Missing information?

Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?

Submit

Personal info

Full name
BOOTH, Robert Allen
Date of birth
25 June 1922
Age
22
Place of birth
Waterbury, New Haven County, Connecticut
Hometown
Litchfield County, Connecticut

Military service

Service number
O-812740
Rank
First Lieutenant
Function
Pilot
Unit
405th Fighter Squadron,
371st Fighter Group
Awards
Distinguished Flying Cross,
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
27 October 1944
Place of death
Near Le Val-d'Ajol, France

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Epinal
Plot Row Grave
B 12 23

Immediate family

Members
Harold C. Booth (father)
Mabel F. Booth (mother)
Elizabeth M. Booth (sister)
Walter F. Booth (brother)
Arthur L. Booth (brother)
Harold M. Booth (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
42-76477
Data
Type: P-47D
Destination: Near Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, France
Mission: Food dropping
MACR: Not available

More information

1st Lt Robert A. Booth graduated from Watertown High School in 1939 and was a laboratory technician at Scovill Manufacturing Company.

He volunteered for the U.S. Army in Hartford, Connecticut, on 10 October 1942.

Lt Booth took off from Airbase Y-7 in Dole-Tavaux, France, on a resupply mission for the "Lost Battalion" (141st Infantry, 36th Division) in poor weather. He likely lost control of his aircraft after transitioning from contact to instrument flying just prior to entering heavy cloud cover. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroism on this mission.

A monument can be found near the crash site in Le Val-d'Ajol, France.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, www.abmc.gov, www.findagrave.com – Andy, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov – WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / 1940 Census, https://371stfightergroup.wordpress.com, WWII Draft Card
Photo source: www.findagrave.com – Andy / Alexandre Laurent / Philippe Vanderdonckt