Robert Paul Surdez Jr
MilitaryDétails : Front row, left to right : Pilot Charles F. Geyer ; Co-Pilot Robert P. Surdez Jr, Bombardier Donald O. Mills, Navigator William J. Doherty. Back row, left to right : Ball Turret Gunner Edward L. Lantron, Radio Operator Melvin H. Litke (*), Tail Gunner James A. Parker, Top Turret Gunner Frank J. Killarney, Left Waist Gunner Alexander J. Guilianelli and Right Waist Gunner Everett J. Missey (*).
(*) Melvin Litke and Everett Missey were not on board Geyer’s 42-3439 on the 10 October mission when that aircraft was shot down. They had been replaced for that mission by, respectively, Aaron M. Becker and Charles R. Randel, who were both killed. Everett Missey was killed on the 16 December mission and Melvin Litke finished his tour with 50 missions to his credit.
Détails on personnel in crew picture
Robert Surdez was Co-Pilot on B-17 42-3439 of 96th Bomber Group / 413th Bomber Squadron, shot down 20 October 1943. Missing Air Crew Report - MACR 1018. Lt Surdez landed in parachute near Dinther in the Netherlands and was soon joined by his Pilot Robert Geyer. Both were soon captured, sent to Amsterdam and interned at Stalag Luft 1 in Barth, Germany. See the Geyer crew page at http://www.aircrewremembered.com/gallery/index.php?/category/5
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: 96th Bomb Group 413th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 12155334
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator / Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 96th Bomb Group 413th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 31016678 and O-736630
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 388th Bomb Group 96th Bomb Group 413th Bomb Squadron 563rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 14078651 and O-793406
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 96th Bomb Group 413th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 33273658
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 96th Bomb Group 413th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32416220
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Engineer / Top Turret Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 96th Bomb Group 413th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 20 October 1943
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Station 138
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag Luft I, Barth, Germany
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
San Francisco, California, United States | 3 April 1922 | Son of Robert Paul Surdez Sr and Ada Ann Mains |
Enlisted |
Moffett Field, Mountain View, California, United States | 7 April 1942 | Enlisted as a Private in the Air Corps |
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Barth, Germany | 20 October 1943 - 8 June 1945 | NARA WWII POW database : "Stalag Luft 1 Barth - Returned to military control 8/6/45" |
Died |
Castro Valley, California, United States | 7 August 2004 | |
Burlingame, California, United States |
Revisions
Merged with duplicate record to include information :
drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 1018;
Snetterton Falcons pg 60 & 76
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / www.388bg.info/Personnel.html