Robert Heimbach
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Army
Robert Heimbach entered the Army Air Corps in 1943. Home at entry: Duluth, Minnesota.
He served as a Staff Sergeant, first engineer, and top turret gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress Bomber with the 96th Bomb Group stationed in England. He was killed in action on May 24,1944.
From his brother J.V.V. Heimbach: “My understanding is that the pilot and copilot bailed out over Germany and were interned there while the rest of the crew flew it to Sweden where they ditched in the sea. That day is described in a book published by the Swedish Aviation Historical Society."
Crash listed as follows:
‘1944.05.24 Simrishamn B-17G, Serial #4297515 with the 96th Bomb Group. The parts were sold in 1945’.
Through a daily paper from May 25, 1944, the following information was reported:
‘Around noon yesterday a Flying Fortress came in over Simrishamn attacked by Swedish fighters. Three men parachuted. Two landed on land and the third blew out to sea. Two boats went out to save him but when the nearest boat was 90 feet away from the man, he sank. The aircraft returned in very bad shape and two more men parachuted just when the aircraft was to pass over the coast again. They both came into the water. One the men was okay but the other had been drawn under the surface because of his parachute lines. He was dead, drowned, when the rescue party found him. His face was very damaged. There was a very strong wind in the area when it all happened.’”
“Robert was picked up at sea in December of 1944 and buried at Malmo, Sweden. After the war, his body was returned to the United States and buried in the family plot at Forest Hill Cemetery in Duluth, Minnesota.”
Source: Hometown Heroes: The St. Louis County World War II Project. 109.
