Warbird Information Exchange

Robert Hanson, Last Surviving Crewman of the Memphis Belle, Dies at Age 85

Oct. 5, 2005 12:00 AM

ALBUQUERQUE - Robert Hanson, the last surviving crew member of the famed Memphis Belle B-17 bomber that flew combat missions over Europe during World War II, has died of congestive heart failure. He was 85.

Hanson and his wife moved from Arizona to Albuquerque recently to be close to their daughter. Hanson, who suffered from heart problems for some time, died Saturday, family members said.

He was the radio operator on the Memphis Belle, which flew 25 combat missions over Germany and France while escaping some close calls. Hanson told his family stories about a chase involving several German planes, the bomber's tail being shot off and a nose dive that left the crew wondering if it should use its parachutes. advertisement

"It's the end of an era. There's no one left," Hanson's daughter, Mary Black, said Monday evening.

Hanson's family remembers him as a caring father and grandfather who was known for his sense of humor. Friends say he was fond of ending his phone conversations with "dit, dit, dit, dah, dit, dah," the same way radio operators signed off using Morse code.

Born in Walla Walla, Wash., in 1920, Hanson joined the military in 1941 and was assigned to the crew of the Memphis Belle. The Belle flew to England in September 1942 and departed on its first mission in November.

Army records show the plane flew 148 hours and dropped more than 60 tons of bombs.

During its missions, the Belle was hit by flak, cannon shells and machine-gun bullets.

The plane's major parts were replaced at least once, and four of the 10 crew members died during combat.

Family members said Hanson came close once.

He was writing in a logbook one day and had to sneeze. As his head moved, a bullet missed him and put a hole through the book.

"He would always say, 'When it's your time, it's your time,' " his daughter said.

When radio operators signed off using Morse code, they keyed dit - dit - dit - dah - dit - dah. And, Bob was fond of ending his phone conversations in this way.

Dit - Dit - Dit - Dah - Dit - Dah Bob... God speed!

Ryan Keough
Collings Foundation

It is very sad that the last Belle crewman has passed, and it brings some thoughts to mind. I've been thinking about this recently, and we get to hear the tag lines like "x000 dying a day," etc. We are all interested in the hardware from this time, and the hardware will be with us longer than the people. What I have found, in interviewing hundreds of veterans is that at some point they will want to talk. Some will hold it until their last breaths, but at some point they will want to talk.

I always had a sense of this and a few years ago, one vet put it to me in a way that I couldn't avoid it- he demanded from his daughter a ride to get to an event that I was attending, because he knew I was there. We had talked at the previous year's event (he was an infantryman, and we swapped rifle stories). Something had impressed him to the point that he wanted to see me again. When he got there, he seemed a bit agitated, and when we finally got a moment, he was nearly in tears when he said that he had refused to take a squad in Italy, because he didn't want to be responsible for them. Right after that, they gave the squad to another guy in his squad, who he knew had no sense in the world, and all of them were killed a few days later. I could tell that this was real hard for him to relate, but he needed to get it off his chest and he sought me to talk to.


I see how lots of people here have met some of the "big names" in our field of interest, but I am advocating taking the time out to talk to as many as you can. It takes a bit of skill to get them talking, but your time with them, allowing them to pass their stories (and urban legends, as they are often full of them) along will one day be the most valuable part of your "collection" no matter if you photograph, fly, or restore warbirds. Don't wait for the universities to get their stuff together to take oral histories, and don't count on the EAA or the Smithsonian or private authors to publish what you could be doing. These guys (and gals) are right in your neighborhood, and will probably be very pleased that you take the time to speak with them, usually out of all proportion to the amount of time you use out of your schedule.

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REMEMBER THE SERGEANT PILOTS!

None of the "Belle's" crew were killed and only the tailgunner john quinlan received a minor wound. Quinlin was also a gunner ace serving on b-29s with Morgan in the Pacific.

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Don't touch my junk!!

Gosh derned media... they always botch something up. - Ryan