Army Air Forces Tech. Sgt. Robert Allen, killed in WWII, accounted for

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Tech. Sgt. Robert Allen, 20, of Oakland, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 19, 2023.

In August of 1944, Allen was assigned to the 860th Bombardment Squadron, 493rd Bombardment Group, in the European Theater of Operations. On Aug 18, Allen was a crewmember onboard a B-24H “Liberator,” when it was struck by anti-aircraft fire after a bombing raid on a German position near Roye, France.

Only one airman survived, while the other eight crew members, including Allen, were killed. German records indicate the bomber crashed roughly two kilometers west of Boussicourt, where the remains of several individuals were recovered and buried in a village cemetery near Pierrepont-sur-Avre, France.

Beginning in 1945, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. Following the war, the AGRC disinterred and identified six sets of remains recovered from the cemetery at Pierrepont-sur-Avre. At the time they were unable to account for Allen and one other crewmember.

In 2018, a DPAA recovery team excavated a site near Boussicourt which they believe correlated with Allen’s crash site. While there, they were able to recover possible remains along with other materials believed to be associated with the B-24H.  This new evidence, along with previously unidentified remains, were sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.

To identify Allen’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Allen’s name is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neupré, Belgium, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Tech Sgt. Allen will be buried in San Diego, California, on July 12, 2024.