Robert Jerome Donnelly was born at Brooklyn, New York City, New York on September 30, 1924. His parents were Frank John Donnelly (12 Mar 1898 – 10 Mar 1979), a son of Irish immigrants who was born in New York City; and Margaret Donnelly (4 Jun 1900 – 19 Feb 1974), who was born in New York. His parents married about 1923.
He was the oldest of four children. His siblings were Frank John Donnelly Jr (abt 1926 – unk), Edward Donnelly (abt 1932 – unk), and Margaret Donnelly (abt 1938 – unk). In 1930 the family lived at 134 Diamond Street, Brooklyn, New York. By 1935 the family home was at 150-76 15th Drive, Whitestone, Queens, New York. His father worked for Ford Instrument Company, Long Island City, New York, a maker of analog fire control computers for the U.S. Navy.
He completed four years of high school, and registered for the draft at Flushing, Queens, New York on December 18, 1942. He was 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighed 123 pounds, and had blue eyes and brown hair. He was single, without dependents, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army at New York City on March 15, 1943. His home of record was 150-41 17th Avenue, Whitestone, Queens, New York, his parents' address in 1944.
He completed Army Air Forces aerial gunnery training, and was assigned as tail gunner on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Joseph P. Willis in the 838th Bomb Squadron, 487th Bomb Group. This Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.
On May 29, 1944 the 487th Bomb Group dispatched two Squadrons of B-24s to bomb the oil refinery at Politz, Germany (which is now Police, Poland). After leaving the target, the formation was attacked by German fighters in the vicinity of the rally point. Sgt Donnelly and eight of his crewmates went missing in action when their aircraft, B-24H 42-52577, was shot down by German Me 410 fighters and exploded over the Baltic Sea within sight of Bornholm Island. Their bodies were never found.
The aircraft was seen going down due north of the target at about 54°02'N, 14°42'E, one to two miles from the coast. Lt Willis assumed a northwesterly course towards Sweden. Witnesses saw fuel leaking from the bomb bay, which appeared to stop when an engine was feathered. The aircraft exploded, and witnesses saw it crash in the Baltic Sea at 1240 hours at 54°47'N, 14°00'E, about 20 miles northeast of Rugen Island, Germany. The navigator, Lt Edgar Allan Grabhorn, was blown clear in the explosion and survived. He was rescued later that day at 1815 hours by the German fishing vessel Oskar Friedrich at 54°39'N, 14°36'E, where he was found floating in a life raft. He became a prisoner of war.
Sgt Donnelly is memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery. He also has a cenotaph at Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York, on the grave marker of his parents.
B-24H 42-52577 crew:
• Willis, Joseph P – 2/Lt – Pilot – MIA
• Wasson, Robert L – 2/Lt – Copilot – MIA
• Grabhorn, Edgar A – 2/Lt – Navigator – POW
• Slusarczyk, Stanley A – 2/Lt – Bombardier – MIA
• Estright, Alfred T – Sgt – Engineer – MIA
• Robinson Jr, Richard S – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – MIA
• Rodgers, Gilbert E – Sgt – Ball Turret – MIA
• Pierson, Robert E – Sgt – Nose Turret – MIA
• Jones, William E – Sgt – Top Turret – MIA
• Donnelly, Robert J – Sgt – Tail Turret – MIA
Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com