Robert Jons Horn, World War II - Part II
By April, 1945, targets for the Allied bombers were limited. Bob’s B-17 was part of a bomber stream, thousands of planes that went over the targets. On one trip to Dresden, Germany, his plane lost one engine. This put it in a critical position because German fliers sometimes flew captured B-17s and B-24s and came down from a position above the clouds to attack the squadron. They would shut off one engine and come down and join the stream. Then at an opportune time they would open fire on the Allied aircraft then start their engines and fly away from the stream.
The pilot made a decision to continue on the mission, and their plane dropped out of the stream of planes heading to Dresden to 500 feet below the rest of the planes. When they were near their own bombers, they were in danger from their own gunners, who might have thought they were Germans flying captured airplanes. They were careful to keep their guns in a fixed position, so as to appear non-threatening and not be shot out of the sky. They delivered their bombs and faced the same hazard returning to Sudbury.
Generally, only the lead plane in each squadron carried a bombardier. He decided when to drop his load of bombs and dropped smoke bombs in addition. The plume of the smoke bombs would be the signal for all the others to drop their bombs. Sometimes the 25-pound fragmentary bombs were aimed against personnel. On one occasion over Bordeaux, France, their six bombs were made from auxiliary fighter gas tanks, now filled with gasoline. These were all dropped at one time as incendiary devices. Sometimes on their way down, they would smash against each other and make quite a fireball even before they reached the ground.
Bud’s Buggy flew three missions, had one day off and then flew three more missions. Each was from 8-10 hours long. Fighter escorts were present only when the B-17s were over enemy territory. They flew only those six flights and the war in Europe was over.
Bob left England on July 5, 1945 with his crew aboard their B-17. They flew to Valley, Iceland, Meeks, Greenland, Goose Bay, Labrador and delivered their bomber to Bradley Field on July 9th.
He then went back to Tipton, Iowa, his home on a 30 day furlough. The war ended in the Pacific on August 4, 1945. Bob remembers a jubilant parade through town. He played the bass drum on the back of a truck.
From Army Camp Atterbury in Indiana, he was reassigned to MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa, Florida. There he drove an ambulance. Sergeant Robert Jons Horn was discharged in February 1946.
He went home to Tipton and worked in a gas station. That summer he went to summerschool at the University of Iowa. He met his first wife, Iva, there in a line for veteran’s paperwork. She had been in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Corps, (WAAC) which later became the Women’s Air Corps, (WAC) He studied accounting and graduated in 1949. He and Iva were married in the summer of 1948.
After graduation, he went to work for General Electric in July, 1949 in Syracuse, NY in the Television Receiver Department. They bought a five passenger 1949 Chevrolet for $1635, and they took all their household belongings in it to their new job.
Their son, Bob, (1950) and daughter, Susan (1953) were born in Syracuse. Then he was transferred to Wabash Cabinet Plant, Wabash, Indiana in 1955. Sarah was born there. Phyllis, his present wife, lived across the street and her daughters and son, Tom, often babysat for the Horns.
Bob and his family came to Tiffin to work in the GE plant here in 1959. The plant here made hermetically sealed motors. He worked until the plant closed in 1986. At its peak, GE employed more than 1,300 people.
In 1989 Iva died of cancer. Son Bob died in 1985. He married Phyllis in 1990.
Susan now lives in Pasadena, MD and works for the National Security Agency. She is divorced and has no children. Sarah lives in Alma, MI. She and her husband Michael Selmon have three daughters: Hannah Ruby, Margaret Jean, and Emma Zoe. The name Zoe has been in Michael’s mother’s family for five generations. Michael teaches English and Drama at Alma College.
The Horns along with the Selmons recently took a trip to The Isle of Rhodes, Greece and then traveled to Sudbury, England, to the site of his former Air Force Base. The hard stands on which they parked their B-17s were still there.
For 44 years the Horns have been a valuable asset to the Tiffin community. He is a Rotarian and in addition he has been active in promoting the Ritz Theatre. He wrote letters to General Electric to request money for the Ritz. GE has a program called More Gifts, More Givers in which the former employees of GE give matching gifts. The Ritz’ grant was approved in 1996. Some portion was raised each year. The final amount of the grant was for $96,630 through 2002, and it continues. Phyllis and Bob are active members of Trinity United Church of Christ.
– Percy and Mary