Crew Roster · Personal File

Robert Locker

Waist Gunner · 330th Squadron

S/Sgt. Robert Locker served as left waist gunner on the August 1, 1943 Ploesti mission with the 330th Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group. In Sgt. Doll's E&E questionnaire, he was listed as 'Locker, Robert' with a notation that he was alive and back in the United Kingdom. The questionnaire witness signature also shows an 'R. F. Lockey' as S/Sgt, who may be the same individual.

Locker survived the loss of the aircraft and returned to the United Kingdom. His serial number is not recorded in the surviving documents.

Completed Tour

Sortie Log

1 CATALOGUED SORTIE
01 AUG 1943

The sorties below are those we have been able to document for this airman, drawn from flight logs, mission records, and archival sources. It is not necessarily a complete account of every mission flown; gaps may reflect missing documentation, transferred assignments, or records lost to time.

8AF Mission

Date

Target

Aircraft

№ 115

01 AUG 1943

Ploesti

The aircraft was lost on August 1, 1943, during the low-level mission to Ploesti, Romania — Operation Tidal Wave. The plane departed Benghazi at 7:40 a.m. and was hit over the target area. No. 1 engine was windmilling and No. 2 engine was on fire when the crew was forced out of the aircraft. The wing buckled and the plane crashed with flames covering it. The aircraft did not explode on ground impact. None of the crew bailed out by parachute. The crash site was in or near Ogresnie, Romania. Sgt. Doll reported seeing four members of the crew alive on the ground after the crash, accompanied by an observer, but did not examine the wreckage.

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