The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) has officially confirmed the identification of 2nd Lt. Robert T. McCollum, who had been missing in action since 1944.
McCollum served as a bombardier with the 565th Bombardment Squadron, which was deployed to England in 1943 to participate in the strategic bombing campaign against Nazi Germany.
The squadron targeted major industrial sites, including Berlin’s manufacturing centres, oil production facilities in Merseburg, factories in Münster, and shipbuilding yards in Vegesack.
It also struck Vergeltungswaffen (V-weapon) sites in the Pas de Calais and took part in the large-scale attacks on Germany’s aircraft production industry during Operation Argument (Big Week) in February 1944.
On June 20th, 1944, McCollum’s B-24J Liberator bomber collided mid-air with another B-24 and crashed into the Baltic Sea off the Danish coast. The pilot and co-pilot managed to bail out and survive, however, McCollum and the rest of the crew perished in the crash.
In early 1948, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), responsible for locating and recovering fallen American personnel in the European Theatre, investigated the crash site but was unable to recover any of the missing crew members.
In 2019, Danish divers discovered a WWII-era aircraft wreckage near the last known location of McCollum’s plane. This led to a multi-institution recovery project led by Project Recover and experts from Trident Archäologie, Wessex Archaeology, the Royal Danish Navy, and the Langelands Museum.
Underwater excavations recovered human remains, material evidence, and ID tags from two crew members. Through dental and anthropological analysis, along with mitochondrial and autosomal DNA testing, McCollum’s remains were successfully identified.
McCollum’s name is inscribed on the Wall of the Missing at the Cambridge American Cemetery in Cambridgeshire, England. A rosette will be placed next to his name to signify that he has been identified and accounted for.
Header Image Credit : United States Army Air Force
Sources : Project Recover
