The Mission
By late March 1945, the war in Europe was visibly collapsing. Allied armies had crossed the Rhine. German cities burned nightly. The end was weeks away, not months. Bob Burns had commanded the 351st Bomb Group through the worst of it — the Schweinfurt raids, the long winter of 1944, mission after mission over heavily defended targets — and he was the longest-serving group commander remaining in the theater. He led the Berlin mission with navigator Ben Love beside him.
"In late March, 1945, I led a mission to Berlin. Navigator Ben Love, was with me on this one. On landing at Polebrook, there was a message for me to go see the wing commander. I did and he told me that I was being relieved and going home. I protested mightily, knowing that the war was about over and I longed to get in some flying over the continent without being shot at. I knew that we would be involved in flying our POWs out and maybe other humanitarian missions. Also, I had dreamed of flying my own airplane back to the states. He told me that he was sorry, but that he had no option. Washington had sent some twenty Colonels who had spent the war in the Pentagon, to the 8th to get at least a little combat experience. Further, that I had been in the theater longer than any other commander, so go pack my bags."
Relieved of Command
Ruth Josephine Blackburn — an Army nurse with the 160th Station Hospital — had first met Bob at Lilford Hall, England, in 1943. By spring 1945 her hospital had moved to the continent, following the Allied advance.
"After the pronouncement from Gen. Lacey, I went back to my quarters to ponder a bit. I wouldn't be relieved until my replacement showed up, so I had a bit of time. Ruth and her group had moved to the continent a short while ago but I had no idea where they were. But calling some people I knew at 8th AF, I learned that an agency in Paris kept track of where every organization was. So, next morning, I flew to Paris and sent my plane back, telling them I would let them know when and where to come get me."
One Last Flight
"I got a taxi into the city for a couple of packs of cigarettes, and the driver knew where to take me. In any event, there I found out that the 160th Hospital was enroute at the moment from their staging area, to Amiens, France. Showing them my orders, written by me, of course, which allowed me to go wherever I pleased, they gave me a rail pass to Amiens. It was just dark when I arrived, and I saw an MP in a jeep parked on the station ramp. I asked him if he knew where the new hospital was and he did know and offered to take me there. And I knew it was the right place when as I walked in the front door, I saw one of the doctors that I knew. He called for Ruth to come down, that she had a visitor. I spent the next day there, telling her of my new orders and pledging to write often. Then my plane came in and back to Polebrook I went. My relief was there, and I packed my bags."
Bob and Ruth were married the following year, in 1946, in Greenwich, Connecticut (the couple were then stationed at Mitchel Field, New York). They had met two years earlier at Lilford Hall, England, when Ruth's 160th Station Hospital was billeted there. The Berlin mission and the trip to Amiens was the last time they saw each other in Europe.
Going Home
"The war was over for me."
The war in Europe ended in May 1945. Bob was already gone.
From the Flight Records
From the records
March 1945 — Individual Flight Record (Form 5), AAF Station 110 (Polebrook). The entry on the 27th is the last B-17 entry in this record. After it, no further flights at Polebrook appear.
This is the last B-17 entry in Bob's Polebrook record. The date falls precisely in "late March 1945," and the 0-minute pilot time is a known transcription artifact — several other combat missions in the records share this pattern, likely because the duration line was partially obscured on the original form. A Berlin mission from Polebrook would run 8–9 hours. The single landing confirms the aircraft returned. After March 27, no further B-17 entries appear at AAF 110.
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