Memorial

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S/Sgt Maurice H. Dobbins attended Lincoln School, Washington Junior High and Pekin Community High School. He was employed as a machine operator at the Quaker Oats Company for three and a half years prior to his enlistment.

He volunteered for the Army of the United States in Peoria, Illinois on 21 March 1942.

This was the first mission for the 506th Bomber Squadron as well as for this crew. Mission debriefing reports show that the aircraft was singled out for attack by FW 190's.

Eye witness accounts stated:
"During the first attack from enemy aircraft, ship# 191 was hit in the # 4 engine, which caught fire and the ship began to lose altitude and leave the formation. Shortly afterwards, the #3 engine also caught fire and the ship headed for the Island of Baltrum, in the East Frisian group, off the coast of Germany in the North Sea. Eye witnesses from the other crews in the formation reported seeing five chutes open from this aircraft prior to losing sight of this ship.This aircraft was last seen at approximatly 10 miles northwest of Baltrum Island.

It is reasonable to conclude that the plane crashed in the water and that the men who parachuted from the airplane, as well as those who went down with it, were unable to reach land and that none of the crew survived beyond the date of their disappearance, 22 March 1943."

He is remembered at the Lakeside Cemetery in Pekin, Tazewell County, Illinois.