Robert Leo Myllykoski
Military![Gunners of the 306th Bomb Group sit atop ammunition for a B-17 Flying Fortress. Image stamped on reverse: 'Sport and General.' [stamp], 'Passed for publication 9 Jul 1943.' [stamp] and '273718.' [Censor no.] Printed caption on reverse: ''THE DEFENSIVE POWER OF FLYING FORTRESSES. The extremely heavy defense of the Flying Fortresses has enabled them to fight their way through to targets like Huls and Kiel in the face of the most intensive fighter opposition aerial warfare has ever seen. The result of these](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/wysiwyg_x2/public/freeman/media-379033.jpg.webp?itok=ctyTKM-h)
IWM, Roger Freeman Collection
Object Number - FRE 1167 - Gunners of the 306th Bomb Group sit atop ammunition for a B-17 Flying Fortress. Image stamped on reverse: 'Sport and General.' [stamp], 'Passed for...
Assigned to 423BS, 306, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Hanover in B-17 42-29900 'Unbearable II' 26-Jul-43; flak, crashed Dorrieloh, near Diepholz, Germany. Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 126
Awards: SS, POW, WWII Victory, EAME.
Post War: In 1990, his pilot Norman A. Armbrust and navigator Robert J. Ellwood wrote to get the Silver Star awarded to Myllykoski for his heroic act of retrieving the Ball turret gunner from the turret and helping him into a parachute and bailing out.
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: 306th Bomb Group 423rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: T-000143
- Highest Rank: Flight Officer
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
![Technical Sergeant Robert Myllykoski, a gunner of the 306th Bomb Group hangs from the ball turret of a B-17 Flying Fortress (RD-J, serial number 42-29900) nicknamed "Unbearable II", to talk to fellow airman Staff Sergeant John H. Jessup. Image stamped on reverse: 'Sport and General.' [stamp]. A printed caption was previously attached to the reverse, however this has been removed. Handwritten caption on reverse: '306BG, 273715.'](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-379031.jpg.webp?itok=8FRcSra8)
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Unbearable ii
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 423rd Bomb Squadron
Places
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Dulag Luft Grosstychow Dulag 12
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Germany
![A bomber crew of the 306th Bomb Group wave to Picture Post Girls in front of a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-24471) nicknamed "Four of a Kind" at Thurleigh in December 1942. Image stamped on reverse: '"Picture Post" [stamp], 'Passed for Publication 11 Dec 1942.' [stamp], '238038.' [Censor no.] Handwritten in censor's blue pencil on reverse: 'American Flying Fortress crew are introduced to the girls they will meet at Picture Post Xmas Party.'](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-379028.jpg.webp?itok=6Gc6iR0j)
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Bedford
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Fairport Harbor, Lake County, OH | 2 February 1919 | Son of Jacob O and Jenny E. [Braski] Myllykoski. |
|
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Furstenberg Brandenburg, Germany | 26 July 1943 | Prisoner of War (POW) at Stalag 3B Furstenberg Brandenburg, Prussia. |
|
Other Baled out POW |
Diepholz, Germany | 26 July 1943 | Failed to Return (FTR) Hanover in B-17 42-29900 'Unbearable II' 26-Jul-43; flak, crashed Dorrieloh, near Diepholz, Germany. POW MACR 126 |
|
Died |
Sebastian, FL | 21 November 2012 | |
|
Buried |
24 November 2012 | Arlington National Cemetery Section 36A, Grave 207 | |
|
Based |
Thurleigh | 26 July 1943 | Assigned to 423BS, 306, 8AF USAAF. |
Revisions
Added a "-" to the A/C tail # in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.
306th BG Association Directory, 1 September 1999 Edition; MACR 126, NARA,
href="http://www.wwiimemorial.com/registry/search/pframe.asp?HonoreeID=204847…">http://www.wwiimemorial.com/registry/search/pframe.asp?HonoreeID=204847…; / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 126 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
![Gunners of the 306th Bomb Group sit atop ammunition for a B-17 Flying Fortress. Image stamped on reverse: 'Sport and General.' [stamp], 'Passed for publication 9 Jul 1943.' [stamp] and '273718.' [Censor no.] Printed caption on reverse: ''THE DEFENSIVE POWER OF FLYING FORTRESSES. The extremely heavy defense of the Flying Fortresses has enabled them to fight their way through to targets like Huls and Kiel in the face of the most intensive fighter opposition aerial warfare has ever seen. The result of these](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-379033.jpg.webp?itok=HZKmtCgX)
![A bomber crew of the 306th Bomb Group stand beneath the wing of their B-17 Flying Fortress. Image stamped on reverse: 'Sport and General.' [stamp], 'Passed for publication 9 Jul 1943.' [stamp] and '273722.'[phott bureau no.] Printed caption on reverse: 'THE DEFENSIVE POWER OF FLYING FORTRESSES. The extremely heavy defense of the Flying Fortresses has enabled them to fight their way through to targets like Huls and Kiel in the face of the most intensive fighter opposition aerial warfare has ever seen. The](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-379034.jpg.webp?itok=awfKx6t0)