Robert Ronning WWII pilot with 78th Fighter Group
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Robert Ronning WWII pilot with 78th Fighter Group
 PatLindgren75
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Posted: 27 Aug 2004 9:16PM GMT |
Classification: Query
Surnames: Skindelien, Ronnin
I am hoping to make a connection with Robert Ronning's family (who I am related to through his grandmother Inger Marie Ronning), and get some photos to go with the story below. Robert had a sister named Marianne Buzbee who was trying to work on a family history too, but I believe that she has also passed away by now.
WW2 Timeline of Robert Ronning's WW2 Career:
May 1942
The 78th Fighter Group, Ronning’s unit, expanded and moved to Hamilton Field, California in May of 1942 for training. It was selected as one of the first Groups to fly the Lockheed P-38 "Lightning". The Germans called it the “Fork-Tailed Devilâ€.
July 1942
Roosevelt and Churchill decide to postpone D-Day and open up a second front in North Africa. Code named Operation Torch. Eisenhower appointed Allied commander of the invasion.
November 8-11, 1942
Allied forces landed in Casablanca (Morocco), Oran (Algeria), and Algiers (Algeria). The Vichy French fought the invasion at Oran. Vichy French surrender November 11, 1942
November 24, 1942
Ronning & the 78th Fighter Group left California for England in November of 1942. They sailed to England from New York on the "Queen Elizabeth" on Nov. 24, 1942. Their first base was in Gloxhill, Lincolnshire, England where they trained with the British Royal Air Force (RAF). Eisenhower designated them a “reserve†unit for the North Africa campaign.
December 1942
Allied forces advance into Tunisia, but are stopped at Djedeida by the Axis Afrika Korps.
January 23, 1943
Montgomery captures Tripoli. Eisenhower is critical of the battlefield tactics used thus far and reorganizes his command, bringing in Gen. Spaatz from England to be in charge of the air campaign over the 12th, the 9th and the RAF. Gen Spaatz arrived in February.
Last P-38 fly-over of Gloxhill
before shipping off to North Africa
February 1943
In February 1943 Eisenhower transferred most of the pilots of the 78th and all the P-38 aircraft to Doolittle’s 12th Air Force in support of "Operation Torch" in North Africa. The 33rd Fighter Group had been retired to Morocco to rebuild after suffering heavy losses. Most of the P-38s were used as escorts for B-17
bombers based out of the Biskra airdrome in Algeria. The 78th moved to Duxbury and started rebuilding with the new P-47 Thunderbolts.
February 3, 4, 8 and 13, 1943
Bombing of Tunisia commences with B-26 and B-17 bombers escorted by P-38s. The B-17s were preferred because the rainy season weather and mud made it hard to get the bigger B-26s in the air. These raids shot down many enemy aircraft, but some American aircraft also did not return. No more Tunisian bombing attacks until March 3.
February, 1943
Sorties were flown by the 9th Air Force over Naples and Palermo in Italy during the month. At the same time, Northwest Africa based bombers and escort (12th Air Force) were “strewing havoc among supply ships out of Naples.†The Axis started sending troops and supplies out of Palermo in Sicily to Tunis and Bizerte under cover of night. Malta-based aircraft (9th ) worked on destroying Sicilian communication. The Northwest Africa force (12th ) sent bombers against shipping targets in Sardinia and Sicily.
February 14-19, 1943
The Afrika Korps under Generals Rommel and von Arnium attacked the Americans at Kasserine Pass in the Dorsal Mountains in southern Tunisia, causing heavy losses and forcing the Americans to retreat. This encounter, while unpleasant, taught the Americans and British many cooperative warfare lessons they successfully applied later in European battles.
February 22-25, 1943
A large Allied force, equipped with new Sherman tanks, turned back the Germans on their way to Algeria, forcing them back through the Kasserine Pass and back to Rommel’s fortifications at the Mareth Line in Tunisia. This drive was supported by massive air bombings by Doolittle’s air forces. By now Allied bombings had cut Rommel’s supply lines out of Sicily. He was running out of food, ammunition and fuel.
March 1, 1943
Robert I. Ronning dies. Ronning buried in Cambridge, England.
Palermo’s docks, drydocks, and shipbuilding yards in Sicily were hit by 38 B-17 bombers (97th Bombard-ment Group) and escorts, and five shipping vessels were set on fire on March 1.
March 20, 1943
Allied forces break through the Mareth Line. The two Allied forces (Americans from the west and Montgomery’s British forces from the east) link up by April 8, 1943
April 13, 1943
Meanwhile back at base, the rebuilt 78th Fighter Group in Duxford, England flies its first sortie against the Germans in Europe.
May 7, 1943
British forces took Tunis and American forces took Bizerte in Tinusia.
July 10, 1943
The Allies landed in Sicily, capturing it. The BBC reported, “Hundreds of ships of all sizes sailed across from North Africa carrying thousands of troops, weapons, armoured vehicles and heavy artillery. The invasion fleet was described by one pilot as stretching across 40 miles of water consisting of huge barges and merchant ships escorted by destroyers.â€
What I Don't Know:
Did Robert Ronning go to North Africa, or did he die in England?
