Robert Davis
PFC Robert “Bob” Davis served with Dog Company, 1st Armored Amphibian Battalion
He was reported missing in action at Mellu, Marshall Islands, on 31 January 1944.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 488441
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
May 7, 1925
at Dallas, TX
Parents
Robert Oscar Davis
Eva Loette (Floyd) Davis
Education
Dallas Technical High School (1942)
Occupation & Employer
Recent graduate
Service Life
Entered Service
November 14, 1942
at Dallas, TX
Home Of Record
1214 South Ewing Avenue
Dallas, TX
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Loette Davis
Military Specialty
Tank Crewman
Radio Operator
Primary Unit
D/1st ArmAmphBn
Campaigns Served
Marshall Islands / North Kwajalein
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
On 31 January 1944, participated in the amphibious landings on Mellu Island (codenamed Ivan Island) as part of the Northern Attack Force of Operation Forager. The day’s objective was to secure the small islands neighboring Roi and Namur in preparation for a major assault on 1 February.
PFC Davis was the radio operator aboard Landing Vehicle Tracked (Armored) or LVT(A)-1 designated “D-14.” He had already survived one experience with a sinking tank; during training maneuvers at San Clemente Island in early January, his D-14 ran out of gas and drifted away from its LST. A fellow crewman recalled how “our hep radioman, Bob Davis, used a flashlight to signal a blimp” and communicated with a minesweeper that took the tank in tow.
During the landing at Mellu, D-14 blew a fuse and lost power in heavy surf. The crew scrambled up to the deck, at the mercy of the waves as machine gunner William Moir recalls:
We all put on life belts and all the equipment, grenades, and ammunition we could carry. When I climbed on top of the tank, we had drifted into the surf, and I was knocked into the water. I was scared stiff, was gurgling and gargling water, and didn't know whether to swim ashore and risk Jap fire or swim out.
I looked around and saw Bob Davis, our radio operator, waving and shouting for help; he had lost his life belt. Smitty (Arlo D. Smith) was trying to reach him but I was too far away to be of any use....
The heroic efforts of Corporal Ralph H. Taber got D-14 started again, but Davis, Smith, and Clinton Norrell were swept away in the surf. Smith and Norrell were rescued by a passing LVT, “but they reported seeing Davis go down and not come up again,” according to Moir. “Davis drowned that day.”
PFC Davis was officially reported as missing in action, and declared dead on 1 February 1945.
Burial Information or Disposition
None; remains not recovered.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Loette Davis.
Location Of Loss
Davis drowned off the coast of Mellu, Kwajalein atoll.
