Ray Brown Lobdell (1920 - 1943)

Born 25 Jun 1920 in Butte County, California, United States

Ancestors

Died 10 Oct 1943 at age 23 in At Sea

Biography

Military

Copilot 2LT Ray Brown Lobdell, Service Number: O738427; 379th Bomber Squadron, 310th Bomber Group, Medium,12th Air Force;

Born: 1920; Hometown: Chico, California;

Awards: Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster;

Memorial: Tablets of the Missing at North Africa American Cemetery, Carthage, Tunisia.

Pilot 1LT Herbert L. Hastings, SN O668003 (Jamestown, New York), copilot 2LT Ray Brown Lobdell, SN O738427 (Chico, California), and crew chief S/Sgt William B. Brezee, SN19004906 (Oregon), of 379th Bomber Squadron, 310th Bomber Group, Medium,12th Air Force, and three passenger CPT Lewis T. Stoneburner III, SN O402641 (Virginia), Medical Corps, 45th General Hospital, and CPT Frederick Harrison "Harrison" Dillon, SN O1548195 (Utica, New York, Age 25), and 1LT Steven "Steve" Todorovich, Jr., SN O1550517 (Maryland), both of the 235th Ordnance Bomb Disposal Company (Provisional) were listed as missing-in-action, non-combat casualty. The crew was on "Flying Pay" status. They were flying in a North American B-25C Mitchell bomber (Serial Number 42-6451) that departed Algiers, Algeria at 1420 hours, 10 October 1943. The aircraft was armed with only seven .50 caliber machineguns and was flying a "ferry" route between Algiers, Algeria and Tunis, Tunisia when the aircraft never arrived at Tunis. It is presumed that the aircraft crashed somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea. Despite investigations by the Army Air Force, neither wreckage, nor remains have been recovered.

Source Documents: Missing Air Crew Report No. 1102, 27 October 1943 and Routine Casualty Report No. 26121, 21 November 1943. Army EOD Memorial Historian.

Left by Mike R. Vining, SGM USA (Retired) on 15 Apr 2011. (from Find a Grave site referenced below.)

Family

• Father: L. Hapgood Lobdell
• Mother: Ruth Almira Brown Lobdell
• Siblings: Ellen Ruth Lobdell Hefley

Timeline

• 1920 born in Butte County, California ^[1]
• 1930 US Census in Chico, Butte County, California ^[2]
• 1940 US Census in Chico, Butte County, California ^[3]
• 1942 Military Enlistment ^[4]
• 1943 marriage to Marjorie E. Brady in Oklahoma ^[5]
• 1943 died at sea in the Mediterranean
• Cenotaph in Chico Cemetery, Chico, Butte County, California ^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ "California Birth Index, 1905-1995," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VGK2-3VM : 27 November 2014), Ray B Lobdell, 25 Jun 1920; citing Butte, California, United States, Department of Health Services, Vital Statistics Department, Sacramento.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCXP-TGN : accessed 29 April 2020), Ray B Labdell in household of L Hopgood Labdell, Chico, Butte, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 10, sheet 11B, line 68, family 305, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 112; FHL microfilm 2,339,847.
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K9QH-K57 : 27 July 2019), Ray Lobdell in household of Hapgood Lobdell, Chico Judicial Township, Butte, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 4-17, sheet 8A, line 22, family 166, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 192.
4. ↑ "United States World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8GX-LVH : 5 December 2014), Ray B Lobdell, enlisted 06 Apr 1942, Sacramento, California, United States; citing "Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938-1946," database, The National Archives: Access to Archival Databases (AAD) (http://aad.archives.gov : National Archives and Records Administration, 2002); NARA NAID 1263923, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
5. ↑ "Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995." Database with images. FamilySearch. "Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVP6-19RJ : 23 March 2020), Ray B Lobdell and Marjorie E Brady, 05 May 1943; citing Oklahoma, various county courthouses, Oklahoma; FHL microfilm.
6. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 28 April 2020), memorial page for Ray Brown Lobdell (25 Jun 1920–10 Oct 1943), Find a Grave Memorial no. 64945553, citing Chico Cemetery, Chico, Butte County, California, USA ; Maintained by Adriana (contributor 47328225) .[1]
   • Chico Cemetery (Chico, California, United States). Harry S Brown’s and Ray Brown Lobdell’s headstone. Personally photographed by Kim Collins, 23 April 2020.