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Personal info

Full name
HARDY, Robert William
Date of birth
3 October 1917
Age
25
Place of birth
Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York
Hometown
Waverly, Tioga County, New York

Military service

Service number
33377791
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Right Waist Gunner
Unit
336th Bombardment Squadron,
95th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Finding of Death
Date of death
13 June 1943
Place of death
Baltic Sea, off the coast of Kiel, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
Luther Clement Hardy (father)
Helen Elizabeth (Freer) Hardy (mother)
Resta Addie (Strope) Hardy (wife)
Joan Constance Hardy (daughter)

Plane data

Serial number
42-29680
Data
Type: B-17F
Nickname: Battlin B
Destination: Kiel, Germany
Mission: Bombing of U-boat yards
MACR: 2751

More information

S/Sgt Robert W. Hardy graduated from Waverly High School.

He was a civil service inspector of aircraft at the Fairchild factory in Hagerstown, Maryland.

He enlisted in Baltimore, Maryland on 30 September 1942 and was sent overseas in May 1943 as a corporal and thus received several promotions to attain his final rank.

Statement from Captain David E. Olsson, Assistant Operations Officer:
"B-17F 42-29680, piloted by 1st Lt Joseph L. Nunes on 13 June 1943, was last seen between 54 ° to 55° N and 08° to 10° E. The aircraft was never seen in trouble or leave the formation. On this mission, a great deal of enemy opposition was encountered (over 100 enemy aircraft), causing 10 aircraft of this unit to be lost. It is understandable that the crews returned unable to give any information concerning this missing aircraft."

The entire crew of ten men was killed. The remains of seven were never recovered and are remembered on the Walls of the Missing at Margraten. One is buried at Ardennes Cemetery and two are buried in the U.S.A.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - 1920 Census, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.8thafhs.com/db/index.php, Star-Gazette 25 June 1943

Photo source: Danny van der Groen, www.ancestry.com - 1_rfeerer