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Personal info

Full name
DRIVER, Robert Romayne "Bud"
Date of birth
29 May 1921
Age
22
Place of birth
Racine County, Wisconsin
Hometown
Racine, Racine County, Wisconsin

Military service

Service number
16009315
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Tail Gunner
Unit
565th Bombardment Squadron,
389th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Distinguished Flying Cross,
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
1 October 1943
Place of death
In the vicinity of Neustadt, Austria

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
B 31 54

Immediate family

Members
Romayne P. Driver (father)
Clara M. (Rothering) Driver (mother)
Dorothy G. Driver (sister)
Donald E. Driver (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
42-40775
Data
Type: B-24D
Nickname: Wolf Wagon
Destination: Wiener Neustadt, Austria
MACR: 5859

More information

S/Sgt Robert R. Driver graduated from Washington Park High School.

He enlisted in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 11June, 1941.
Just after releasing his bombs, Capt Kenneth H. Matson's plane took a direct flak in the no.3 engine and set the bomb bay afire. The Bombardier and Navigator bailed out to the left, and no more chutes were seen to emerge. The plane then went into a controlled dive to 10,000 feet and it was followed down by two ME-109s. Seven more chutes were reported before the ship went down into a flat spin.
Capt Matson states in the MACR: "Due to the rapidity with which the ship must have gone down, and the fact that it was spinning, made it impossible got the Tail Gunner to get out. Most have gone down with the ship."
S/Sgt Driver was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for shooting down a ME-109.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Michel Beckers, Carla Mans, www.389thbombgroup.com, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.footnote.com, www.ancestry.com - Wisconsin U.S. Birth Records

Photo source: www.findagrave.com, Peter Schouteten