First Lieutenant Bobbie Joe Duke (O-807270) was born February 13, 1922 in Ballinger, Runnels County, Texas, to Charles Lafayette and Mabel Theresa Jackson Duke. His father was a farmer. His mother died at age 20 from flu and pneumonia when Bobbie was four years old. He was then raised by relatives. Bobbie had one sister. He married Katherine Blanche Routh. They had one child, Bobbie Karen.

He graduated from High School, was single, and was working on his relatives’ farm when he enlisted in Company C, Ballinger Unit of the 142nd Infantry of the Texas National Guard. He later transferred to the Army Air Forces, trained as a pilot, and received his commission and wings as a Second Lieutenant. He was assigned to the 391st Fighter Squadron (“Bold Tigers”), 366th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force and was sent overseas to Europe. The 366th Fighter Group flew missions out of the airfield at Thruxton, England (AAF 407) prior to and after D-Day.

The airfield at USAAF Station AAF-407 is located 5 miles west of Andover, Hampshire, England, and about 66 miles southwest of London. Opened in 1942, it was used by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces. During the war Thruxton was used primarily as a combat fighter airfield. Thruxton was transferred to the USAAF Ninth Air Force on 3 January 1944. On March 1, 1944 the 366th Fighter Group with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts was transferred to the airfield from RAF Membury. Operational squadrons of the group were: 389th (A6), 390th (B2), and 391st (A8). The group moved to its Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) at St. Pierre du Mont, France (ALG A-1) on 17 June 1944 .

On May 30, 1944, one week before D-Day, 1 Lt. Duke departed AAF-407 in P-47D-15RE A8-T #42-76305 (nicknamed “The Iron Duke”) leading a flight of the 391st FS on a fighter sweep mission to the area northwest of Paris, France. During the mission, 1 Lt. Duke strafed the airfield at Corneilles-en-Vixen from west to east and just as he cleared the eastern edge of the field, he pulled up sharply and bailed out of a skidding left turn at about 1,200 feet. His chute was seen to open. The aircraft continued in the left turn, crashed and burned about one mile northeast of the airfield, 30 yards northeast of the commune of Epiais-Rhus, France, two miles northeast of the Corneilles-en-Vixen airfield, and 215 miles southeast of AAF-407. MACR 5363.

German report KUJ-1293 stated that 1 Lt. Duke was captured.

1 Lt. Duke was shot down by flak, and his plane crashed at Epiais-Rhus, France, at 1148 hours. He parachuted out and was captured by the Germans. It is unknown what happened to him after his capture. He was 22 years old and the first pilot of the 391st FS to be killed in combat.

1 Lt. Duke’s remains were returned to the U.S. and he was buried on August 23, 1949 in Fort Bliss National Cemetery, Section B, Site 340, located in West Texas at Fort Bliss, a U.S. Army post adjacent to the city of El Paso. It encompasses 82.1 acres and, as of 2014, had over 50,000 interments.

A Memorial Plaque honors the 366th Fighter Group "Hun Hunters" at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, as well as a Memorial Marker to the 366th located in the cemetery of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

1 Lt. Duke was posthumously awarded the Air Medal with seven Oak Leaf Clusters and the Purple Heart.

Thank you for your sacrifice and service, 1 Lt. Duke … Rest in Peace.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? These stories will be accessible via smartphone app at any war memorial or cemetery.

SBTSProject/Texas

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact me at roktscientist@hotmail.com … I would be honored to make changes/additions where requested.

Sources:

1. 1930, 1940 Federal Census

2. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/603523/bobbie-joe-duke

3. https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/person/bobbie-joe-duke

4. https://www.armyaircorpsmuseum.org/missing-aircrew-reports/macr-05363-42-76305.cfm

5. https://www.ancestry.com

6. https://newspapers.com

7. Familysearch.org

8. https://www.honorstates.org/profiles/530488/

9. https://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=6704

10. https://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1942_4.html

11. http://cgibin.rcn.com/jeremy.k/cgi-bin/gzUsafSearch.pl?target=42-76305&content=

12. http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/USAAF/366th_Fighter_Group.html

13. https://www.366thgunfighters.org/the-366th-in-ww-ii.html

14. https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/unit/366th-fighter-group

15. https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/unit/391st-fighter-squadron

16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/391st_Fighter_Squadron#:~:text=The%20391st%20Fighter%20Squadron%20is,the%20United%20States%20Air%20Force.

17. https://www.natotigers.org/tiger-unit/391st-fighter-squadron

18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_P-47_Thunderbolt

19. Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-406-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.

Photo Credits:

ancestry.com, americanairmuseum.org, findagrave.com, laststand.com, militarygraphics.com, newspapers.com, pinterest.com, wikipedia.com

Bobbie J Duke