William "Bill" John Roberts, Jr.

William “Bill” John Roberts Jr. was born on August 8, 1918, in Ellensburg, Washington to Washington natives William John Sr. and Merle May Roberts. During the 1920s and 30s, William John Sr. worked as a railroad brakeman. Later around 1940, he was promoted to a conductor for the Northern Pacific Railway. While in Ellensburg, Merle gave birth to two more children, Arthur in 1919 and Lois in 1921. The family moved to Pasco, Washington sometime before the birth of their fourth child, Gene, in 1929. Roberts attended Pasco High School from 1934 until his graduation in May 1937.

Roberts attended Washington State College from 1937-1941. He missed the 1939-1940 school year and re-entered WSC in fall 1940. During his time at WSC, he studied civil engineering. In college he was a member of the Lambda Chi fraternity and the Associated Engineers.

Roberts enlisted in the Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet in March 1941. He received primary training at Oxnard, California, basic training at Bakersfield, California, and advanced training at Luke Field in Phoenix, Arizona. On October 31, 1941, he received his 2nd Lieutenant commission. Roberts was an instructor at Luke Field in beginning in November 1941. While he was in Arizona, Roberts met Virginia Hanson, who later became his wife. Virginia was from Minneapolis and attended the University of Minnesota becoming a member of Zeta Sigma sorority. She moved to Arizona to attend Arizona State Teachers College. Roberts and Virginia married on October 21, 1942 and planned to establish a home in Phoenix. In February 1943, Roberts received his 1st Lieutenant commission and applied for foreign tactical duty.”

Roberts was assigned for duty as a fighter pilot in the 52nd fighter group, 5th fighter squadron. He flew a Spitfire LFIX aircraft. Roberts left the United States on April 14, 1943, to join the 52nd to fight in the African campaign. During the spring and summer months, Roberts and the other fighter pilots attacked enemy Axis aircrafts that assaulted Tunisian ports and Allied ships at sea. In November 19436, Roberts and the 52nd moved to Corsica. The 5th fighter squadron was based in the Corsican town of Borgo, arriving at their base in December.

In February 1944, the 5th fighter squadron continued combat in Corsica. On February 1, during aerial combat with the enemy, Roberts, “distinguished himself in a manner that is especially deserving of praise and commendation… through extraordinary individual courage and skill, he destroyed a German D0 24, thereby contributing in large measure to the success of a vital mission on which his unit was engaged.”

Later on February 19, 1944, during a large fight plane combat mission over Viterbo, Italy, a dogfight took place involving 24 of the 52nd’s Spitfire aircrafts against approximately 45 German planes. The result was eight enemy aircraft destroyed and four others damaged, but with a loss of six Spitfires and pilots. On February 19, Roberts’ plane went missing in action. The War Department established that Roberts was killed over Camino, Italy because of the destruction of his plane by enemy aircraft.

Roberts received a Purple Heart, Air Medal as well as one silver and one bronze Oak-Leaf cluster, “representing six additional awards of the same decoration, have been posthumously awarded.”  He was buried in the IOOF Brick Road Memorial Park Cemetery in Ellensburg on March 17, 1949. Roberts is memorialized on the Washington State University Veteran’s Memorial.