A new search has provided me with some new and updated/corrected information regarding Robert Doyle Crumpton, top turret gunner/engineer of the James Joseph Brodie crew of the 545th Bomb Squadron of the 384th Bomb Group of the 8th Army Air Forces in WWII. He was on board Brodie’s B-17 on the 28 September 1944 mission to Magdeburg. Corrected information is bolded.
To view my original post and other information about Robert Doyle Crumpton, please see the links at the end of this post.
Robert Doyle Crumpton, Jr. was born July 27, 1920 (according to his birth certificate, one day after other records note it as July 26, 1920) in Ennis, Ellis County, Texas to Robert Doyle Crumpton, Sr. (born April 7, 1892) and Stella M. Brown Crumpton (born November 16, 1896).
Robert Doyle Crumpton’s great-grandfather Edmond “Ed” Allen Crumpton, a farmer living in Shelby County Alabama in the 1860’s, fought in the American Civil War (Apr 12, 1861 – Apr 9, 1865). He enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1862. He is listed on the Muster Roll of Captain James Cobb’s Company G of the 31st Regiment, Alabama Volunteers, in the service of the Confederate States.
Robert Doyle Crumpton’s father Robert Crumpton Sr. was a veteran of WWI. On April 24, 1921, Robert Sr. died at the age of twenty-nine when Robert Jr. was only nine months old.
Five years after Robert Sr.’s death, Stella married Claude Parks on April 5, 1926. Stella and Claude had a son, Claude Edward Parks, born August 6, 1930, Robert Jr.’s half-brother.
Robert served in WWII as the top turret gunner/engineer for the James Joseph Brodie crew of the 545th Bomb Squad of the 384th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force in Grafton Underwood, England.
On July 26, 1944, Sgt. Robert Doyle Crumpton was assigned as top turret gunner/engineer to the James Joseph Brodie crew of the 545th Bombardment Squadron of the 384th Bomb Group of the 8th Army Air Forces, per AAF Station 106 (Grafton Underwood, England) Special Orders #148. The 384th was a B-17 heavy bombardment group. According to his Sortie record, his combat pay was $140.40 per month.
These wartime photos include Robert Doyle Crumpton and other enlisted men of the James Joseph Brodie crew. These photos were provided by Harry Liniger, Jr., son of 384th Bomb Group waist gunner Harry Allen Liniger, of the Brodie crew. Identifications were provided by Harry Liniger, Jr., and Patrick Miller, son of 384th Tail Gunner Wilfred Miller.
Enlisted men of the James Joseph Brodie crew
Left to right: Harry Allen Liniger (Waist/Flexible Gunner), Robert Doyle Crumpton (Engineer/Top Turret Gunner), Wilfred Frank Miller (Tail Gunner), William Edson Taylor (Radio Operator), Unidentified.
Photo contributed by Harry Allen Liniger, Jr. ID’s provided by Harry Liniger, Jr. and Patrick Miller.
Enlisted men of the James Joseph Brodie crew
Left to right: Harry Allen Liniger (Waist/Flexible Gunner), Robert Doyle Crumpton (Engineer/Top Turret Gunner), Wilfred Frank Miller (Tail Gunner), Unidentified, William Edson Taylor (Radio Operator).
Photo contributed by Harry Allen Liniger, Jr. ID’s provided by Harry Liniger, Jr. and Patrick Miller.
Enlisted men of the James Joseph Brodie crew
Left to right: Harry Allen Liniger (Waist/Flexible Gunner), Unidentified, Robert Doyle Crumpton (Engineer/Top Turret Gunner), William Edson Taylor (Radio Operator).
Photo contributed by Harry Allen Liniger, Jr. ID’s provided by Harry Liniger, Jr. and Patrick Miller.
On his nineteenth mission on September 28, 1944, Robert Crumpton was killed when his crew’s B-17 collided with the Buslee crew’s B-17 after coming off the target at Magdeburg, Germany. He probably saw the near miss with the Gross crew right above his head from his viewpoint in the top turret (see Wallace Storey’s account of the near-miss), and probably saw the collision with the Buslee crew’s B-17 coming, but was helpless to do anything about it.
Robert Crumpton was assigned to the 384th Bomb Group as a Staff Sergeant according to Special Orders.
S/Sgt Robert D. Crumpton earned the Purple Heart and Air Medal with 2 oak leaf clusters. He was buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, Margraten, Eijsden-Margraten Municipality, Limburg, Netherlands, Plot E, Row 19, Grave 22.
Notes/Links
- Previous post, Robert Doyle Crumpton
- Previous post, Timeline for Brodie Crewmembers and Substitutes, 545th Bomb Squadron
- Robert Doyle Crumpton’s Personnel Record courtesy of the 384th Bomb Group
- Missing Air Crew Report 9366 for the Brodie crew on the 28 September 1944 mid-air collision, in which Robert was killed, courtesy of the 384th Bomb Group
- Missing Air Crew Report 9753 for the Buslee crew on the 28 September 1944 mid-air collision , courtesy of the 384th Bomb Group
- Robert Doyle Crumpton on Find a Grave
- “We Were Soldiers Once, and Young” by Perry Giles, Guest Columnist, Waxahachie Daily Light
- Biography of Robert D. Crumpton
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2021
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