On our eighth mission, March 24th, 1945,
we had dropped our supplies
and we started heading out, and our ship got hit by something that I knew was pretty heavy.
For the young men and women of the United States, the Second World War created opportunities,
not only to serve one’s country, but for youthful ambitions to become a reality.
For Robert Vance, the goal was to fly.
I tried to enlist in the Air Force, and at the time they weren’t taking any more applications
for cadets. I was drafted. I got drafted into the U.S. Army. I signed in in Columbus, Ohio on March
10th, 1943. I was in the 78th Lightning Division in North Carolina. That’s where I went first.
I was in the weapons platoon of a rifle company. And I had a light machine gun squad.
And I always wanted to fly, so I decided I’d put in for cadets.
So, that’s how I got out of the Infantry.
Robert was finally accepted into the U.S. Army Air Forces and began training
in radio school. But it wasn’t long until a more enticing opportunity caught his eye.
One day I saw on the bulletin board where they needed gunners for the Air Force.
So I volunteered for gunnery.
And I went to Tyndall Field, Florida, and took my gunnery there.
I went up to Westover Field, Massachusetts,
and that’s where we got our crew. And we did our transition flying there.
I started training in B-17’s, and then we switched to B-24’s up at Westover.
I was an assistant radio operator and gunner,
flying the tail turret and the waist at different times.
I was in the 506th Squadron, 44th Bomb Group.
At the dawn of 1945, Robert and his crew were on their way to England.
Nearly two years since he was drafted,
Robert’s training was about to be put to use in actual combat.
Well, we went to Shipdham. We were a replacement crew for the 44th Bomb Group.
And we flew out of there to over Germany.
Most of them were not that bad. Some factories.
The German Air Force was almost extinct. Our main thing was flak then, and a lot of it.
I remember going over Berlin once. We were flying along there,
black smoke everywhere from the antiaircraft.
And we got rid of our bombs,
and I remember looking out and saw a guy floating down in a parachute. I felt sorry for that guy.
Whether he made it or not - boy -
going down through all that with the flak and the Germans firing at him…
I hope he made it, but his luck wasn’t too good there, I don’t believe.
Yeah, that was a tough mission.
On our eighth mission, March 24th, 1945,
we were dropping supplies for the advance across France and Germany.
We had dropped our supplies,
and we started heading out, and our ship got hit by something that I knew was pretty heavy.
And I knew when we got hit that something was wrong up forward, ‘cause
we got no response from them. No alarm went off, or anything.
So, some of those must have been hit too.
Then we noticed number four engine was on fire.
And one of the guys in the back with us opened the bomb bay door, and flames came leaping out at him.
On that mission, Louie and I were in the waist.
We looked out the waist window and we saw Sergeant Diaz.
He fell out of a B-24.
We saw him fall out, hit the ground, and bounce like a rubber ball.
And there were reports that he had a parachute on, but I don’t recall that.
And we were looking right at him.
Poor guy. What a way to go.
Before long, we hit the ground.
We bounced off the ground for about fifty seconds, and then went in and crashed, still burning.
Two of us were thrown clear.
And then the thing exploded, killing all seven others.
Only Robert and waist gunner Louie DiBlasio survived the crash.
After bidding a final farewell to their fallen crew,
the two men made their way through German territory.
But it wasn't long before they fell into enemy hands.
And we were captured, I believe the next day.
And then they took us out and started marching us towards a wooded area.
I figured, “Uh-oh. Boy, this might be it.”
Because we’d heard of them shooting some prisoners.
And we still had our .45 pistols, and so they took our .45’s.
They wanted Louie to disassemble one. So he did.
Then they wanted him to put it back together. But Louie told them he forgot how to do that.
He was lying like a fib,
because we knew how to take them apart and put them back together blindfolded.
But he didn’t want to be shot by his own pistol.
But they turned us over to an artillery outfit who was hiding in the woods.
So, we all ended up in a hospital in Germany, near where we were shot down.
In the following weeks, back home in the U.S.,
Robert’s parents received a letter declaring their son missing in action, and presumed dead.
But I can imagine what my mother and dad went through, or any other parent.
Must have been rough.
So, we were in that hospital when we saw the P-47’s come around, strafing the town.
So we knew, “Well, it’s getting close to the Germans giving up.”
And pretty soon we heard the tanks and trucks, everything coming into town.
We knew the Germans were about ready to surrender, ‘cause the troops were coming in.
We saw all those guys in the tanks and trucks…
Yeah, those Americans sure looked good coming in there.
They looked pretty tough too.
A jeep came up behind us. It had a sergeant in it with a lieutenant.
So, they got us an ambulance, and they picked us up.
I ended up in a hospital in Liége, Belgium, and Louie went to a hospital in Paris.
That’s where we separated. So, I never did see him again until back in the States.
His name is DiBlasio. He was from Brooklyn.
Quite a guy.
He passed away a couple years ago. So, I’m the only one left on my crew.
After being liberated from German captivity,
Robert returned to his base in England and immediately wrote a letter to his parents,
assuring them that their son was safe and coming home.
About a week or so after they got that, we were shipped out
on a convoy, going back to Massachusetts.
Well, it was pretty nice.
I got that sixty-day furlough, and went on a fishing trip with my dad
and two or three other fellows, up into the northern part of Michigan.
Caught a lot of nice fish up there.