falls, Kan., and died in the presence of his family Dec. 13, 2009. Services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at First Christian Church in El Dorado. He was the son of Ernest Hugh Saferite and Margaret May Burton Saferite. He moved to Eureka in 1931 and graduated from Eureka High School in 1941. After graduation he moved to California where he worked for Lockheed Aircraft building the P-38 fighter. He returned to Eureka in December of 1941 and enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in February 1942. He received his commission as a 2nd Lt. and pilot wings in November 1943. He then moved to North Carolina for operational fighter pilot training in the Republic P-47. In 1944 he went to Europe and was assigned to the 365th Fighter Group. In August 1944, after flying 36 combat missions, he was shot down, captured by the Germans and interned as a POW in Stalag Luft I until the war ended in April 1945. His military assignments included time in Germany with the occupational forces, the 27th Fighter Wing at Kearney, Neb., and he moved with the 27th Fighter Wing when it was sent to Bergstrom AFB, Austin, Texas. In 1946, he was married to Mary Emma Davis at Eureka and to this union five children were born. Mary preceded him in death in 1964. He was married to Evelyn Lacy Seymour in 1965. With Bob's five children and Evelyn's three sons, he lovingly called his family "S Troop." Bob was in auto sales until 1970 when he went into banking. He retired in 1992. Bob was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers; a sister; and one son, Robert Lee "Buster" Saferite Jr. He is survived by his wife, Evelyn of the home; children, Jamie (Ed) Webb of Topeka, Jodie (Leon) Leachmen, Steve Seymour, Stan (Jan) Seymour, Brad (Brenda) Seymour, Jeff (Carol) Saferite and Jaryl (Mike) Demel, all of El Dorado; 23 grandchildren; and 25 great-grandchildren. Memorials may be made to the Bob Saferite Memorial in care of First Christian Church, 300 W. Central, El Dorado, KS 67042.

Revisions

Date
Contributor466thHistorian
Changes
Sources

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=8939&h=860345&…
http://hellhawks.org/387_roster.html
https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=8919&h=121058&…
"Thunderbolts of The Hell Hawks" - Barnes, Crump and Sutherland, page 47
https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2270&h=5475388…
https://aad.archives.gov/aad/display-partial-records.jsp?dt=466&sc=1167…
https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=1088&h=8961143…
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/85323179/robert-lee-saferite