Profile
SSgt Robert Cosmus Danielsen
(1921–1996)
S/Sgt Robert C. Danielsen served in the 323rd Bomb Sqn but was shot down and became a POW in August 1943. He was repatriated to the USA in September 1944. He was one of the Danish-Americans enlisting in the US Army Air Force.
Robert Cosmus Danielsen was born on 27 September 1921 in Fangel, to labourer Karl Flenert Danielsen and Anna Dorthea Valborg Danielsen (née Christoffersen). [1] The family lived in Nørre Lyndelse.
Emigrating to the US
The family emigrated to the United States in April 1923. According to the passenger records, the family was planning to join Danielsen’s uncle Rasmus. [2] The settled in Waukegan, Illinois. [3] Danielsen’s father, and thereby the family, was naturalised as U.S. citizen on 22 October 1929. [4] In 1940, the parents divorced and Danielsen lived with his mother, her husband Peter Nielsen, and her two sisters Viola and Helen.[5]
Enlisted, posted overseas and into action
Danielsen enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps in Chicago, Illinois, on 14 January 1942 (16038426), only weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor. [6] I have no further information on his training other than that he was trained as pilot.
He was posted overseas in 1944 to serve 91th Group, 323rd Bomber Squadron at RAF Bassingbourn (AAF Station 121). The exact date of the posting is not clear, but Danielsen was part of 1Lt Jerold D. Kethley’s (O-663314) crew when a flare caught fire in nose while taxying for a practice mission on 2 June 1943 at Bassingbourn.[7]
1Lt Kethley, and it is presumed Danielsen, was part of an attack on Wilhelmshaven on 11 June 1943 during which the aircraft came under attack from enemy fighters. S/Sgt Wilfred R. Bacon opened fire and managed to shoot down a Bf 109 and S/Sgt Harold V. Stokes shot down a Fw 190. Their aircraft, Billie K (42-5787), was not hit during the attack.
Kethley’s crew flew Billie K on the next eight missions through to the 30 July 1930. On the first two, they had to abort but, on the 28th, on an attack on St Nazaire they were hit by flak, but managed to return.
On 30 July 1943, the crew led the Second Element of the Low Squadron on an attack on the aircraft plant at Kassel. For various reasons the crew bombed late and missed the target. To make matters worse, as the formation came off the target, the crew lost its position in the formation and ended up below and slightly behind the rest of the formation. A formation of 12-14 Fw 190 and Bf 109s attacked the aircraft. Luckily, no enemy aircraft managed to damage Billie K, while S/Sgt Stokes shot down one of the Bf 109s.[8]
The Last Mission
The crew ran out of luck on 12 August 1943. On this day, , the US Eighth Air Force dispatched 183 B-17s to target synthetic oil installations at Bochum, Gelsenkirchen and Recklinghausen. Part of the force became separated and bomb various targets, but 133 Fortresses hit the targets at 0845-0925 hours. [9] Six aircraft from 323rd Bomb Squadron took part in the bombing of the artificial gasoline plants at Gelsenkirchen. [10] Danielsen was flying as the engineer and top turret gunner of Billie K. Once again, the aircraft was captained by 1Lt Kethley, who bought the aircraft into the air from Bassingbourne in the early morning. The target time was 09.00 hours. Soon after crossing the Dutch coast, the formation was attacked by a mixed group of Fw 190s and Me 109s. Billie K was hit in No. 1 and 3 engines and the cockpit was showered with shattered glass from the windshield. At this time,
Lt Kethley felt a tap on his shoulder and looked around to see the top turret gunner, S/Sgt Robert C. Danielson, standing behind him with his face a mass of frozen blood, obviously seriously wounded about the head.[11]
More enemy fighters came through the formation and attack Billie K. This time the No. 4 engine was knocked out. With only one engine, the aircraft was dropping out of the formation loosing speed as well as height. To the other aircraft in the group Billie Kay was last seen was last seen at an altitude of 29,000 feet in the vicinity of Goch at 0842 hours. [12] The co-pilot 2Lt Ennis Cox took the seriously wounded Danielsen to the nose hatch to assist him in bailing out. The rest of the crew managed to bail out as well, Lt Cullen with some difficulties though.[13]
PoW and Repatriation
Danielsen was picked up and taken prisoner by the Germans at landing. He remained in hospital for more than a year. He was imprisoned in Stalag Luft 3 and later moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser. [14] In September 1944, Danielsen was one of 219 wounded or sick prisoners of war repatriated onboard The Swedish liner MS Gripsholm in September 1944. Gripsholm was chartered by the US Department of State and made several exchange and repatriation voyages during the war, this one being one of the last. The vessel left Gothenburg on 10 September 1944 setting course for Liverpool, and then New York, arriving on 26 September 1944. [15] Danielsen was hospitalized on arrival and remained so until discharge. [16] He lost one eye and underwent more then 50 operations to remove shrapnel in his head.[17]
After the War
After the war, returned to Illinois. He married Roberta Rose Webster, and he was employed by the North Western Railroad as a trucker in March 1948. [18] He died on 15 December 1996 in Waukegan.[19]
Endnotes
[1] DNA: Parish register, Fangel Sogn.
[2] Ancestry: Ancestry: New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957.
[3] Ancestry: 1930 and 1940 United States Federal Census.
[4] Ancestry: Illinois, Federal Naturalization Records, 1840-1991.
[5] Ancestry: 1940 United States Federal Census.
[6] Ancestry: U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946.
[7] Freeman, R. A., & Osborne, D. R. (1999). The B-17 Flying Fortress story (information via https://b17flyingfortress.de/en/b17/42-3210/ (retrieved on 17 January 2021).
[8] Getz, L. L. (2015). The“Memphis Belle”: One Came Home Stories of Those Left Behind, p. 27-28.
[9] Carter and Mueller. The Army Air Forces in World War II: Combat Chronology, 1941-1945, via http://www.8thafhs.com/missions.php.
[10] Dailies of the 323rd Squadron - 1943, 91st Bomb Group (H), http://www.91stbombgroup.com/Dailies/323rd1-1to3-30-43.html (accessed on 9 November 2024).
[11] Getz, op. cit., p. 28.
[12] NARA: RG 92, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster Genera, Missing Air Crew Reports (MACRs), Missing Air Crew Report number 262 (NAID: 90890210).
[13] Getz, op. cit.
[14] Ancestry: World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946.
[15] Ancestry: New York State, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1917-1967.
[16] Ancestry: U.S. WWII Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954.
[17] Getz, op. cit.
[18] Ancestry: U.S., Chicago and North Western Railroad Employment Records, 1935-1970.
[19] Ancestry: U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014.