Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

Haynes was a veteran bomber pilot of the ETO winning the DFC in 1943. He had served in the RCAF from 1939 before joining the USAAF. Can anyone give me details of his service and his pre-war career. He had been a pilot since 1927 therefore I assume he was an airline pilot.

He later became a B-29 airplane commander in the Pacific 1944-1945.

regards


Keith

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

I starting working on finding info on Haynes as he seems to have had quite a career.

Here is an article from 1940, when he joined the RCAF. I will just post the link here to see if this is going to work. Let me know whether or not you can read the article. I believe there are limits to the number of actual jpgs a person can post and I have used up much of my allowance.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1631...es_joins_rcaf/


When flying with the 499th Haynes had major engine problems during a mission to Nagoya on 14 May 1945 and ended up bailing out with his crew back over Iwo Jima.

https://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircra.../44-69926.html

The MACR is quite detailed. For those with fold3 access it starts here: https://www.fold3.com/image/46749150

Haynes was the last to bail out and 10 seconds after he left the ship the plane exploded. Haynes landed in the water off Iwo and was rescued. Of the 12 man crew, 5 landed on Iwo. The rest landed in the water and two of those were never found.

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

Robert married Sara Lee (Thomas) Newburn on 31 May 1929 in Des Moines. It was the second marriage for Sara. Robert lists his occupation as Aviator. I am not sure how long they were married. Robert's father, Samuel K Haynes, worked in the printing industry in Des Moines and Robert lived there during the late 1920s.

Sara (or sometimes seen as Sarah) was born Oct 20, 1905 to Morgan William Thomas and Matilda Ellen (Roberts) Thomas. (Matilda is sometimes seen as Helen or Ellen).
Sarah married Dewight Newbrun (1904-1966) and they had a child Philis (Phyllis?) born around 1925-1927. Not sure when Sarah and Dewight divorced.

Philis Newburn was living with her grandfather and grandmother (Morgan & Helen) in 1940.

I found a very interesting article in the St Louis Post Dispatch from 3 March 1929 in which Robert is mentioned. I'll try this link method again. The article goes into some detail about the local aviation scene.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1633...st_louis_1929/

Robert got his training at the Robertson Flying School in St Louis and when he graduated he had a limited commercial license. The article relates a little background on the school and mentions that Robert took his father Samuel K Haynes up for a flight. Samuel K Haynes died in Des Moines of pneumonia in August, 1929. In his obit it mentions he was survived by his wife Ellen Haynes, his son Robert E Haynes and a daughter Mrs A (Alice B) Eastwood of Georgia. No mention of Sara.


And then these from 1932:
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1633...ynes_st_louis/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1633...st_louis_star/

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

It appears the early 1930s were a trying time for this young aviator. Attached is the 1930 Census taken at Des Moines on 19 April 1930.

See Robert Haynes, 2nd line who is recorded as a lodger living at the YMCA.

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

Scott, good find. I am guessing that after Robert got out of jail he may possibly have moved to California. I am not sure what all would be involved in getting his commercial license at that point. His airline experience may have been in California and not around St. Louis, MO as I first thought.

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

I thought it might be interesting to see how the St Louis and Des Moines papers covered Haynes and Thumper in 1945.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16341436/


https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1634...s_moines_1945/


Another interesting article before the Thumper tour. Some more "info" about Haynes.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1634...es_march_1945/

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

Rolland,
Certainly an interesting career path. Postwar he served as the USAAF/USAF representative at the Fairchild Aircraft Plant at Hagerstown, MD., see two articles attached.

Looks like he retired from this job and maybe the AF on 26 July 1948.

I too am at the limits of my member attachment allotment; most aggravating but understandable to keep the forum hosting volume down. One attachment here is reduced in size to a point making it difficult to read.

I'm not sure how you are doing the Newspapers.com links (they work great!). Here are the links found maybe you can work your magic to make these more readable without attachment

https://www.newspapers.com/image/116...t%2BE%2BHaynes

https://www.newspapers.com/image/211...t%2BE%2BHaynes

https://www.newspapers.com/image/660...t%2BE%2BHaynes

Also, here is another image of the "Thumper" crew on tour, here in Evansville, Indiana

https://books.google.com/books?id=bf...Haynes&f=false

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

Scott, I am not sure he retired in 1948 or if he did he may have rejoined. I found some references to him with the Air Force Reserve/National Guard in WI in the 1950s. I will try to find those again.

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

Rolland, the article was worded oddly, he may have just been retiring from the position at Fairchild but continued to serve in the USAF elsewhere.

For "Thumper" B-29-40-BW-42-24623 [A Sq 21] fans there is an aircraft image (less crew) while on tour at Boeing Wichita here

http://www.b-29s-over-korea.com/NMUS...t-NMUSAF-2.jpg

Edit: Actually rereading the article (now attached) this was AF retirement with hopes of future employment in the motion picture business in Chicago. He may have continued in the AF reserve and resurfaced later.

