Robert F Layton
MilitaryOn 13 September 1944 Layton's aircraft was hit by flak on a mission to Merseberg, the damage took out two engines, and oil was leaking from a third.
The crew jettisoned their equipment and dropped their bombs to stay airborne, but they were soon forced to find a place to crash in Belgium.
Layton and his and co-pilot were strapped in up front and the rest of the crew crouched down in the radio area at the back of the plane while they crash landed in Ciney, Belgium. A few members of the crew suffered minor injuries, unlike several of the fences they destroyed while going down.
Upon landing they discovered that the Germans had fortunately left the area five days earlier. The crew made their way to an Army hospital where their wounds were treated, then hitchhiked to Paris on a weapons carrier.
Was squadron Cmdr of the 526th BS
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
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: 379th Bomb Group 526th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 20757806 / T-1525 / O-886936
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 379th Bomb Group
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 379th Bomb Group 526th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 379th Bomb Group 526th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot, Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: Norwegian
- Unit: 379th Bomb Group 527th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O 768081
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Everybody's Baby
- Unit: 379th Bomb Group 526th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 13 September 1944
- Official Description:
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
23 August 1914 | ||
Other Crashed |
13 September 1944 | ||
Died |
20 November 2002 |
Revisions
Recollections in Wayne Ehler's record
https://halifaxjd371kno.com/index.php/sovet-b-17g-43-37755-everybodys-b…
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia