| Title |
Reece B. Robertson, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by Benjamin J. Bahlmann, March 7, 2002: Saving the Legacy tape nos. 498-500 |
| Alternative Title |
Reece B. Robertson, Saving the legacy: an oral history of Utah's World War II veterans, ACCN 2070, American West Center, University of Utah |
| Creator |
Robertson, Reece B., 1920- |
| Contributor |
Bahlmann, Benjamin J.; University of Utah. American West Center |
| Publisher |
Digitized by J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah |
| Date |
2002-03-07 |
| Date Digital |
2015-12-16 |
| Access Rights |
I acknowledge and agree that all information I obtain as a result of accessing any oral history provided by the University of Utah's Marriott Library shall be used only for historical or scholarly or academic research purposes, and not for commercial purposes. I understand that any other use of the materials is not authorized by the University of Utah and may exceed the scope of permission granted to the University of Utah by the interviewer or interviewee. I may request permission for other uses, in writing to Special Collections at the Marriott Library, which the University of Utah may choose grant, in its sole discretion. I agree to defend, indemnify and hold the University of Utah and its Marriott Library harmless for and against any actions or claims that relate to my improper use of materials provided by the University of Utah. |
| Spatial Coverage |
Germany; Wyoming, United States |
| Subject |
Robertson, Reece B., 1920- --Interviews; Veterans--United States--Biography; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; World War, 1939-1945--Aerial operations, American; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Europe, Northern--Personal narratives, American; World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, American; Prisoners of war--United States; Prisoners of war--Germany |
| Keywords |
National Guard; Bomber pilots; POWs; Barth, Germany |
| Description |
Transcript (104 pages) of an interview by Benjamin J. Bahlmann with Reece B. Robertson on March 7, 2002. From tape numbers 498, 499, and 500 in the "Saving the Legacy" Oral History Project |
| Collection Number and Name |
Accn2070, Saving the Legacy oral history project, 2001-2010 |
| Abstract |
Robertson (1920-2009) attended the University of Wyoming and joined the National Guard Calvary Unit, which was activated in February 1941. He was trained to fly the B26, A20, and A26 aircraft and was assigned to the European Theater. He served with the Ninth Air Force, 115th Bomb Group, 67th Squadron at Braintree in Southern England. He was shot down on Christmas Eve 1944, and held in Barth, Germany, at Stalag Luft One, which was later liberated by the Russian army. Interviewed by Benjamin Bahlmann. 104 pages. |
| Type |
Text |
| Genre |
oral histories (literary works) |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Extent |
104 pages |
| Language |
eng |
| Rights |
 |
| Scanning Technician |
Mazi Rakhsha |
| Conversion Specifications |
Original scanned with Kirtas 2400 and saved as 400 ppi uncompressed TIFF. PDF generated by Adobe Acrobat Pro X for CONTENTdm display |
| ARK |
ark:/87278/s6rr41bb |
| Topic |
Personal narratives--American; Veterans; World War (1939-1945); Military operations, Aerial--American; Prisoners of war |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1027034 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6rr41bb |
| Title |
Page 41 |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| Setname |
uum_slohp |
| ID |
1026970 |
| OCR Text |
Show REECE B. ROBERT ON M R H 7 2002 REE: Not really. By the time I got over there they were off the b ach s. BEN: So before you flew your first combat mission they were off the beaches. REE: They were off the beaches, yes. BEN: Were you nervous about your first combat mission? Do you remember your first combat mission? REE: I do (laughs). Now, see, we're flying in formation. Now you're supposed to be tight in formation. It takes a certain amount of skill. I had those turbo charged engines, so you weren't supposed to be too radical. When I got over that first mission I was going like, boom, boom, boom, I was over-controlling, terribly, when we were over the target. When we pulled off the target-now this is cold, I mean you're flying about 8,000 or 5,000 feet, so it's cold-and I could feel the sweat dripping from my armpits. So I said, "Boy, this can't happen." So I said, "If I get hit, I'll get hit; if I get killed, I'll get killed, but there's nothing I can do about it. So this is not going to happen again." So after that, with that attitude, it was able to sustain me through that thirty-ninth mission. BEN: Would you say you adopted a fatalistic attitude? REE: Some sort of fatalistic. If I got hit, I got hit. If I didn't, I didn't. BEN: On your first mission, did you encounter a lot of ... REE: I don't think we did. I don't think we encountered a lot of flack. BEN: But whatever it was ... REE: Whatever it was, we was over that target-boy! BEN: With medium bombers, what size formation do medium-size bombers fly in? Were you in groups of twelve, just like the heavies? Or was it smaller? 41 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6rr41bb/1026970 |