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

Here is an article in the Des Moines Register from 1943 on Haynes. This was when he returned from his tour with the 2nd BG and was about to do a bond tour with his crew of A-Merry-Can. I saw a posting on the 2nd BG site by the son of one of the crewmen of the plane who said the bond tour was actually cancelled. Again, a lot of info in the article.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1635...s_moines_1943/

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

Odd that none of these battleship sinking references offer the name of the ship sunk.

The Italian battleship "Roma" might be a candidate, some Wiki thoughts here, search B-17:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italia...ip_Roma_(1940)

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

Scott,
Mostly because they did not in fact sink any battleships. Roma was sunk by German Do 217s in September 1943.

Ship recognition by most anyone from above 10,000 feet is abysmal. A claim to have sunk a ship of class n should probably be reduced to a claim to have attacked a ship of class n-1 or n-2. Battleship ==> Cruiser. Cruiser ==> Destroyer. ... rowboat ==> surfboard.

I rather suspect that the total number of battleships claimed sunk in World War 2 may in fact exceed the number of battleships that served in World War 2. Across the board.

Enjoy!

Frank.

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

Frank,
You are absolutely correct that the Nazis sank Roma. This should have been framed as a possibility of the battleship "claimed" by Haynes and crew.

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

Good morning RSwank,

what does "A-Merry-Can" mean ? Just "A-Happy-Tin" or does it also have any sophisticated meaning in English ?

Michael

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

"Can" is a tinned steel container used to store/preserve food. In the US they are called "cans" where British English refers to them as "Tins". Planes could be referred to or thought of as "Cans".

I have seen a plane called "Spam Can", where Spam was cooked meat in a can, for example.

Here "Merry" means "Happy" as you have it, so I think the meaning is a "Happy Airplane Crew" .

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

I rather suspect it is just a different way of "spelling" American.

Anguish Languish, anyone?

Enjoy!

Frank.

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

Frank, I never thought of that. Certainly a possibility. They may even have had both concepts in mind and so it was a play on words with a double meaning. In fact, when you look at how they had it painted on the plane, "A-Merry-Can" (with the dashes), I think that suggests they meant it both ways. Then the newspaper article screws it up by calling the plane "The Merry Can".

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

Good afternoon Gentlemen,

cool play of words.
Would you say that Haynes flew 17 Wellington missions ?

Michael

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

Michael, Haynes whole RCAF career is something of a mystery to me. We know he joined the RCAF in August, 1940. In August 1941 he apparently flew the Duke of Kent to Canada from England and then around to visit various Canadian training bases. He flew the Duke to the U.S. for a visit with Roosevelt and finally back to England. I don't know what squadron(s) he was in during his time in England, or how much training he received in Canada before going overseas.

In May 1942 he joins the AAF as a captain.

By Oct 1943 he has done a tour with the 2nd BG 49th BS and returned to the US as Lt Col. The 497th was formed late in 1943 and I suspect he was with the group from the start. We know he was making early "test" flights with the group during the whole B-29 "teething" process. Then to the Pacific in the fall of 1944 and in the spring of 1945 he moves to the 499th BG where he completes his Pacific tour and returns with "Thumper".

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

Rolland,
If Haynes was involved with this flight and tour by Prince George in 1941 he may have been assigned or served with the Atlantic Ferry Service Command. Both AFSC and BOAC pilots seem to have played a role in this tour.

https://books.google.com/books?id=EX...201941&f=false

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...43._CH3161.jpg

Unclear if RCAF pilots played a role in this ferry duty.

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

Good evening Gentlemen,

was Lt.Col. Haynes' final rank in WW2 ?

Kind regards,

Michael

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

He would have been a Lt Col. In 1948, when he was the Air Force plant representative at Fairchild he was still a Lt Col.

In 1952 he was a Col and the commander of the 438th Fighter Bomber Wing based in Milwaukee, WI.

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

In the account of Haynes' 6-kill-mission provided in OSPREY's "B-29 Hunters of the JAAF" his rank is given as Col. Is this a mistake ?

Cheers,

Michael

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

Yes, that is a mistake. In the MACR for his bailout over Iwo Jima, which occurred 14 May 45, his rank is listed as Lt Col.

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

Good afternoon RSwank,

shame on OSPREY.
For such a cool guy like Haynes a sole DFC is a little bit meagre.
Didn't he receive any other awards ?

Cheers,

Michael

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

I've got some other info on Lt. Col Haynes, but I'd like to chat privately with anyone who has found his family, please. If nobody's found his family, has anyone developed any leads on any kids?

Thanks!

Michael

Re: Lt. Col. Robert E. "Pappy" Haynes,
 

Good evening Gentlemen,

it is justified to say that the gunners in the crews (B-17 and B-29) of Robert Haynes scored a collective total of 18 ?

Cheers,

Michael