The Independent

For each of the 87 names on Petrolia’s cenotaph, there is the story of a young man who went to serve his country and never returned.

Robert James Atkins was one of those men.

There is little known about Atkins other than he was born Feb. 28, 1917 in Petrolia, the son of George and Roxie May (Tithecott) Atkins.

According to his Record of Service, he enlisted in London, Ontario in September of 1942.

Atkins trained in Ontario and by July 1943, Atkins had been transferred to the Royal Air Force’s trainee pool

In January 1943, the all-Canadian 424 Squadron came into being. It’s not clear when the Petrolia man joined the unit but Atkins was with the 424 when he flew a mission March 31, 1944 in a Halifax III LV 879.

Flying Officer John Doig from Winnipeg was the head of the mission who had only served on year longer than Atkins.

The 424 Squadron took off March 30, 1944 at 21:35 on a bombing operation to Nuremberg, Germany. Two-and-a-half hours into the flight, just west of Alten Busek near Giessen, Germany, they were attacked.

Flight Officer E.F. Smith investigated. He’s talked with village officials and two people in the area. “They told me that one of a stream of aircraft passing over Alten Buseck was attacked by a night fighters, caught fire, exploded in mid-air, spreading wreckage over a wide area,” Smith wrote in a report dated Dec. 18, 1946.

“One of the crew baled out and sustained leg injuries,” he added. The officer was taken into custody by the Germans who said he gave his name as John Ross Mason.

“He was later handed over to the guard room at Giessen and is believed to have been taken from there to the Giessen hospital,” Smith wrote.

“The remainder of the crew were killed in the crash, their bodies were badly mutilated by non was burnt.”
One of the seven on board was later recovered after the crash. He was trapped in the aircraft.

“All except A.H. Grossland, whose name and number were engraved on his cigarette case, were identified by discs and cloth and later buried in Alten Buseck Cemetery,” Smith said in his report.

Atkins’ remains are listed as being in the Hanover War Cemetery – a military cemetery owned by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Buried in the cemetery are 2,451 soldier mainly from the Air Force.

His name is engraved on the Petrolia Cemetery – Lest We Forget.