SSgt Robert H Sweatt was a gunner on Capt. David L. Wilhite’s crew. On Jan. 7, 1944, they were assigned to the B-24 Liberator 42-41013 “Trouble” when it took off from Station 114 in Hethel, Norwich, UK on a mission to bomb the industrial complex near Ludwigshafen, Germany. Maj. Kenneth Caldwell chose Trouble as his “command” plane making it the lead plane in the formation of the 2nd Combat Wing for this mission. Wilhite’s normal co-pilot, Lt. Daily, also wanted to fly the mission so he remained on board listed as an observer.

The mission was a success, but the bombers of the 2nd Combat Wing picked up a pack of German fighters over Chateauneuf-sur-Loire at ~1300 hours. “Trouble” was attacked at 21,000 feet by Hauptmann Egon Mayer, a German Ace pilot, flying an Fw-190 fighter. Trouble’s cockpit and right wing were hit in the initial attack. Ablaze, the bomber dropped out of formation and went into a spin. Sgt. Sweatt was wounded during the initial attack in several places, including a nick to his jugular vein, and was trapped by centrifugal forces as the plane fell. Later, the plane exploded, expelling Sgt. Sweatt and knocking him unconscious. He regained consciousness in time to open his parachute. It was reported that Lt. Wendell (Dan) Daily was also able to escape the plane but was shot before he hit the ground. Only Sgt Sweatt survived from the crew of Trouble that day. He was found by French farmers before the Germans could arrive and given clothing to appear French, thereby avoiding detection. Sgt. Sweatt was hidden by local French families (Duplant and Duneau) and nursed back to health until he was delivered to the operators of the Shelburne Escape Line (Bonaparte route). He arrived back in England on March 23rd, 1944.

The crew members’ bodies were eventually identified, likely by their dog tags, and recorded as buried in the Saint-Chéron de Chartres cemetery. On March 12th, 1944 at 10 am Mr. Broutin found an unidentifiable corpse in the woods of Bouville, which was probably Sgt. Saunders. Later, some of the bodies were interred in Normandy Cemetery and some were returned to the U. S. for re-burial.

The story of Capt. Wilhite’s crew is documented in a book titled “Trouble” written by Sgt. Sweatt’s son-in-law, Larry Smith.

Sweatt later married and lived a full life with five children, and many grandchildren and great grandchildren. He was living in Texas before he passed away on January 7, 2021, the 77th anniversary of his crew's tragic loss over France. He is now buried in the Oaklawn Cemetery in Texas.