Robert E Heichel

Military
media-20287.png UPL 20287 Robert Heichel as an Aviation Cadet ( photo courtesy of the Heichel family - http://www.inexpensiveflighttraining.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=8801344 )

Added photo

Object Number - UPL 20287 - Robert Heichel as an Aviation Cadet ( photo courtesy of the Heichel family -...

Robert Heichel attended the Windber High School during four years (his description in the Class of 1942 Yearbook : “He hath a stern look, but a merry heart.”) Before his enlistment in the Air Corps in 1942, he helped to build B-24 Liberators at the Ford Motor Company's Willow Run, Michigan plant. He trained at the San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center, Texas and is pictured as a Flight cadet in "The Mister", yearbook of the 44F class of the 304th Army Air Force Flying Training Detachment at Coleman, Texas. Sent overseas after training, he was assigned as a Pilot in the 491st Bomb Group / 854th Bomb Squadron in England. He was Pilot of B-24 "Belle Ringer" # 42-51195 when he managed to crash-land it in Belgium on return from the 14 March 1945 mission to bomb the marshalling yards at Gütersloh, Germany. Knocked unconscious by the crash, Robert woke up in a Belgian hospital and was later repatriated to the USA. He was discharged on 19 September 1945 from the Fort Indiantown Gap Military Reservation Service Center, Pennsylvania. On 28 December 1947, Robert Heicher and his Windber friends Aaron J. Bigan, 17 and James R. Morey, 18, took off in a early model Beechcraft Bonanza (V-tail variant) from a Johnstown, PA airport on a vacation trip after Christmas, intending to fly to Washington and from there to Miami, Florida. Unfortunately, shortly after take-off, an explosion was heard by a farmer, followed by a crash. A local coroner stated that the bodies of the three men and wreckage of the plane were scattered over a wide area and that the aircraft had exploded in the air.

Robert Heichel’s nephew Jay, himself a pilot, has a website dedicated to his Uncle Robert at http://www.inexpensiveflighttraining.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=8801…

Connections

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Units served with

A Pathfinder B-24 Liberator (V2-P+, serial number 42-51691) of the 491st Bomb Group. Handwritten caption on reverse: '491 BG supplying troops at Arnhem, Sept 1944.'
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 491st Bomb Group
  • Service Numbers: 10105080 and O2022747
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Co-Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 491st Bomb Group 854th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 35847379
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 491st Bomb Group 854th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 32966605 and O-944688
  • Highest Rank: Flight Officer
  • Role/Job: Navigator
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 491st Bomb Group 852nd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 38554536
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 491st Bomb Group 854th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 31379109
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Flight Engineer / Top Turret Gunner

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: Belle Ringer
  • Unit: 491st Bomb Group 493rd Bomb Group 852nd Bomb Squadron

Missions

  • Date: 14 March 1945
  • Official Description:

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Enlisted

Altoona, Pennsylvania, United States 26 October 1942 as a Private in the Air Corps

Other

near Florée, Belgium 14 March 1945 Crash-landed his Liberator in a field in Belgium on return from a mission to Gütersloh, Germany

Died

near Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States 28 December 1947 in an aviation accident near Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Born

Pennsylvania, United States the son of Willard A. and Hazel R. (Wissinger) Heichel
Windber, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States

Buried

Richland Cemetery, Geistown, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States

Revisions

Date
ContributorED-BB
Changes
Sources

NARA WWII Enlistments records
http://www.inexpensiveflighttraining.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=8801…
http://boards.ancestry.co.uk/surnames.heichel/35/mb.ashx
The Evening Sun, Hanover, Pennsylvania, 29 December 1947

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

491st BG Roster / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia

Robert E Heichel: Gallery (11 items)