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Robert William Ahern Jr

Military

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Robert was one of 5 children. Born in Duluth, Minnesota and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. His last mission involved the bombing of a train. He flew over the train once as a warning for passengers to evacuate. On the second flyover, he was shot down and crash landed in a field nearby. A local village family wrote of how grateful they were for his service and how he purposely missed their village while crash landing. He died on impact. He was 23 years old.

Assigned to 55FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) droopsnoot mission to Tours, France. Crashed near Valmeray in P-38J 42-67885, brought down by flak on 23-Apr-44. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 4124.

Awards: DFC, AM (3 OLC), PH.

Service

Units served with

  • 8th Air Force

    8th Air Force


    Eighth Air Force Bomber Command became the Eighth Air Force on February 1944, it oversaw bombardment of strategic targets in Europe until 1945. ...

  • 20th Fighter Group

    20th Fighter Group

    Group
    In August 1943, the 20th Fighter Group arrived in Clyde, Scotland, before travelling to Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire, which was to be their base for the rest of the war. The Group flew 312 missions before their last mission on 25 April 1945. The...

  • 55th Fighter Squadron

    55th Fighter Squadron

    Squadron

Aircraft

  • 42-67885

    P-38 Lightning
    Assigned to 55FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) droopsnoot mission to Tours, France. Crashed near Valmeray in P-38J 42-67885, brought down by flak on 23-Apr-44. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 4124.

Associated Place

  • Wittering

    Military site : airfield
    Wittering, now in Cambridgeshire, began as RFC Stamford in 1916. By the end of the First World War, it had been renamed RAF Wittering, and was used by both British and American aircraft. It had six hangars, fifteen aircraft sheds and many other...

Events

Event Location Date
Born Duluth, Minnesota 1921
Lived in Cincinnati, OH, USA 1940
Enlisted Patterson Field, W 8th St, East Liverpool, OH 43920, USA 13 April 1942

Patterson Field
Fairfield
Ohio
USA.
Assigned Wittering, Peterborough, Peterborough PE8, UK 27 August 1943 – 23 April 1944

Assigned to 55FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF.
Promoted Wittering, Peterborough, Peterborough PE8, UK 1944

Promoted to 1st Lieutenant.
Killed in Action (KIA) Valmeray, 14370 Moult, France 23 April 1944

Failed to Return (FTR) droopsnoot mission to Tours, France. Crashed near Valmeray in P-38J 42-67885, brought down by flak on 23-Apr-44. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 4124.
Buried 1945

Plot B Row 23 Grave 33
Normandy American Cemetery
Colleville-sur-Mer, France
Nationality
American
Nickname
Bobby, Ziglock
Service numbers
O-746008
Highest rank
First Lieutenant
Role/job
Fighter Pilot
Awards
  • Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters
  • Distinguished Flying Cross
  • Purple Heart

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
26 November 2018 06:07:11 pottersc Changes to biography
Sources

Sabra Potter - Grand-niece
Date Contributor Update
26 November 2018 05:43:42 pottersc Changes to media associations
Sources

Sabra Potter - Grand-niece
Date Contributor Update
26 November 2018 05:30:13 pottersc Changes to media associations
Sources

Sabra Potter - Grand-niece
Date Contributor Update
26 November 2018 05:19:54 pottersc Changes to middlename, firstname and biography
Sources

Sabra Potter - Grand-Niece.
Date Contributor Update
23 July 2018 20:37:09 466thHistorian Changes to events
Sources

http://www.20thfightergroup.com/kiakifa.html
Date Contributor Update
07 September 2016 09:58:28 general ira snapsorter Changes to nickname and events
Sources

Merged with duplicate entries to include details from:
- the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia ;
- MACR 4124, ;
- King;'s Cliffe Memorial Edition;
- Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
Date Contributor Update
27 June 2016 18:44:19 Al_Skiff Changes to highest rank, role, biography, awards, events, unit associations, place associations and aircraft associations
Sources

http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/search.php?searchString=Ahern
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbmpilot.asp?Pilot=Ahern
https://www.fold3.com/page/84224682_robert_w%20ahern/details/
http://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=97448
http://www.20thfightergroup.com/kiakifa.html
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Ahern&GSfn=Robert&...
Date Contributor Update
27 June 2016 18:01:48 Al_Skiff Changes to surname and suffix
Sources

Surname corrected
Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:24:14 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list

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