SCHROBILTGEN, Raymond

Stats:

rank: P/O
status: kia
airforce: RAF    (no: 87696 )
born: 1915-01-15 Athus Belgium

added by: Adrian Dwyer

Raymond Schrobiltgen was born at Athus on January 15th, 1915. Initially, he was a member of the Chasseurs Ardennais, but in 1939nwas accepted as pupil observer in th Aé Mil. Schrobiltgen was a man of action and escaped to Great Britain, via Port Vendes (France), arriving on 7 July 1940. He was sent to theTraining Command and commenced his training at 13 EFTS (Peterborough) on the DH82A. His first solo on the Tiger Moth was 28 April 1941. Graded "Above Average", he joined 17 EFTS in June 1941 followed by 11 SFTS - where he pilots Airspeed Oxford and Miles Magister. His first solo on Hurricane was on 24 August 1941 at 9SFTS and on 21 October 1941 he joined 57 OTU. By 2 November 1941 he had flown his first solo in a Spitfire (XO-T).

Posted to 350 Sqn on 16 December 1941, his first operational mission was on 25 April 1942 (Spitfire Mk V EN835): convoy patrol. On June 4th, 1942, after deploying from Debden on a Rodeo, he disappears over the North Sea and fails to returned to base: he is declared MIA. In his logbook, F/Lt Dumonceau de Bergendal (commanding B-Flight) put this note:

"Pilot missing on Rodeo on June 4th. Last seen diving away from formation in a steep dive. Cause unknown as no E/A in immediate vicinity."

(Kindly provided by Philippe Deman)

Known awards
Knight of the Order of Leopold II, Belgian Croix de Guerre with one Palm