Robert Zeno Grimes
MilitaryServed in the AF for 30 years.
Shot down 20 Oct 1943 in B -17 'Shack Rabbit III', a B-17 on loan from 413th Squadron. Hit by fighters, crashed near Hirson, Belgium. Evaded (EVD) - Escape & Evasion Report E&E 361. Learned that 4 of his crew were killed in action and that five others had survived the crash. 'You never stop thinking about it. '
After receiving medical attention for a leg wound, with the help of the Belgian Comete evasion organization, he went by foot, bicycle and train to the Spanish border. Basque guides took him and others, including Bombardier 2nd Lt Lloyd A. Stanford and Co-Pilot Jim F. Burch (both on B-17 42-3539 of 385th BG/550th BS - MIA 10/10/1943) on an overnight hike in the freezing rain through the Pyrenees and into Spain before dawn Dec 24, pursued by Spanish patrols. Jim Burch drowned in the crossing of the Bidassoa River, a natural border between France and Spain. Bob Grimes was back in England on 30 January 1944.
See the pages for him and the crews of 42-30372 and 42-3539 at www.evasioncomete.be >>> search on the aircraft serials or on the names.
Robert Grimes' awards : Legion of Merit, Air Medal, Purple Heart, AF Commendation Medal, and many more.
Peter Eisner has written a book about Robert Grimes' evasion : "The Freedom Line", first published in 2004 by William Morrow/Harper Collins.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 96th Bomb Group 339th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 17062836 and O-678500
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Flight Engineer / Top Turret Gunner / Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 96th Bomb Group 413th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 11066504
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 96th Bomb Group 339th Bomb Squadron 413th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 35335090
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 96th Bomb Group 413th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 18075384 and O-747132
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 96th Bomb Group 339th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32439050
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Shack Rabbit III
- Unit: 96th Bomb Group 413th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 20 October 1943
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Station 138
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Portsmouth, Virginia | 24 November 1922 | |
Enlisted |
Richmond, Virginia, United States | 11 March 1942 | Enlisted as a Private in the Air Corps |
Other Evaded Capture |
20 October 1943 | ||
Died |
Fort Belvoir, Virginia, United States | 21 April 2010 | |
Buried |
|||
Portsmouth, Virginia, United States |
Revisions
Merged with duplicate entry to include information from : Combat Chronology; Snetterton Falcons pg 76; MACR 1017 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 1017 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
NARA WWII Enlistment records
MACR 1017
Escape & Evasion Report E&E 361
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/ MACR 1017; Snetterton Falcons, pg 59