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Personal info

Full name
WILKINS, Robert R Jr
Date of birth
8 January 1917
Age
27
Place of birth
Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Hometown
Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Military service

Service number
O-690022
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Function
Co-Pilot
Unit
701st Bombardment Squadron,
445th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
21 November 1944
Place of death
Near Dingen, District Wesermunde, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
K 16 21

Immediate family

Members
Robert R. Wilkins (father)
Catherine K. (Maddigan) Wilkins (mother)
Myrtle C. Wilkins (sister)
Marie A. Wilkins (sister)
Ruth A. (Gerwig) Wilkins (wife)
Suzanne M. Wilkins (daughter)

Plane data

Serial number
42-100337
Data
Type: B-24
Destination: Hamburg
Mission: Bombing
MACR: 10409

More information

2nd Lt Robert R. Wilkins enlisted in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 24 April 1941. He graduated from Lubbock army air field in Texas in September, 1943 and had been commissioned a second lieutenant. He married Ruth Gerwig at the Post Chapel L.A.A.F. in Lubbock, Texas in 1943.
Qualified as a pilot, he then was stationed at Liberal, Kanas where he received further training.

Ship was hit by flak and exploded in the air and burnt in crash.

Source of information: Danny van der Groen, Astrid van Erp, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov – WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com – 1940 Census / Maddigan-Doyle FTM Family Tree / Veteran Compensation Application File, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.newspapers.com - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Photo source: www.findagrave.com – Des Philippet, Anthony Destro, Arie-Jan van Hees, Pilot Class Book 43-H, Waco, Texas/Pilot Class Book 43-H, Lubbock, Texas