1st Lt Ronald W. Blair, O-1180819

[Leendert]

1st Lt Ronald W. Blair (O-1180819) from St. Clair County, Illinois, is mentioned as KIA in the NARA Archives.
An entry by a niece on wwiimemorial says he was with the USAAF and an air crew member shot down over Europe.

So far I could only find that Lt. Blair was a graduate of the Field Artillery Officer Candidate School, so he may have been an artillery pilot or observer with an FA unit (US Army) and not USAAF.
Stil, some FAOCS graduates ended up in the USAAF after all as fighter or bomber crew.

I wonder who has more info about Lt. Ronald Blair and the circumstances of his death?

Regards,

Leendert

[shooshoobaby]

Leendert -
He is NOT listed in 8th AF Roll of Honor.
Mike

[Leendert]

Mike,

Thanks.

St Clair County, Illinois isn't too far from St. Louis, Missouri. It so happens that the St. Louis public library has an online list of soldiers who were killed during WW II and were from that city or rather, were mentioned in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper.
See http://www.slpl.lib.mo.us/libsrc/obww11a.htm

On that list is (a) Lt Ronald Blair Sr. whose name appeared in the 29 Apr 1945 issue.
Perhaps there's a match, but I await further info from St. Louis.

Regards,

Leendert

[Leendert]

Just to inform that Lt Ronald Blair was killed on 10 April 1945 when shot down over Germany. Newspaper copy says he was an artillery observer with a field artillery battalion (not specified which one).
Aircraft L-4 or L-5 most likely.

Regards,

Leendert

[Leendert]

Did some further digging. Lt Blair may be related to death of 2nd Lt Elmer F. Kern Jr., liaison pilot with 365th Field Artillery Battalion, 97th Infantry Division and KIA on 10 April 1945 when plane was shot down near Aachen.

Interestingly, Lt Kern (O-539994) is also mentioned among those involved in USAAF accidents when flying an L-2 in Kansas (1944).

Regards,

Leendert

[FrankieS]

If there is a MACR he should have been aboard one of these:

B-17 44-6913
B-17 44-6820
B-17 43-38840
B-17 44-8427
B-17 43-38803
B-17 43-37619
B-17 43-39003
B-17 43-38853
B-17 44-8368
B-17 43-38606
B-17 43-37987
B-17 44-8808
B-17 44-8702
B-17 44-6593
B-17 43-37851
B-17 43-38788
B-17 43-37820
B-17 44-6580
B-17 44-8913
B-24 42-51089
B-24 44-49710
B-24 44-49294
C-47 42-101020

[Leendert]

Frankie,

I don't think so. Lt Blair (observer) and Lt Kern (pilot) were artillery spotters in a field artillery battalion, most likely flying an L-4 Grasshopper.

MACRs do not cover losses of crew and airplanes assigned to US Army units. That's why it's a bit hard to trace them back when trying to go beyond standard books like Ken Wakefield's "The Fighting Grasshoppers". But of course the fun is in the search.

Regards,

Leendert

[FrankieS]

O.K., Leendert, thank you for that info.
bye,
FrankieS