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name
BEUTKE, Robert E - Date of
birth
1917 -
Age
unknown - Place of
birth
Long Point, Livingston County, Illinois -
Hometown
Long Point, Livingston County, Illinois
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-727154 -
Rank
First Lieutenant -
Function
Co-Pilot -
Unit
32nd Bombardment Squadron,
301st Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
2 November 1943 - Place of
death
Mollram, Austria
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| C | 7 | 83 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Earnest W. Beutke (father)
Mildred E. (Wheeler) Beutke (mother)
Donald W. Beutke (brother)
Maxine E. Beutke (sister)
John L. Beutke (brother)
Wallace Beutke (brother)
Barbara J. Beutke (sister)
William Beutke (brother)
Gordon Beutke (brother)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-30127 -
Data
Type: B-17F
Destination: Wiener Neustadt, Austria
Mission: Bombing of the aircraft factory and surrounding industrial complex
MACR: 1094
More information
1st Lt Robert E. Beutke attended 3 years of college and was a clerk general office before he joined the Regular Army on 7 February 1941.Witness statement of Alexander Walker, S/Sgt 32nd Bomb Squadron: "I was flying Ball Turret on A/C # 42-30333 and A/C # 42-30127 was flying right wing in our second element. Fighters attacked A/C #42-30127 as it was on the bomb run and set #4 engine on fire. The plane fell back away and then came back up into position and salvoed its bombs. The fighters hit him again and #1 engine started to smoke. The plane started down in a circle for about 2000 feet and then started right down. About 9000 feet from the ground the plane blew up. No chutes came out of this plane".
He was taken prisoner and died of his injuries in a hospital in Austria. The entire crew of nine men was killed. Robert E. Beutke and Raymond W. Irwin are buried at Lorraine Cemetery, Fred E. Hoop and James J. Funk are buried at Ardennes Cemetery.
He is remembered at the Long Point Cemetery, Long Point, Livingston County, Illinois.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Raf Dyckmans, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov – WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / Ashinhurst Gillespie Family Tree, www.fold3.com, www.findagrave.com, http://aircrewremembered.com/USAAFCombatOperations/Nov.43.html, Genealogy Bank -The Pontiac Daily Leader - 26 November 1943
Photo source: www.findagrave.com – Tony Cannon, www.ancestry.com – Ashinhurst C, Atie-Jan van Hees - Pilot 42-G Thunderbird Fd Arizona