Robert D Harris

Military
media-23874.jpeg UPL 23874 Early service photo of Robert D Harris.

Added personal photo.

Object Number - UPL 23874 - Early service photo of Robert D Harris.

completed 33 missions on B-17 'Sugar Jo'



Air Medal w 4/Oak Leaf Cluster

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

The insignia of the 385th Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Sugar Jo
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group 550th Bomb Squadron

Missions

  • Date: 3 January 1945
  • Date: 2 January 1945
A B-17 Flying Fortress (EP-E, serial number 42-31767) nicknamed "Our Gal Sal" of the 100th Bomb Group at Mount Farm. Image by Robert Astrella, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group. Written on slide casing: 'Our Gal Sal EP-E, 231767 at Mount Farm.'
  • Date: 31 December 1944
  • Date: 28 December 1944

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Lilly, PA 15938, USA 18 February 1923

Enlisted

Altoona, PA, USA 5 January 1943

Died

Matthews, NC, USA 14 June 2014

Revisions

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

25th mission of the "Sugar Jo" crew. January 3, 1945. Group names target as "Schieiden". Personal log names "Karlsruhe". Information from 385th Bomb Group database and personal mission log.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

24th mission of "Sugar Jo" crew. Ground support. January 2, 1944. Group database and personal log agree that the target was in the "Naibach" area. The name "Naibach" could have been a misspelling. Information from 385th Bomb Group database and personal mission log.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

23rd mission of "Sugar Jo" crew. Wenzendorf. December 31, 1944. Information from 385th Bomb Group database and personal mission log.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

22nd mission of "Sugar Jo" crew. Koblenz. December 28, 1944. Information from 385th Bomb Group database and personal mission log.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

21st mission of "Sugar Jo" crew. Gross Ostheim. December 24, 1944. One of the plane's own bomb load exploded at bombs away and pieces came through the tail of the aircraft. Information from 385th Bomb Group database and personal mission log.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

20th mission of the "Sugar Jo" crew. Geissen. December 11, 1944. The group flew over Paris at 2000 feet on the return from target. Information from 385th Bomb Group database and personal mission log.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

19th mission of the "Sugar Jo" crew. Hanover. December 6, 1944. Original target was Merseburg, but the PFF went out two minutes from bombs away. Changed to Hanover. Flak over Hanover was "heavy and accurate". One flak round went directly up through the left wing and burst above the plane. No 1 engine went out. Information from 385th Bomb Group database and personal mission log.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

18th mission of the "Sugar Jo" crew. Bingen. November 27, 1944. Information from 385th Bomb Group database and personal mission log.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

17th mission of the "Sugar Jo" crew. Merseburg. November 25, 1944. Engine number 1 went out before reaching the target. Information from 385th Bomb Group database and personal mission log.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

Information from discharge paperwork.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

16th mission for "Sugar Jo" crew. 11-16-1944. Eschweiler. Ground support mission. Information from 385th Bomb Group database and personal mission log.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

15th mission for "Sugar Jo" crew. 11-06-1944. Neumunster. Information from 385th Bomb Group database and personal mission log.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

14th mission for "Sugar Jo" crew. 11-05-1944. Ludwigshaven. Flak was "intense and very accurate". Information from 385th Bomb Group database and personal mission log.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

13th mission for "Sugar Jo" crew. 11-04-1944. Hamburg. Information from 385th Bomb Group database and personal mission log.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

12th mission for "Sugar Jo" crew. 11-02-1944. Merseburg. Flak was "extra heavy & accurate". No 1 engine was hit. Plane returned to base and landed with "smoke pouring out of no 1 engine". Information from 385th Bomb Group database and personal mission notes.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

11th mission for the "Sugar Jo" crew. 10-25-1944. Hamburg. Information from 385th Bomb Group database and personal mission log.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

10th mission of the "Sugar Jo" crew. 10-22-1944. Munster. Information from 385th Bomb Group database and personal mission log.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

9th mission of the "Sugar Jo" crew. 10/17/1944. Cologne. Aircraft received 1 hit in the wing. Flak described as "pretty accurate". Information from 385th Bomb Group database and personal mission log.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

8th mission of the Sugar Jo crew. 1944-10-12. Bremen. Information from the 385th Bomb Group database and personal mission log.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

Added seventh mission of "Sugar Jo" crew. 1944-10-09. Mainz. Heavy flak just as the bomb bay doors opened. Pilot, copilot & several crewmen received minor wounds. The plane was hit in 15 different places. (Information from personal mission log.)

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

Added sixth mission of "Sugar Jo" crew. 1944-10-07. Merseburg. (Information from personal mission log.)

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

Added fifth mission for the "Sugar Jo" crew. 1944-10-06. Primary target was Berlin, but the plane's oxygen system went out and the decision was made to abort. The bomb load was dropped on an airfield East of Heligoland. (Information from database of 385th and personal mission log.)

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

Fourth Mission of Sugar Jo crew. 1944-10-03. Glebelstadt / Wurzburg. Information from 385th Bomb Group database and personal mission log.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

Added third mission. Merseburg 1944-09-28

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

Added second mission. Kassel 1944-09-22

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

Added connection to first mission. Koblenz on 1944-09-19.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

Added AM & EAME.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

Added connection to Great Ashfield.

Date
ContributorAlanHarris
Changes
Sources

Aircraft connection added after research in 385th Bomb Group database.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia

Robert D Harris: Gallery (1 items)