Robert J. Hurley was born on October 31, 1922 in Chesire, Connecticut. He attended high school for 4 years before he enlisted. Robert volunteered for the US Army in Hartford, Connecticut on 30 October 1942. He served as a Bombardier on B-24 #42-94913 “Pregnant Peggy” aircraft during World War II.

On Oct. 19, 1944, the crews of Pregnant Peggy and Bomber’s Moon, from the 844th Bomb Squadron, 489th Bomb Group, 8th Army Air Corps, were sent with their squadron to Mainz to bomb a railroad yard.

In the weeks prior to the attack, the 844th had hit Germany hard, bombing industrial areas in 10 cities and striking Cologne three times.

At 12:56 p.m., according to eyewitness reports, Pregnant Peggy got caught up in the prop wash of another bomber and the pilots lost control in the ensuing turbulence. As they struggled to maintain control of the 33,000-pound plane packed with thousands of pounds of bombs, the Pregnant Peggy slipped back, banked left and dipped down over the Bomber’s Moon.

It continued losing altitude and struck Bomber’s Moon’s tail section with its left wing tip. The wing disintegrated and the engine and prop fell off the Pregnant Peggy. The Pregnant Peggy, now overpowered on one side, went into a lateral spin some 20,000 feet straight to the ground and crashed into the woods near Forsthaus Heldenstein at Edenkoben, Germany.

2LT Hurley was Killed in Action in the crash, at the age of 21 and was first buried at the Temporary American Military Cemetery of St. Avold, France. He is now buried in the Ardennes American Cemetery, Neupré, Belgium.

Source of information: https://www.stripes.com