Robert Stearns Thompson
Second Lieutenant Robert S. Thompson was a Marine pilot with VMF-218.
He was reported missing in action after a mission to Rabaul on 5 February 1944.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number O-26318
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
August 30, 1920
at Jamaica, NY
Parents
Herbert Addison Thompson
Gertrude Estelle (Rumage) Thompson
Education
Scarborough Day School (1939)
St. John’s College
Occupation & Employer
General Dynamics Electric Boat
(in Groton, CT)
Service Life
Entered Service
June 24, 1942 (enlisted)
July 27, 1943 (officer)
Home Of Record
Chappaqua, NY
Next Of Kin
Father, Mr. Herbert Thompson
Military Specialty
Pilot
Primary Unit
VMF-218
Campaigns Served
Northern Solomons
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
On 5 February 1944, took off from Piva North Airfield in F4U-1 #55916 to provide fighter cover for a bomber strike on Lakunai Airfield, Rabaul. The war diary of VMSB-236, one of the bombing squadrons making the attack, reported moderate to heavy anti-aircraft fire, and a force of 20-25 Japanese planes that tangled with the fighter escort. Although no -236 aircraft were lost, the pilots also noted “two unidentified aircraft were seen to go down near Vulcan Crater; 1 F4U reported crashed off Ralauna Point; 1 P-40 reported crashed off Cape Gazelle; and 2 F4Us near Cape St. George.”
One of these three F4Us may have been the Corsair flown by Second Lieutenant Robert Thompson. No eyewitnesses confirmed seeing his plane go down, and he was posted as missing after the mission. Nothing more was learned of his fate, and Thompson was declared dead on 17 January 1946.
Burial Information or Disposition
None; remains not recovered.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of father, Mr. Herbert Thompson.
Gertrude Thompson lived at 50 Eastern Avenue, Ossining, New York.
Location Of Loss
Thompson was last known to be in the vicinity of Lakunai airfield, Rabaul.
