Jerry Milton Roberts

Military

POW on 1 Jan 45 was shot down over Germany during weather mission.

Connections

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Units served with

A B-26 Marauder of the 654th Bomb Squadron, 25th Bomb Group, parked on a runway. Handwritten on reverse: '654 BS.'
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Reconnaissance

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 25th Bomb Group 653rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-814044
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Navigator

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: Mosquito
  • Unit: 25th Bomb Group 653rd Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: Mosquito
  • Unit: 25th Bomb Group 802nd Reconnaissance Group (SP) 654th Bomb Squadron

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Other

Prisoner Of War

21 January 1945 Mission target was Airbase HQ Grossenbrode. 21.1.1945 German account [POW debrief] of the incident . The weather situation over Schleswig -Holstein is partly cloudy this winter , the Wölkenhöhe is about 1000m and the wind blows from south-southwest with 3-4 winds . It is hazy , visibility is moderate to poor . The recording of the Kiel Marineflakbrigade reported on this day of an enemy reconnaissance north of Heligoland , North beach ( 15.45 clock ) , Schleswig ( 15.50 clock ) , Eckernförder Bay, Kiel Fjord (15.55 clock ) , Hohwachter Bay ( 15.59 clock ) to north Selenter lake . The rangefinder Marineflak calculate an airspeed of 500 km / h at an altitude of 8000m . The American occupants Lt . Jerry M. Roberts and Lt. Ralph E. Fisher departed RAF Watton in Mosquito NS509 at 14:22, her goal - to monitor the Danish peninsula and the north German airspace . Suddenly and without warning, shortly before 16:00, chasing reddish tracer passed the aircraft. "Mustang ! " cried the Navigator Lt . Fisher, to the pilot , the Mosquito was put into a steep left turn. "Yellow -belly Mustang", he cried again to his comrade. Lt. Roberts tried with a glance backwards to locate the position of the "Mustang" while some tracer bullets hit the port - wing and the port engine. At the same time , the pilot felt some projectiles that , smashing as strong hammer blows against his armoured backrest. The left engine and wing were already burning and the smoke made forward visibility almost impossible. Roberts flew the heavily damaged Mosquito in the opposite direction to get better view and brought the right motor to maximum power and shouted to his comrade he should bale out. Lt. Fisher hit by shrapnel sat motionless and slumped forward in his navigator's seat , his oxygen mask was torn, his face bloodied. Roberts tried to pull the limp body of his navigator into an upright position , but Fisher was still not responsive and did not move. The Mosquito now turned sharply to the left, the flames and the smoke reached again the cockpit canopy and made the exit through the upper hatch almost impossible. The severely wounded and unconscious Lt . Fisher blocked the access to the lower hatch. Again Lt . Roberts tried to straighten his comrade by pulling on his uniform , noting the heavily bleeding wound on Fisher's neck. He placed his scarf around the neck wound to try to avoid further blood loss while the Mosquito rapidly lost altitude and the spinning ground came closer and closer . The spinning of the Mosquito allowed Roberts to grab a parachute from the floor , and then attach it to Fisher's harness . Now he released the hatch. Roberts managed to get Fishers legs and then hips through the narrow hatch, now his chute snagged the hatch, by now running short of time as the fuel tanks could explode due to the tracers and their height was diminishing. Grabbing his Navs parachute D ring he forced him out with his boot on his shoulders. Making himself as small as possible he threw himself from the doomed aircraft. Just a few seconds after opening his parachute Roberts hit the ground. Around him all was dark. A little later he regained consciousness, but was unable to move, every breath was associated with great pain. With great effort he succeeded, at least to release the parachute and the carrying harness. Farmers from the surrounding area had observed them jump and the aircraft crash. They built a makeshift stretcher and transported Roberts to a nearby fire department house. The badly wounded Lt . Fisher, was transported with a wooden cart to the fire house and died there from his wounds before medical help arrived. Lt Roberts was declared prisoner of war about 16:30 hrs and transferred a little later via the transit camp of the Luftwaffe ( Dulag Luft) to Oberursel near Frankfurt. 2nd Lt. Jerry Milton Roberts (pilot) - POW. 1st Lt. Ralph E. FISHER (radar/nav.) - killed

Revisions

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Sources

Combat Chronology; Aerial Intelligence for the 8th Air Force, pg 177 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia