Robert Johnson
Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 466th Bomb Group
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Military
Group
The 466th Bomb Group flew B-24 Liberators from Attlebridge, Norfolk, during the last year of the war in Europe. The Group flew 232 missions in the course of the year and celebrated the 100th one by inviting local people onto the base to mark the...
Squadron
B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
27 May 1944
29 May 1944
Mission #2. The target was an aircraft assembly plant. Flak was exceedingly heavy. We were in the air 7-1/2 hours.
30 May 1944
Mission #3. Same target as before. A piece of flak broke the pilots windshield. No-one hurt.
2 June 1944
Operations on this day were specified for D minus 3 by the Overall Air Plan as modified by Headquarters A.E.A.F. All objectives were located in the Pas de Calais (Fortitude) area, the attacks having as their purpose deception of the enemy as to the...
3 June 1944
6 June 1944
D-Day. Start of Operation Overlord.
8 June 1944
Mission #7 - Bombed the railway yards in Tours, France. Long ride (7 hours).
11 June 1944
Flew a sortie flight to the French Coast at 24,000 feet. 8th Combat Flight. No flak.
15 June 1944
18 June 1944
Military site : airfield
Attlebridge was constructed for RAF use and completed to that standard in 1942. However, with news that it was to be assigned to the American Air Force, the runways were extended and additional hardstandings and outbuildings constructed for the heavy...
Military site : airfield
Cluntoe was built for the RAF in 1940-42, before being handed obver to the Eighth Air Force. It was used as a Combat Crew Replacement Centre for the training of crews, and was also home to the 311th Ferrying Squadron. It was closed after being handed...
Military site : airfield
USAAF Air Transport Command Ferry Terminal and Movement Section from 1943-45.
Event | Location | Date |
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Born | Mahanoy, PA | 27 July 1921 |
Lived in | Brooklyn, NY | February 1942 |
119 Bedford Avenue |
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Enlisted | New York, NY | 24 October 1942 |
Transit to ETO via Southern Route | Losey Army Air Field, Pastillito, PR | 10 April 1944 |
Flew from West Palm Beach to Puerto Rico. |
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Transit to ETO via Southern Route | Atkinson Field, British Guiana (now Guyana) | 11 April 1944 |
Flew to Atkinson Field |
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Transit to ETO via Southern Route | Belem, Brazil | 12 April 1944 |
Flew to Belem, Brazil |
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Transit to ETO via Southern Route | Fortaleza, Brazil | 13 April 1944 |
Flew to Fortaleza, Brazil |
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Transit to ETO via Southern Route | Dakar, French West Africa (now Senegal) | 17 April 1944 |
Flew across the Atlantic Ocean to Dakar |
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Transit to ETO via Southern Route | Marrakesh, Morroco | 18 April 1944 |
Flew to Marrakesh |
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Transit to the ETO via the Southern Route | RAF Valley, Wales | 21 April 1944 |
Landed at RAF Valley from Marrakesh, Morroco. |
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Transit by Train | Stone, England | 22 April 1944 |
Train from Anglesley to Stone, England |
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Transit by Train | Stranaer, Scotland | 27 April 1944 |
Trained from Stone to Stranaer |
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Combat Crew Training | RAF Cluntoe, Northern Ireland | 28 April 1944 – 7 May 1944 |
No.4 Combat Crew Replacement Center |
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Transit by Ferry | Larne, Northern Ireland | 28 April 1944 |
Took a ferry to Larne, then a train to RAF Cluntoe |
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Assigned to the 466th bG | RAF Attlebridge | 16 May 1944 |
466th BG Combat Tour | RAF Attlebridge | 27 May 1944 – 25 August 1944 |
Completed a 31 mission tour |
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1st Combat Mission | Nuenkirchen, Germany | 27 May 1944 |
1st mission. 52x100 lbs bombs. Target - Railroad yards. Altitude - 23,000 ft. Lost oil on #3 engine, feathered it and went back to England. Dropped the bombs on an airfield in France. Escorted back by P-47's. No fighters and little flak. |
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2nd Combat Mission | Tutow Airfield, Germany | 29 May 1944 |
10x500 lbs bombs. Target - Airfield. Altitude: 20,000 feet |
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6th Combat Mission | Avranches, France | 6 June 1944 |
