Roy J Sykora
Military ROLL OF HONOURAdded photo
Roy Sykora grew up in Melrose Park and attended the Proviso High School there, playing on the school’s Varsity Letter Hillside football team. After completing his studies, he enlisted as an Aviation Cadet in the Air Corps. He was in the Montana State College training detachment at Bozeman, Montana before following pre-flight training at the Santa Ana, California Army Air Base. Then it was gunnery school at Kingsman, Arizona, before he was transferred to the Hondo Army Airfield in Texas where he had a four-month course in advanced aerial navigation. After receiving an Army Air Forces commission as a 2nd Lt, he was sent overseas in the summer of 1944. Roy was assigned to the 486th Bomb Group / 833rd Bomb Squadron in England. A navigator, he was flying his second mission on B-17 “The Last Roundup” # 43-37927 on the 6 December 1944 mission to Merseburg, Germany. The B-17 was hit by Flak and crashed near Ijmuiden, The Netherlands. Roy Sykora and the 8 other crew members were killed. Missing Air Crew Report – MACR 11048. Roy Sykora is still listed as Missing In Action and has no known grave.
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: 486th Bomb Group 833rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-760522
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 486th Bomb Group 833rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-771285
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 486th Bomb Group 833rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 36747223
- Highest Rank: Corporal
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 486th Bomb Group 833rd Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Corporal
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 486th Bomb Group 833rd Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: The Last Roundup
- Unit: 486th Bomb Group 833rd Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 6 December 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Acton
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Other Killed in Action (KIA) |
IJmuiden, The Netherlands | 6 December 1944 | Died in the loss of B-17 # 43-37927 |
Born |
Melrose Park, Illinois, USA | ||
Melrose Park, Cook County, Illinois, United States | |||
Other Memorialized |
Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, The Netherlands | Memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, The Netherlands |
Revisions
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 11048 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database