Robert Maurice Curphey

During Robert’s time as a pilot, he experienced how fighting in WW2 felt and worked. To begin his career in the air force, he went through lots of training, medical exams, and evaluations. Robert had a medical exam on August 18, 1941, where he appeared to have previous disease marks, asthma, and doctors even had to remove his toenail, because of mud. He was then approved for service to serve in the Air Force.  Robert finished his pilot training and was flying overseas, in England, when his plane–Master No. 8067 was flying 300 yards from a bomber plane at approximately 1200 feet. According to witnesses, in an attempt to get away from the bomber plane, Robert turned his plane sharply to the left, however this brought him around again into the line of flight of the bomber. Robert’s plane appeared to have recovered from the attack, and escaped, however at a very low altitude, so that the aircraft struck the ground in a steep dive, which was the cause of Robert’s death on November 22, 1942 in Overton, Hampshire.   His brother Lewin would be killed just seven weeks later in January of 1943.