Harry A Robey Jr

Military ROLL OF HONOUR

10-Jul-1942 Assigned as Pilot of B-17F #41-24619 [GN-S] "S-for-Sugar", 303BG/427BS at Alamogordo Field, Alamogordo, New Mexico. It appears from available records that he and his crew were re-assigned to B-17F #42-2966 at Dow Field, Bangor, Maine on or about 5-Oct-42. He, his crew and B-17F #42-2966 arrived at Molesworth, UK on 28-Oct-42.



B-17F #41-24619 arrived at Molesworth, UK piloted by MAJ Charles C. Sheridan, CO 427BS on 25-Oct-42.



Shot down 23 January 1943 in B-17F #41-24584 'Susfu' while serving as Pilot the aircraft was shot down and crashed at Abbey Pleyben near Edern, France. Killed in Action (KIA) by National Archives and 303BG records. No MACR was issued



He participated in 5 Operations (3 were Aborted) See Biography events.



NOTE: This entry COMBINES data Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database.

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

Official emblem of the 303rd Bomb Group approved 7 November 1942.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Kali
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 427th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Susfu
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 427th Bomb Squadron
Captain Albert W. Dieffenback, a bombardier of the 303rd Bomb Group, admires Bugs Bunny painted onto the nose of his B-17 Flying Fortress. Passed as censored 9 May 1943. Printed caption on reverse: '14. Captain Albert W. Dieffenbach, of Garrett Park, Md., and the bomber in which he flies as group bombardier.' On reverse: US Army Press Censor ETO [Stamp].
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: S For Sugar
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 427th Bomb Squadron
A bomber crew of the 303rd Bomb Group, with their B-17 Flying Fortress (GN-V, serial number 42-2966), after a raid on Germany. From left to right they are: Sergeant Ward W. Kirkpatrick (Kalispel, Montana); Technical Sergeant Lucian W. Means, (Luguna Beach, California); First Lieutenant Milton K. Conver (Cincinnatti, Ohio); Second Lieutenant John W Dillenger (Avoca, Iowa), Co-Pilot; Captain B.B. Southworth (Columbus, Ohio), Pilot; Sergeant Jack Belk (Temple, Texas); Sergeant William Fleming (Burdine, Kentu
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: No 11 Combat Crew Replacement Center No 1 Combat Crew Replacement Center 303rd Bomb Group 427th Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Other

Assigned to Aircraft

Alamogordo, NM 88310, USA 10 July 1942 Assigned as Pilot with crew of B-17F 41-24619 "S-for-Sugar", 303BG/427BS at Alamogordo Field, Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Other

Change in Aircraft Assignment

Bangor, ME, USA 5 October 1942 Re-assigned, with crew, to B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BS at Dow Field, Bangor, Maine.

Other

Arrived in UK

Molesworth, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28, UK 28 October 1942 Arrived at Molesworth, UK as Pilot of B-17F 42966, 303BG/427BS.

Other

Mission #1, 1LT Harry A. Robey, w/B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BS - Aborted

Saint-Nazaire, France 17 November 1942 Served as Pilot of B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BG on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France, but mechanical failures forced him to abort the sortie. RTB OK.

Other

Mission #2, 1LT Harry A. Robey, w/B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BS - Aborted

Saint-Nazaire, France 18 November 1942 Served as Pilot of B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BG on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France, but mechanical failures forced him to abort the sortie. RTB OK.

Other

Mission #3, 1LT Harry A. Robey, w/B-17F 41-24517, 303BG/427BS

Saint-Nazaire, France 23 November 1942 Served as Pilot of B-17 41-24517 "Kali", 303BG/427BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France. RTB OK.

Other

Mission #4, 1LT Harry A. Robey, w/B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BS - Aborted

Romilly-sur-Seine, France 20 December 1942 Served as Pilot of B-17F 42-2966, 303BG/427BG on a mission to bomb the German air depot at Romilly-sur-Seine, France, but mechanical failures forced him to abort the sortie. RTB OK.

Other

Killed in Action (KIA)

Edern, France 23 January 1943 Killed when aircraft crashed near Abbey Pleyben near Edern, France. No MACR was ever issued to document this loss, so the circumstances are unknown. The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) does not have a record that this airman was ever interred in an American cemetery in Europe or on a Wall of the Missing. It is probably that no remains were ever recovered.

Other

Mission #5, 1LT Harry A. Robey, w/B-17F 41-24584, 303BG/427BS - KIA

Lorient, France 23 January 1943 Served as Pilot of B-17F 41-24584 "Susfu", 303BG/427BG on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at Lorient, France. The aircraft was shot donw by German fighters and he was Killed in Action KIA.

Born

Sanat Clara, California

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added a "#" to all the A/C serial numbers in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Corrected Airrival in UK date.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 21-Dec-2015. Correcting typo in Assigned to Aircraft event Description.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 19-Dec-2015. Added Mission #5 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 23-Jan-43: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/011.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 19-Dec-2015. Added Mission #4 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 23-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/004.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 19-Dec-2015. Added Mission #3 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 23-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/004.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 19-Dec-2015. Added Mission #2 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 18-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/002.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 19-Dec-2015. Added Mission #1 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 17-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/001.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 19-Dec-2015. Added Arrived in UK event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Harry A. Robey crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-427-robey.html

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 19-Dec-2015. Added Change in Aircraft Aircraft event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Harry A. Robey crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-427-robey.html

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 19-Dec-2015. Added Assigned to Aircraft event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Harry A. Robey crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-427-robey.html

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 19-Dec-2015. Added biography information from 10-Jul-42 through 25-Oct-42 to Summary Biography per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Harry A. Robey crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-427-robey.html; made connections to Aircraft and Missions per 303BG website Mission Reports: http://www.303rdbg.com/

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 22-Jan-2015 . Added NOTE and source to Biography for information combined from DUPLICATE entry.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 22-Jan-2015. Added SN and KIA event per 303rd Bomb Group website and crew list; Edited Biography per "Losses of the 8th & 9th AIr Forces" Stan Bishop & john A. Hey MBE; made connections to PLace, AIrcraft and Mission within existing website data.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Roll of Honor, Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol. 1 by Bishop and Hey p. 66, National Archives web site