Across the Atlantic Sea, deep in the south of France, one devoted son is looking to Greenwood for help finding a missing soldier’s family and a way to honor his legacy.
Malcolm Swan’s father, Dr. John Swan, was a doctor for Britain’s Royal Air Force during World War II. During his time in combat, as most soldiers do, Dr. Swan formed a tight bond with those fighting alongside him, particularly one pilot who came from a small town in the Mississippi Delta.
Malcolm Swan, who is British, is living in France during the current pandemic and has spent some time looking through old family archives — including photos and diaries.
One particular person of his father’s acquaintance stood out.
“During World War II, my father was the medical officer to several squadrons of fighter aircraft in the Royal Air Force. Before he died in 1975, he often told me stories of his wartime experiences and one of these was that amongst the many fighter pilots whom he knew, a man he particularly admired and with whom he became great friends was one who came from the USA,” Swan said.
“This man’s name was Bob Upshur, and to my father’s great sadness, he was shot down over the English Channel July 8, 1942. His body was never found.”
While going through his father’s diaries and photos, he was able to find a few references to “Bob,” whose full name was Robert Alexander Upshur.
With some help of a family genealogist, Swan found Upshur’s draft card.
It shows that Upshur worked for The Greenwood Commonwealth.
Upshur was a sports reporter, and his father, Littleton Upshur, was the Commonwealth’s editor.
Bob Upshur’s draft card shows that, among other things, he was employed by the Commonwealth.
What makes this case more of a mystery was the fact that, as discovered through Malcom Swan’s research, Upshur joined the fight against the Axis forces sometime around the summer of 1941, several months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. And, he joined with the British armed forces.
First reference to this U.S. soldier came in John Swan’s diary dated Nov. 8, 1941, while they were stationed in Debden, Essex. He said, “Upsher (sic) showed me his .45 chromium plated Colt automatic, bought in case it was necessary! I liked him very much — he’s a Southerner,
slow speaking and quiet, and for 22, very sensible.”
But the horrors of war would soon take their toll on the young pilot.
• • •
In the July 20, 1942, issue of the Commonwealth, an article titled “Robert Upshur Missing In Action” reads: “Flight Lieutenant Robert Alexander Upshur reported by Air Ministry London as missing, having been lost at sea as a result of enemy action about 1500 hours (3 p.m.) on July 18.”
His comrade, Francis Blacklege, wrote Littleton Upshur a letter that the Commonwealth published in 1942:
Robert “Bob” Alexander Upshur in his Royal Air Force uniform.
“There is much I would like to say to you, but as I write the pen dries and words fail. Bob was so very much one of us and typical of the very best we find in the R.A.F., modest and unassuming, brave, determined and full of hate for the Hun.
“He spoke to me on occasions of you, and from the picture he built before me, I know that however deep a wound his going will cut in your inmost being, you will not regret the manner of his going. Of no man could it be better said that he was killed doing his duty. I have made careful inquiry and there is absolutely no doubt that it was the bombs from his aircraft that sank one of the ships he and his boys were attacking. I am afraid there is also no doubt that, like Wing Commander Paddy Finucane on the day previous, he was hit by A.A. (anti-aircraft) fire and had to try and land on the sea, and the machine went straight down and did not give him a chance to get out; the others circled round but he did not manage to escape.
“A brave life has come to an end and the world seems even colder. I for my part feel very lonely. I have fought in the early battle of the Firth of Forth and again in France and the battle of Britain, but I cannot recall ever meeting a pilot of quite Bob’s personality. He endeared himself to everyone over here without trying to do so, but just by his own self; the United States could have no better ambassador. I hope one day when the bloody Hun is finally heeled, to come to the States and tell you of Bob.
“For the moment we have a fight to fight and a war to win, but even so, many of us here are thinking of you at this time of tragedy and offering our heartfelt sympathy.”
• • •
Now, from France, Swan is searching for more information on his father’s friend’s family. Swan hopes to contact with the family and get more insight to the brave soldier’s story.
“I am intrigued as to why a young American should cross the Atlantic and sign up to fight for the British in a war that, at that stage, the U.S. was not very interested in joining,” Swan said. “I would really like to contact any relatives he might have left, perhaps in Greenwood. ... I thought they might like to have copies of the photos I have and to hear about an old friendship of his and to know that he is remembered as a hero in my family.”
The genealogist determined that Upshur had two full brothers who died in 1985 and 1997, and a half-sister, Nell, who was married to a man named Erskine Wells. She died in 1994, and Wells died in 2003.
Those with any information on Lt. Robert Upshur or his family may contact the Commonwealth at abakst@gwcommonwealth.com.
• Contact Adam Bakst at 581-7233 or abakst@gwcommonwealth.com. Twitter: @AdamBakst_GWCW
