Memorial

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Robert Mitchell attended Peoria High School in Peoria, Illinois. While a student at Bradley college he enlisted on 1 October 1943.

After bombs away on the target, the flight received numerous fighter passes of ME 262's. The first fighter pass knocked out the vertical stabilizer and the tail turret, killing the tail gunner. On the next fighter pass the airplane received a great deal of damage and lost partically all of the controls.

Six crew members were taken prisoner, three were killed.

According to German records, Sgt Mitchell was initially buried at the POW Cemetery of Döbertiz.

In June 1951 an investigation was conducted to find several American deceased at the grounds where the POW Cemetery of Döbertiz was situated. The former caretaker, however, stated that the Americans exhumed their remains in 1947, in 1948 the French and in 1949 the Italians, Germans and Russians completely exhumed the cemetery. This was done systematically, field by field, row by row. In late 1949 the former cemetery site was returned to its German owner. In 1951 it was planted with potatoes. The conclusion of the investigation was that when the cemetery finally was disinterred all remains left, were evacuated to Russian or German Honor cemeteries and buried in unmarked graves.