Missing information?
Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?
Submit- Full
name
EDWARDS, Robert Hobart - Date of
birth
5 August 1920 -
Age
23 - Place of
birth
Baltimore, Maryland -
Hometown
Baltimore, Maryland
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-856187 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
unknown -
Unit
8th Combat Camera Unit
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
9 September 1943 - Place of
death
North Sea, off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer, France
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes - Tablets of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Nelson Edwards (father)
Cornelia Edwards (mother)
Patricia Edwards (sister)
Plane data
- Serial
number
41-18058 -
Data
Type: B-26B
Destination: Le Portel, France
Mission: Bombing of coastal defenses
MACR: 15604
More information
Lt Edwards graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and the University of Maryland.The airplane was hit by flak over the target and turned for home, but went out of control, and disintegrated prior to crashing into the North Sea. The entire crew of six men was killed.
Note: There is confusion about who the pilot of this plane was. The IDPF lists 2nd Lt Robert H. Edwards - O-856187, as the pilot. However, Lt Edwards belonged to the 8th Combat Camera Unit. It is therefore very likely that Lt Reynolds was indeed the pilot and that Lt Edwards was also on board to film the operation. For some unknown reason an error must have been made in the IDPF and Lt Reynolds was not mentioned in it.
Source of information: Terry Hirsch, Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.fold3.com, WWII Draft Card, The Baltimore Sun - 1 February 1943
Photo source: www.findagrave.com, The Baltimore Sun - 1 February 1943