12x500 lbs bombs. Altitude: 15,000 feet. Weather: Heavy white clouds. We took off at 3 am in a light rain. It was dark and pretty rough flying with so many planes in the air. It seemed as if everything that could fly was up today. When we hit the Channel, the sun broke through and down below we could see boats of every kind, all over the Channel. We could see cannons fire from shore and ships firing. I never saw so many planes in the air as I saw today. No fighters, moderate flak. |
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8th Combat Mission | Beauvais, France | 11 June 1944 |
20x250 lbs bombs. Target: airfield at Beauvais. Altitude: 20,000 ft. Three bombs failed to release. We decided to safety them, but two of them fell out, taking the bomb bay doors with them. The other snagged on a cable and was hanging by it's nose, so we went over the North Sea and Tony cut it loose using a fingernail file and knife. |
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9th Combat Mission | Guyancourt, France | 15 June 1944 |
12x500 lbs bombs |
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11th Combat Mission | Gorenflos, France | 19 June 1944 |
20x250 lbs bombs |
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15th Combat Mission | Lens, France | 25 June 1944 |
40x100 lbs bombs |
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16th Combat Mission | Saarbrucken, Germany | 28 June 1944 |
20x250 lbs bombs |
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17th Combat Mission | Aschersleben, Germany | 29 June 1944 |
52x100 lbs bombs |
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Practice Misson | RAF Attlebridge | 4 July 1944 |
It rained all morning (it has been raining since our last mission on June 29). The sun came out in the afternoon so they sent us on a practice mission. |
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Three Day Pass | Hyde Park, London, England | 24 July 1944 |
"Still in London, but we are leaving tonight. Me and Tony Malorni went to Hyde Park. We were there about 10 minutes when we heard the drone of a buzz bomb. We looked up and saw it diving. We quickly jumped behind a big tree. The bomb hit over 100 yards away and the blast was terrific. It killed 3 and injured 3 other people. For blocks around, windows were broken. That was a little too close for me! |
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Test Hop | RAF Attlebridge | 27 July 1944 |
"Test Hopped our plane. Just the pilot and four of us gunners. I acted as co-pilot" |
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27th Combat Mission | Rostock, Germany | 4 August 1944 |
52x100 lbs. bombs |
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Three Day Pass | Norwich, England | 9 August 1944 – 11 August 1944 |
Got a three day pass and went to Norwich. Our group went to Saarbrucken and were hit by a lot of flak. We lost two planes and several other wounded. One of the planes that went down was our plane (#42-95268 "Penthouse For Ten" with the Harry McGregor Crew). Too bad. She was a good ship. |
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100th Mission Party | RAF Attlebridge | 18 August 1944 |
Today we had our 100th mission party. Glenn Miller and Band played |
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31st Combat Mission | Lubeck, Germany | 25 August 1944 |
10 Incendiary bomb clusters |
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Headed Home | Glasgow, Scotland | 18 September 1944 |
We boarded the Rotterdam at Glasgow, Scotland and were homeward bound. Arriving at pier on 43rd street in Manhattan. |
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Died | Reading, PA | 14 May 2007 |
Buried | Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, Annville, PA | 18 May 2007 |
Indiantown Gap National Cemetery |
Date | Contributor | Update |
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08 September 2020 23:56:46 | 466thHistorian | Changes to events, aircraft associations and mission associations |
Sources | ||
466th BG Archives - Stephen Feco Diary |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
08 September 2020 15:22:49 | 466thHistorian | Changes to awards |
Sources | ||
466th BG Archives - Diary of Stephen Fecho |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
08 September 2020 15:20:10 | 466thHistorian | Changes to events and aircraft associations |
Sources | ||
466th BG Archives - Diary of Stephen Fecho |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
08 September 2020 01:49:26 | 466thHistorian | Changes to events |
Sources | ||
466th BG Archives - Stephen Feco Diaries |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
08 September 2020 01:23:51 | 466thHistorian | Changes to service number, highest rank, role, events, unit associations, place associations and aircraft associations |
Sources | ||
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2238/images/44027_05_00... 466th BG Archives - Stephen Fecho Diary |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
27 September 2014 18:25:23 | AAM | AAM ingest |
Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / age 264 in the book SECOND AIR DIVISION by Turner Publishing Co, 1998 edition |