 Much
of the information in this article was
reported by Horn and his crew members at
their 100th Bomb Group reunion in Little
Rock, Ark., in 1993. "Many of these details
had been previously unknown to 100th BG
historians for nearly half a century," a
source said.
As a B-17 pilot, Lt. Horn was the
aircraft commander, or P, with nine other
crew members: co-pilot, CP -- handled ground
maneuvering; flight engineer, TTE -- top
turret, engine health monitor; navigator,
NAV -- determined position relative to
earth; bombardier, BOM -- delivered payload
on target; radio operator, ROP --
communications; ball turret gunner, BTG --
enemy fighter protection; two waist gunners,
WG -- right and left enemy fighter
protection; and tail gunner, TG -- most
important defensive weapon. The installed
weapons were .50-caliber Browning machine
guns.
Horn's plane was heavily damaged during
its fourth mission over Munich and Augsburg,
Germany, on March 18, 1944. Besides taking
on heavy flak damage, his "Bastard's
Bungalow II" B-17 suffered extensive
fuselage and multi-engine damage from debris
of two damaged B-17s that had pancaked in
midair immediately ahead. Horn had to
quickly pull the throttles back to avoid
becoming the "meat of a sandwich," which was
occurring before them. His B-17 508 was able
to remain in formation in spite of the heavy
damage and proceeded to bomb the Munich rail
yards.
On the "homeward-bound leg of their
mission," their aircraft took on more flak
damage and now could no longer maintain
sufficient airspeed to remain airborne much
longer. A P-47 fighter plane had been flying
escort but had to break off due to its fuel
shortage -- with its pilot giving a friendly
salute to Horn upon departing. Soon
thereafter, two German fighters, ME-109 and
FW-190 aircraft, joined up with them, one on
each wing. They quickly gave Horn a
"thumbs-down" signal, meaning to land in the
field below -- immediately.
Horn then radioed his crew that a crash
landing had to be made and commenced
lowering his landing gear to prevent these
enemy fighters from further attacking his
stricken and helpless plane -- a "white
flag" surrender. He managed to crash-land,
with all crew members alive, near Ulm,
Germany -- "with Lt. Horn making a super
smooth dead-stick, wheels-up landing in a
snow-covered field," which initially
appeared to be a farm but which turned out
to be the grassy edge of Dornstadt Air
Field.
Horn and his crew were quickly greeted by
"irate farm workers armed with pitchforks
and pistols," preventing their dash to
nearby woods to avoid capture. Surprisingly,
the ME-190 fighter pilot had landed next to
their plane but nosed over and crashed. The
pilot was not injured, as he quickly got out
and ran over to take control of the capture.
Horn and his crew were held captive for
20-30 minutes until German militia men
arrived to move them to the nearby Ulm city
jail.
Horn ended up in solitary confinement for
a time at Stalag Luft III, South Compound
Sagan, in Silesia, Germany, following his
interrogation at Dulag Luft at Frankfurt.
Just two weeks before his death, Bob related
that during his captivity at Frankfurt, his
interrogating officer showed him his wallet.
Bob read the name, Lt. Robert Horn. He said
they both managed a smile.
Bob was liberated at Moosburg, Germany,
on April 29, 1945, whereupon he was promoted
to captain.
Bob also said that he continued to put in
his monthly flight hours at Rantoul Air
Force Base for about a year after returning
to the states, in order to continue
receiving half of his flight pay.
[to
top of second column] |
The epilogue to "Clipped Wings," a
reunion book of the 100th Battle Group,
reads as follows:
Allied air men were the first invaders to
break into the German stronghold of Europe
and Africa. Flying over German-held
positions through black clouds of flak and
into swarms of yellow-nosed F.W.'s could
surely be called nothing less than an
invasion. During the air battle of Europe,
close to 8000 American Planes and 40,000
American flyers were shot down. But the sub
pens bombed out of commission, the
marshalling yards hit and the aircraft
factories blown up brought war's end years
nearer and more than paid for such a great
loss. The story as told in the preceding
pictures and commentary is an attempt to
describe how these early invaders who were
forced down adapted themselves to a mode of
living completely foreign to their natures.
Bob's inscription included in his reunion
book reads as follows:
Property of Robert J. Horn, March, 1984.
Shot down over Munich-Augsburg, Germany,
Mar. 18, 1944. Liberated at Moosburg, April
29, 1945. Interrogated at Frankfurt.
Solitary confinement. Quartered at Stalag
Luft III, South Compound, Sagan, Germany.
The "Clipped Wings" reunion book contains
this poem:
The fate we share as prisoners is drab and
often grim, existing on such scanty fare as
Reich bread, spuds and klim. Beds and books
and little else to fill time's flapping
sail, she makes or loses headway all
depending on the mail. Oh drab the days slow
to pass within all the joys of living are
still in the future tense. So here's to
happy days ahead when you and I are free to
look back on this interlude and call it
history. -- J.B. Boyle
Note: Robert Horn was a very popular but
quiet guy in Mount Pulaski all these years,
not saying much about his war and captivity
experiences until recent years to some of
his friends and close acquaintances. He
served 35 years in the Mount Pulaski Post
Office, about 12 or so as postmaster. He was
an avid and excellent golfer.
There are only two left from his crew,
both of whom sent flowers to his funeral,
which was held in the Mount Pulaski Zion
Lutheran Church. He was buried with full
military rites in the Mount Pulaski
Cemetery.
___
Sources: Capt. Robert Horn, interviewed
by Phil Bertoni (Vonderlieth Living Center,
Feb. 12 , 2010); "Clipped Wings," a 100th
Battle Group reunion book, published by R.W.
Kimball, narrated by O.M. Chiesl, 1948;
http://www.100thbg.com/
___
Obituary:
Robert Horn
A bomber similar
to the one Horn and his crew would have
flown |
