Robert G Hagen
MilitaryFlew 34 missions on 'Take Me Home'. On 13 September 1944 Hagen flew as an observer, performing the duties of a tail gunner, when his 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.
The pilot 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, possibly with the assistance of the Belgian underground, where their wounds were treated. They then hitchhiked to Paris on a weapons carrier.
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: American
- Unit: 379th Bomb Group 526th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Role/Job: Operations Officer, 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 |
Fargo, North Dakota | 29 October 1921 | |
Other Crashed |
13 September 1944 | ||
Died |
30 March 2000 | ||
Buried |
Fort Snelling National Cemetery, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Revisions
Incorporated information from duplicate record
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia
Recollections in Wayne Ehler's record
https://halifaxjd371kno.com/index.php/sovet-b-17g-43-37755-everybodys-ba...
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / son: Arthur Robert; 379th Bomb Group Anthology pg 128