Robert Murray "Butcher Bob" Hanson USMC   1st Lt. MoH,   Navy Cross,  Air Medal Born 4 February 1920 in Lucknow, India. Killed in Action in F4U-1A 56039, 3 February 1944 while strafing Japanese positions at Cape St. George. The USS Hanson (DD-832) was named in his honor.

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ACE DOWNS 5 ZEROS
Marine Shoots Jap Planes in Raid on Rabaul to Tie Records

Munda, New Georgia in the Solomons, 14 Jan. 1944 - (Delayed to 19 Jan.)-(AP) - Already an ace, Marine Lt. Robert Hanson of Newtonville, Mass., shot down five Japanese Zeros today before, during and after a raid on Rabaul.
He’s the third flier to do that in a single combat in the South Pacific. The other two, Lt. Col. Harold W. Bauer and Major Gregory Boyington, are now listed as missing in action.
Lieutenant Hanson, who flew one of the Corsairs which escorted the dive bombers and torpedo bombers to Rabaul, is a native of Lucknow, India, and the son of Methodist missionaries.
His biggest day prior to today was last November 1 while covering the landing of Marines at Empress Augusta Bay on Bougainville when he shot down two enemy Zeros and a dive bomber.
The runner-up in today’s figuring was Marine Capt. A.T. Warner (address not available) who got four Zeros. The squadron to which Hanson and Warner belong downed 19 Zeros in today’s raid. The squadron Commander, Major R.G. Owens of Greensville, South Carolina, got two.

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U.S. Ace Missing In South Pacific Area

Newton, Mass., 5 Feb. 1944 - (U.P) - Lieut. Robert W. Hanson, 24, of Newtonville, Marine fighter pilot who has a record of 25 downed enemy planes in the South Pacific, is missing in action according to a telegram received by his parents here today from Lieut. Gen. A. A. Vandergrift of the Marine Corps.
"I had a premonition this would happen," said the Rev. Harry A. Hanson, the flier's father. "Being the father of a war ace is nerve-wracking business."
Lieutenant Hanson was within one victory of tying the 26-plane record of Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker set in World War I and which has been equaled by two other marine pilots, Maj. Joe Foss and Maj. Gregory Boyington, in the present war.

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Marine Ace Killed On Daring Flight

AN ADVANCED SOLOMONS BASE, 8 Feb. 1944 - (INS) - Death in action of Marine Lieut. Bob Hanson, 23, of Newtonville, Mass., leading south Pacific Corsair ace with 23 Jap planes to his credit, was disclosed today.
Hanson, a son of Methodist missionaries and a football and tennis star at Hamline University, was killed Feb. 3 while strafing Japanese positions at Cape St. George.
He daringly flew so low in making his attack that one wing of his plane dipped into the sea, the plane then somersaulting nose first and sinking immediately. His flying mates could find no trace of the plane or pilot.
"He was the greatest and most daring fighter pilot imaginable,'' said Hanson's commanding officer, Bob Owens, of Greenville, S.C.
"He did things no other pilot would dare attempt and always got away with them until he finally met death gallantly."

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Top Marine Flying Unit Back From Pacific Front
Corps Got 135 Japanese Craft
High Man Has 20 Planes; S.C. Officer Commands Group

San Diego, Calif. 16 March 1944 - (AP) - The Fighting Corsairs — the U.S. Marine Corps' top aviation outfit — returned to the mainland today with 135½ Japanese planes to their credit.
With 17 fliers who came back for a leave before reporting for new assignments were Capt. Don Aldrich, 26, Chicago, who has 20 planes, and Capt. Harold Spears, Newark, Ohio, a 15-plane ace.
The squadron lost two pilots on its first mission and shot down only 31 enemy craft in 12 weeks. But in its final six weeks of overseas duty it destroyed 104½ Japanese aircraft.
The half plane? A flier attached to another unit provided assistance in destroying one enemy plane.
The leading ace of the fighting Corsairs, Lt. Robert Hanson, Newtonville, Mass. is missing in action, after having sent 25 Japanese planes to their doom. Details of Hanson's last mission were disclosed today by the squadron commander. Maj. Robert G. Owens, 27, Greenville, S.C.
"Bob was coming back from a flight covering bombers to Rabaul on February 3rd when he apparently decided to strafe a lighthouse at Cape St. George, at the southern tip of New Ireland," Owens said.
"He made a strafing run, and then his right wing was seen to hit the water twice. The plane pulled up and the wing either exploded or caught fire. After a moment when it seemed he would make a normal landing, the plane twisted and rolled over into the water and disappeared."
Only 13 pilots of the Fighting Corsairs were lost — eight through enemy action. Other pilots of the unit who had not completed the prescribed 18 weeks combat duty still are in the South Pacific.
The pilot said that although the squadrons' planes often received extensive damage most managed to return to their bases safely. An exception was a plane piloted by Lt. George Cross, Chicago, whose right wing blew up. He dove through a rain squall which put out the fire and flew 230 miles to his airdrome, where he bailed out.

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Victories Include :

25 / 2 / 0

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