Robert McCallum
Military ROLL OF HONOUR2Nd Lt. Robert Mccallum 2450 Bauman St., Omaha, Neb., Co-Pilot Of A B-17 Of The 8Th Air Force, London, England. Lt. Mccallum Who Was In The Raf Has Many Deeds Of Heroism To His Credit And Is Claimed To Be The Only Co-Pilot To Shoot Down An Enemy Plane, The Eleventh bagged By His Ship On One Mission. A Record For The USAAF In England. June 1943.
National Archives
On May 1, 1943, in B-17F #42-29649 while serving as Co-Pilot the aircraft was assigned to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire. A navigational error on return took the group over heavily defended Brest and the aircraft was attacked by fighters and caught on fire. The Pilot, 1Lt Lewis P. Johnson, Jr. managed to fly the heavily damaged aircraft back to England and landed at Cornwall. The BTG Maynard 'Snuffy' Smith was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions on this day. 3 parachuted out of the burning plane and were lost. Strong states that McCallum was 'an 11 day veteran and transfer from RAF' on the May 1 mission.
On 21 May 1943 in B-17F #42-29666 'Dearly Beloved' while serving as Co-Pilot Plane the aircraft was attacked by German fighters and forced to ditch into North Sea. He was wounded, but rescued and recovered. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and a Purple Heart for his actions on this operation. Wounded in Action (WIA).
On 14 October 1943 in B-17F #42-30813 'Queen Jeannie' while serving as Pilot the aircraft was attacked by German fighters and he was killed in the attack. The aircraft broke in two and crashed near Dorne, Belgium. Killed in Action (KIA).
Article published in the Omaha World Herald on 18 February 1944 reports that a memorial service attended by Robert McCallum's parents and sister took place at Miller Park Presbyterian Church, Omaha. It also reports that McCallum's plane 'held the record number of enemy aircraft - 11 - to be shot down in a single encounter'.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
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
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 423rd Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Dearly Beloved
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 423rd Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Queen Jeannie
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 423rd Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 14 October 1943
- Date: 21 May 1943
- Date: 1 May 1943
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Bedford
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Other Returned to Duty (RTD) |
1 May 1943 | Aboard B-17F #42-29649 as Co-Pilot aircraft was severely damaged on mission to St. Nazaire, but aircraft returned to England. He was not injured and Returned to Duty (RTD) | |
Other Wounded in Action (WIA) |
21 May 1943 | Aboard B-17F #42-29666 "Dearly Beloved" as Co-Pilot aircraft was attacked by fighters and forced to ditch in the North Sea on return from mission to Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Wounded, but rescued, awarded Distinguished Flying Cross and Purple Heart. Returned to Duty (RTD) | |
Other Killed in Action (KIA) |
14 October 1943 | Killed in B-17F #42-30813. He was the Pilot when the aircraft was attacked by fighters and crashed near Dorne, Belgium. | |
Buried |
Plot A, Row 36, Grave 6 | ||
Other Entered service from |
Exact year not known |
Revisions
Added " / " in the "Role/job" field as a separator to aid readability.
Added punctuation to the KIA event and to the "Summary biography" to aid clarity.
Moved source information from Bio to source message
Entry includes data COMBINED from a duplicate entry of Paul Andrews Project Bits and Pieces.
See Findagrave record for the Omaha World Herald clipping: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=56359673
Lee Cunningham 11-Feb-2015. Added NOTE to description showing combination of data from Paul Andrews Project Bits and Pieces.
Lee Cunningham 11-Feb-2015. Added Map location for Ardennes American Cemetery.
Lee Cunningham 11-Feb-2015. Added decorations and Burial event per American Battle Monument Commission (ABMC) record; made connections to Place, 3 Aircraft and 3 Missions within existing website data; Added RTD and WIA events based on "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE; Added KIA event per MACR 820; Edited Biography for chronological error.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Roll of Honor; MACR 0820, Losses of the 8th and 9th Air Forces Vol. 1 by Bishop and Hey pp. 113-4, 129, 335, First Over Germany by Russell Strong pp. 105-6, 120, 162, 171