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Military
Joined Sqd 3-Aug-42. ETO/Flight Echelon 2-Oct-42. WIA 6-Dec-42 (Abbeyville). DS/Tunis 16-Sep-43. Trans/Group HQ.
Failed to Return (FTR) as an Observer to Agathe d' Aliermont V1 site mission in B-24 42-99970 'Liberty Belle' 21-Jan-44; A/C took a direct hit in bomb bay. Baled out of A/C over French coast. Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 8174
Awards: AM, PH, POW, WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Pilot | 44th Bomb Group The Flying Eightballs
Assigned to 67BS, 44BG, 8AF USAAF. 25 x combat missions. Pilot on Agathe d' Aliermont V1 site mission in B-24J 42-99970 'Liberty Belle' 21-Jan-44; RTD. MACR 8174.
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Eighth Air Force Bomber Command became the Eighth Air Force on February 1944, it oversaw bombardment of strategic targets in Europe until 1945.
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Group
The 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated 15-January-1942 at McDill Field, Florida and equipped with B-24Cs. The Group moved to Barksdale Field, Louisiana and acted as a training unit for the 90th 93rd and 98th Bomb Groups and flew anti...
Squadron
Squadron
Headquarters
B-24 Liberator
Assigned to 67BS, 44BG, 8AF USAAF. Hit by flak on mission to V-1 sites at Agathe d' Aliermont, France on 21-Jan-44. Flak hit in bomb bay, nose turret, ball turret, starboard wing and taking out #1 & 2 engines leaving #3 on fire. 3 x crew baled out over...
21 January 1944
This mission is directed at 36 V-Weapon sites (34 in the Pas-de-Calaise area and 2 in the Chrebourg area of France) 24 of these are bombed successfully. All three Bomb Divisions participate in the attacks and the bomber gunners claimed 5-1-2 of...
Military site : airfield
Shipdham was built in 1941-1942, the first US heavy bomber airfield in the English county of Norfolk. It was a standard design, with T2-type hangars and a domestic site dispersed to the south east. Improvements were carried out to increase the number...
Other location
Other location
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Lancaster County, NE | 24 July 1921 |
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Son of Lee Harold and Bess E [Badgett] Ager. |
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| Lived in | Seattle, WA | 1942 |
| Enlisted | Seattle, WA | 10 January 1942 |
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Seattle, Washington |
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| Based | Shipdham | 8 March 1942 – November 1943 |
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Assigned to 67BS, 44BG, 8AF USAAF. |
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| Based | Shipdham | November 1943 – 21 January 1944 |
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Transferred to HQ, 44BG, 8AF USAAF. |
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| Baled out POW | Vicinity Boulogne | 21 January 1944 |
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Failed to Return (FTR) Agathe d' Aliermont V1 site mission in B-24 42-99970 'Liberty Belle' 21-Jan-44; A/C took a direct hit in bomb bay. Bailed out of A/C over French coast. POW. MACR 8174 |
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| Prisoner of War (POW) | Barth, Germany | 21 January 1944 – May 1945 |
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Prisoner of War (POW) Stalag Luft I. |
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| Died | Kent, WA | 31 December 1995 |
| Buried | Kane Cemetery Bainbridge Island, Kitsap County, WA | January 1996 |
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Kane Cemetery |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 18 November 2020 21:01:05 | Al_Skiff | Changes to biography and events |
| Sources | ||
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52994953/robert-lee-ager |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 11 August 2020 21:41:02 | jmoore43 | Changes to events |
| Sources | ||
Added POW camp info to the POW event from WW2 POW records at the National Archives (NARA). |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 04 March 2020 11:16:10 | Al_Skiff | Changes to biography, awards and events |
| Sources | ||
https://www.fold3.com/image/28698055 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 03 March 2020 02:07:58 | jmoore43 | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
Added a "#" to the A/C serial number in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 08 April 2019 11:02:51 | Al_Skiff | Changes to middlename, service number, biography, events, unit associations, place associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
https://www.fold3.com/image/28698055 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:23:41 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Webb Todd, 8th AF Losses, MACR 8714 |
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