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Personal info

Full name
SUDBURY, Robert E
Date of birth
1922
Age
unknown
Place of birth
Florida
Hometown
Bradenton, Manatee County, Florida

Military service

Service number
14064918
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Left Waist Gunner
Unit
337th Bombardment Squadron,
96th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Missing in Action
Date of death
16 December 1943
Place of death
Kimswerd, the Netherlands

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
Leroy Sudbury (father)
Lee M. Sudbury (mother)
Edith H. Sudbury (sister)

Plane data

Serial number
42-3265
Data
Type: B-17F
Nickname: Holy Mackeral
Destination: Bremen Germany
Mission: Bombing of the port area
MACR: 1568/1567

More information

S/Sgt Robert E. Sudbury attended Manatee High School and was a clerk.

He volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States in Camp Blanding, Florida on 8 January 1942.

When the B-17 #42-30860 was attacked by fighters, witnesses saw it exploded and, when going down, colliding with #42-3265 between the Dutch mainland and the Frisian Islands east of Texel.

Nine crew members were killed, one survived and was taken prisoner.

S/Sgt Sudbury's photo has been enshrined in a place of honor outside the media center at Manatee High School, along with other students from the school who died in World War II.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, André Koch, Terry Hirsch, Angie Monroe, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.fold3.com - MACR 1568 / 1567, www.ancestry.com - 1940 Census, http://www.bradenton.com/news/local/article65205212.html

Photo source: André Koch, Bradenton Herald - Jim Jones, Manatee High School