Pottawattamie County

Lt. William B. Robinson

 

Elks Memorial Service Sunday

The memory of 12 members of the Council Bluffs Lodge 531 of Elks, was honored at the annual memorial service held in the lodge room Sunday afternoon. . . .Members of the lodge now service in the armed forces, to whom tribute was paid,  include. . . . William B. Robinson . . . .

Source: The Council Bluffs Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, Monday, December 06, 1943, Page 5

TO TUCSON

William B. Robinson, recently made a second lieutenant, has reported to Tucson, Ariz., for final training as a bombardier. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Roland P. Robinson, 406 Glen avenue, a graduate of Abraham Lincoln high school, and former student at Iowa State college [present-day Iowa State University, Ames]. He entered the air force in April, 1942.

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Lt. W. B. Robinson Here for Four Days

Lt. William B. Robinson, who has been stationed at Tucson, Ariz., arrived on Friday night to visit with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. R. P. Robinson, until the middle of the week when he leaves to report at Topeka, Kan.

Mrs. Robinson, who has been at Tucson with her husband, left during the week by plane to make a visit with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Anderson in Los Angeles.

Mr. and Mrs. Richard Cole, of Omaha, have been invited to the Robinson home today to join their brother-in-law, Lt. Robinson, Mrs. Nellie Torrey and daughter, Carolyn, at an informal dinner party.

Source: The Council Bluffs Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, Sunday, July 30, 1944, Pages 3 & 12

REPORTED MISSING OVER AUSTRIA

Lt. William Robinson has been missing in action over Austria since Sept. 10, according to word received by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. R. P. Robinson, 406 Glen avenue.

A bombardier-navigator, Lt. Robinson has been overseas little more than a month, arriving in Italy in August.

Prior to going overseas, he served as an instructor at San Antonio, Tex., for about a year an in Kansas and Arizona.

Source: The Council Bluffs Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, Sunday, September 24, 1944, Page 10

Elks Honor One of Local Members

The Council Bluffs Elks lodge presented posthumously Thursday its medal of valor to 2nd Lt. William B. Robinson, son of Mr. and Mrs. R. P. Robinson, 406 Glen avenue, killed Sept. 10, 1944, in a bombing raid over Australia (sic). He was a bombardier-navigator.

Presentations, like the one here, were being made Thursday throughout the United States by Elks lodges to families of members killed in action. It is part of the annual flag day observance.

The presentation here was made by a committee comprised of the Rev. J. R. Perkins, chaplain; John Butter, war commission chairman; and Don G. Gorman, exalted ruler.

Lt. Robinson is the only member of the local Elks lodge to lose his life in the war to date. A special scroll was also presented to the family.

Source: The Council Bluffs Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, Thursday, June 14, 1945, Page 7

William Brigham Haight Robinson was born May 30, 1916 to Roland P. and Nina K. Swanson. He died Sept. 10, 1944 and is buried in Lorraine American Cemetery, Saint Avold, France.

2nd Lt. Robinson served in World War II with the U.S. Army Air Corps 779th Bomb Squadron, 464th Bomb Group, Heavy. He was awarded the Purple Heart.

Sources: ancestry.com; abmc.gov