Robert Earl Nance Jr
MilitaryUSAAF photo
Captain Robert Nance was Bombardier on B-17 #42-97564, shot down by Flak on 20 July 1944. The Fortress force-landed between Chaam and Baarle-Hertog, South of Tilburg, The Netherlands. Evaded (EVD). Nance was helped by Dutch and Belgian citizens and members of the Résistance. See the story of his evasion at http://www.evasioncomete.be/fnancere.html
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 100th Bomb Group 418th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 13081083 at enlistment, then O-814034
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 418th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-694318
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 100th Bomb Group 418th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 38372191
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 418th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39559984
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 418th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 15335693
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner; Engineer
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Belle of Berlin
- Unit: 100th Bomb Group 418th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 20 July 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
21 January 1918 | Altamont, Illinois | |
Enlisted |
2 July 1940 | as a Private in the Air Corps in Chicago, Illinois | |
Other force-landed |
20 July 1944 | in B-17 42-97564 near Chaam, The Netherlands | |
Other evaded capture |
20 July 1944 - 4 September 1944 | with the help of Dutch and Belgian citizens and members of the Résistance. He was in Brussels when the city was liberated on 3 September 1944 by British troops and came in contact with one of their units the following day. | |
Died |
12 September 2010 | Travis Air Force Base, Fairfield, California, USA | |
Kankakee, Illinois | |||
Buried |
hncinerated, his remains are kept at the Memory Gardens Cemetery in Livermore, California, USA. |
Revisions
NARA WWII Enlistment records
MACR 7414
Escape & Evasion Report E&E 1844
100th Bomb Group Foundation Directory, 2000 - 2001 MACR 7414 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 7414 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database