Robert Earl Banta
Military ROLL OF HONOUR
Photo of 2/Lt Robert E Banta. Source: Banta family album
Object Number - UPL 37982 - Second Lieutenant Robert E. Banta
Killed in Action (KIA) 12 September 1944 in B-17 #42-97368 'Tailwind'.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 368th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32529064 at enlistment, then O-716627
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 368th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 33148924
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 368th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: T-190746 / O-1995801
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 368th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 36480415
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Engineer/Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 368th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 11119458
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Tailwind
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 398th Bomb Group 368th Bomb Squadron 601st Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 12 September 1944
Places
![A bomber crew of the 306th Bomb Group wave to Picture Post Girls in front of a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-24471) nicknamed "Four of a Kind" at Thurleigh in December 1942. Image stamped on reverse: '"Picture Post" [stamp], 'Passed for Publication 11 Dec 1942.' [stamp], '238038.' [Censor no.] Handwritten in censor's blue pencil on reverse: 'American Flying Fortress crew are introduced to the girls they will meet at Picture Post Xmas Party.'](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-379028.jpg.webp?itok=6Gc6iR0j)
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Bedford
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
4 February 1921 | Soldiers Grove, Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States | |
|
Enlisted |
25 August 1942 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | |
|
Other Killed In Action (KIA) |
12 September 1944 | ||
|
Buried |
13 September 1944 | at the municipal cemetery in Massow, 5km NE of Freyenstein, Germany | |
| Soldiers Grove, Crawford County, Wisconsin | |||
|
Buried |
after the Liberation, his remains were moved to the temporary American Military Cemetery in Metz, France | ||
|
Buried |
his remains were brought back to the USA in 1948. Robert Banta rests at the Forest Hill Cemetery in Soldiers Grove, Crawford County, Wisconsin |
Revisions
MACR 8834
WWII Draft Card
NARA WWII Enlistment records
German captured documents KU-2940 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/147898539
German captured documents AV1291/44, page 50 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/18238567
Added a "-" to the A/C serial number in the "Summary biography" for clarity.
Changed the label of the “POW” event to "Killed in Action (KIA)".
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 8834 / MACR 8834, First Over Germany pg 275 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