If he died in a downed plane, was it in Palermo or Tunisia?
WW2 Timeline of Robert Ronning's WW2 Career:
May 1942
The 78th Fighter Group, Ronning’s unit, expanded and moved to Hamilton Field, California in May of 1942 for training. It was selected as one of the first Groups to fly the Lockheed P-38 "Lightning". The Germans called it the “Fork-Tailed Devilâ€.
July 1942
Roosevelt and Churchill decide to postpone D-Day and open up a second front in North Africa. Code named Operation Torch. Eisenhower appointed Allied commander of the invasion.
November 8-11, 1942
Allied forces landed in Casablanca (Morocco), Oran (Algeria), and Algiers (Algeria). The Vichy French fought the invasion at Oran. Vichy French surrender November 11, 1942
November 24, 1942
Ronning & the 78th Fighter Group left California for England in November of 1942. They sailed to England from New York on the "Queen Elizabeth" on Nov. 24, 1942. Their first base was in Gloxhill, Lincolnshire, England where they trained with the British Royal Air Force (RAF). Eisenhower designated them a “reserve†unit for the North Africa campaign.
December 1942
Allied forces advance into Tunisia, but are stopped at Djedeida by the Axis Afrika Korps.
January 23, 1943
Montgomery captures Tripoli. Eisenhower is critical of the battlefield tactics used thus far and reorganizes his command, bringing in Gen. Spaatz from England to be in charge of the air campaign over the 12th, the 9th and the RAF. Gen Spaatz arrived in February.
Last P-38 fly-over of Gloxhill
before shipping off to North Africa
February 1943
In February 1943 Eisenhower transferred most of the pilots of the 78th and all the P-38 aircraft to Doolittle’s 12th Air Force in support of "Operation Torch" in North Africa. The 33rd Fighter Group had been retired to Morocco to rebuild after suffering heavy losses. Most of the P-38s were used as escorts for B-17
bombers based out of the Biskra airdrome in Algeria. The 78th moved to Duxbury and started rebuilding with the new P-47 Thunderbolts.
February 3, 4, 8 and 13, 1943
Bombing of Tunisia commences with B-26 and B-17 bombers escorted by P-38s. The B-17s were preferred because the rainy season weather and mud made it hard to get the bigger B-26s in the air. These raids shot down many enemy aircraft, but some American aircraft also did not return. No more Tunisian bombing attacks until March 3.
February, 1943
Sorties were flown by the 9th Air Force over Naples and Palermo in Italy during the month. At the same time, Northwest Africa based bombers and escort (12th Air Force) were “strewing havoc among supply ships out of Naples.†The Axis started sending troops and supplies out of Palermo in Sicily to Tunis and Bizerte under cover of night. Malta-based aircraft (9th ) worked on destroying Sicilian communication. The Northwest Africa force (12th ) sent bombers against shipping targets in Sardinia and Sicily.
February 14-19, 1943
The Afrika Korps under Generals Rommel and von Arnium attacked the Americans at Kasserine Pass in the Dorsal Mountains in southern Tunisia, causing heavy losses and forcing the Americans to retreat. This encounter, while unpleasant, taught the Americans and British many cooperative warfare lessons they successfully applied later in European battles.
February 22-25, 1943
A large Allied force, equipped with new Sherman tanks, turned back the Germans on their way to Algeria, forcing them back through the Kasserine Pass and back to Rommel’s fortifications at the Mareth Line in Tunisia. This drive was supported by massive air bombings by Doolittle’s air forces. By now Allied bombings had cut Rommel’s supply lines out of Sicily. He was running out of food, ammunition and fuel.
March 1, 1943
Robert I. Ronning dies. Ronning buried in Cambridge, England.
Palermo’s docks, drydocks, and shipbuilding yards in Sicily were hit by 38 B-17 bombers (97th Bombard-ment Group) and escorts, and five shipping vessels were set on fire on March 1.
March 20, 1943
Allied forces break through the Mareth Line. The two Allied forces (Americans from the west and Montgomery’s British forces from the east) link up by April 8, 1943
April 13, 1943
Meanwhile back at base, the rebuilt 78th Fighter Group in Duxford, England flies its first sortie against the Germans in Europe.
May 7, 1943
British forces took Tunis and American forces took Bizerte in Tinusia.
July 10, 1943
The Allies landed in Sicily, capturing it. The BBC reported, “Hundreds of ships of all sizes sailed across from North Africa carrying thousands of troops, weapons, armoured vehicles and heavy artillery. The invasion fleet was described by one pilot as stretching across 40 miles of water consisting of huge barges and merchant ships escorted by destroyers.â€
What I Don't Know:
Did Robert Ronning go to North Africa, or did he die in England?
If he died in a downed plane, was it in Palermo or Tunisia?