Robert W Schwellinger
Military
Richard Dieterle, photo taken from Find a Grave > Robert W. Schwellinger.
Object Number - UPL 37736 - Robert W. Schwellinger
Robert Schwellinger was born in Toledo, Ohio and graduated in 1939 from Woodward High School. He enlisted in the Army nearly a year before Pearl Harbor.
He took part in Ploesti raid on 8/1/43 as a copilot while on TDY to 9th AF and was interned in Turkey. His plane was 42-40744. He later escaped and returned to the 389th to resume his missions.
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: 389th Bomb Group 565th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 565th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 565th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 565th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 565th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 35370265
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner / Ball Turret Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 565th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 1 August 1943
- Official Description:
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Berka, al Birkah
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
3 June 1921 | ||
|
Enlisted |
27 January 1941 | He enlisted at Ft. Hayes, Columbus, Ohio. | |
|
Other War Experiences from Journals |
1 August 1943 | Concerning the Ploesti Mission "One local co-pilot was a late add-on for the mission. Toledo native Robert Schwellinger had been in the hospital for several days with an intestinal ailment and was released the morning of the mission. Another crew had been assigned his plane, but the replacement crew's co-pilot refused to fly the dangerous mission. So Schwellinger took his place and flew the gas burner to Ploesti. Schwellinger’s plane had a bad history of leaking fuel tanks that would have a pronounced effect on the outcome of this mission for the crew. ... One incident occurred on the way in to the target in Robert Schwellinger's plane; the pilot (Harold James) asked the flight engineer for a fuel estimate when they were entering Rumania; the engineer checked the gauges and reported privately to the radioman Earl Zimmerman that they had already burned up too much gas to return to base. 'Don't tell the pilot until we get off target,' Zimmerman said. 'He has enough worries.' It was later suspected that leaking fuel tanks contributed to the fuel shortage. ... On Robert Schwellinger's plane, after bombing their target, they formed up with another plane which had heavy battle damage and signaled that it was heading for Turkey. The engineer notified the pilots of the precarious fuel state, and the two craft set out to Turkey together. Radioman Earl Zimmerman notified Benghazi that the crew was heading for Turkey. Once over Turkish territory, two Turkish P-40s flew alongside and signaled for the bomber to drop its landing gear as an indication of surrender, which they did. 'James landed on a fighter strip and burned his brakes out on the short run. His crew was surrounded by soldiers with fixed bayonets. A Turkish officer arrived, gave the Americans a smiling hello, and knocked the nearest soldier flat on the ground. Turkish officers got into the plane, berserk with curiosity. They pulled rip cords on the parachutes, emptied first aid kits, and unrolled the bandages. They even squeezed the ointment from the tubes,' Zimmerman remembered." Dan Masters, "Dragged Through the Mouth of Hell: Toledo's Contribution to Operation Tidal Wave, August 1, 1943," Northwest Ohio History Journal, Vol. 84, No. 1 (October 6, 2016). | |
|
Died |
11 March 2001 | Buried at Toledo Memorial Park, Sylvania, Lucas County, Ohio, USA. | |
|
Other Biography from Journals |
"First Lieutenant Robert W. Schwellinger grew up at 820 St. John St. in Toledo (north of Woodlawn Cemetery) attended Woodward High School (class of 1939), and went to work as a laborer with his father at Collier-Barnett Co. in Toledo (mill that made doors, windows, etc.). He enlisted in the Army on January 27, 1941 at Fort Hayes in Columbus, Ohio." [He became Harold James' copilot. During the Ploesti raid, his plane diverted to Izmir Turkey.] "Schwellinger would be interned by the Turks until November 1943, when he escaped and returned to the 389th to serve out the rest of his tour. Schwellinger would survive the war, leaving the service in July 1945 as an assistant base operations officer at the B-24 training base at Pueblo Army Air Field in Pueblo, Colorado. After the war, Schwellinger returned to Toledo where he enjoyed a successful career with Toledo Scale. He died in 2001." Dan Masters, "Dragged Through the Mouth of Hell: Toledo's Contribution to Operation Tidal Wave, August 1, 1943," Northwest Ohio History Journal, Vol. 84, No. 1 (October 6, 2016). |
Revisions
Added " / " in the "Role/job" field as a separator to aid readability.
Richard Dieterle, highest rank changed inasmuch as a photo shows him wearing captain bars.
Richard Dieterle, adding historical material on the Ploesti raid from: Dan Masters, "Dragged Through the Mouth of Hell: Toledo's Contribution to Operation Tidal Wave, August 1, 1943," Northwest Ohio History Journal, Vol. 84, No. 1 (October 6, 2016).
Richard Dieterle. The Ploesti plane list shows that his plane did not have a nickname, a point also made by a previous editor. Dates of lifespan obtained from FindAGrave.com, "Robert W Schwellinger". Biographical material was obtained from: Dan Masters, "Dragged Through the Mouth of Hell: Toledo's Contribution to Operation Tidal Wave, August 1, 1943," Northwest Ohio History Journal, Vol. 84, No. 1 (October 6, 2016).
6 Nov. 2018 -- Ray Stout removed the fact that Schwellinger was in the 25 June 1943 mid-air collision in England; the official AAF accident report doesn't list his name on the roster of either plane.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Mighty Eighth Air Force Heritage Museum Membership List, July 2000 & Page 400 in the book 2ND AIR DIVISIONby Turner Publishing Company, 1998 edition (D790.A2S45), 389th BG Roster
