T/Sgt. Sanford Gordon Roy

He was on a bombing mission heading to Brunswick, Germany, to destroy airfields and manufacturing plants, along with German aircraft on the ground. Sanford volunteered with the Army and was assigned to the Army Air Force on August 25, 1942. On the date of his death, a formation of 200 Allied bombers was in route to their target when 50 to 60 German fighters with a mix of Focke-Wulf 190’s and Messerschmitt 109’s attacked the formation. They flew out of Old Buckenham, RAF Station #144, in Norfolk, England, from the 732nd Bombardment Squadron, 453rd Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, of the Mighty Eighth Air Force aboard a B-24H Liberator named “Little Joe”. There were Ten men on this plane, and Tech Sergeant Roy was the left waist gunner. Other bombers in the group saw Little Joe take heavy fire from the German fighter planes and roll onto its back catching fire and falling out of the formation. No one saw any parachutes leave the plane as it headed towards the earth. The Mighty Eighth operated out of the airfield in England from December 1943 through May 1945. During this time, the Mighty Eighth lost 58 aircraft, and 366 air crewmembers lost their lives. On April 8, there was a total 31 bombers that were shot out of the sky. On that one day the Mighty Eighth lost 53% of the total number of planes lost during the 17 months, compared to losing 47% of the planes over the entire 17 months. The bomber never made it to the target and went down somewhere over Salzwedel, Germany. At the end of the war, some effort was made to locate the plane by talking with people who lived in the area and by using German records, but no information was in their records. There was no way to search for the plane during war time, and after the war the location was in Russian-occupied Germany. Eyewitnesses in the area said that two aircraft were shot down. The first plane crashed, and nine crewmembers were buried by the people of the town, but the second plane was damaged and burning and it exploded as it tried to come in for a landing. On December 10th, 1951, the Memorial Division, Office of the Quartermaster General, approved the findings that the bomber Little Joe B-24H was listed as non-recoverable. In 2015, the Missing Allied Air Crew Research Team (MAACRT), an independent research group, contacted the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) about a possible crash site that could be Little Joe. They contacted the family to say that it was possible that they had found Sanford’s plane location in Germany. This was great news, but another situation had to be overcome. The place where the plane was thought to have crashed was farmland, and the owner did not want his field dug up. After talks and then actually leasing the area from the farmer to start the excavation, remains of the plane and all ten crew members were found. In August 2021, DPAA started preliminary archaeological testing in the area, where they found some artifacts that turned out to be the from the tail gunner of Little Joe. By November 2023, the entire area had been excavated and all artifacts sent to the DPAA labs for DNA testing. Finally, after over 80 years, in July 2024 the Army and DPAA contacted the family stating that Sanford’s remains had been positively identified. A footnote: The crew of Little Joe had a Cocker Spaniel at the barracks on base. When they did not return home, other crews took over watching out for the dog. It was said that the dog would not eat for days, and whenever a plane returned to the base the dog would go out to see if they had come home. Sanford passed the United States of America, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, First-Aid Training Course. He passed the United States Army, Army Air Force Technical Training Command as an Airplane Mechanic. He was awarded the Purple Heart, Air Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Medal, Bronze Service Star, World War II Medal, U.S. Army Air Force Aerial Gunner Badge Wings, and Honorable Service Lapel Button.

Sanford was born on March 21, 1913, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to George and Dora Roy. He was a member of the Chattanooga Central High School Class of 1934 and he was a faithful member of the East Chattanooga Church of Christ. After high school, he worked at the Gilman Paint Plant in Chattanooga, where he ended up receiving a job helping to paint the Rock City signs on barns around the South. Then he received a job with the newly created TVA and worked throughout the Tennessee Valley. His hobbies were woodworking and horseback riding.

Deceased family members include his parents; sisters Bertha Roy Broadrick and Ruth Roy Miller; brothers Willie, Doyle (Navy veteran), and Esper (Army veteran); several nieces and nephews.

Sanford is survived by his niece, Carolyn Roy Lusk; great-nephews David Roy, Greg Roy, Tim Gooden, Mike Gooden, and Charles Broadrick; great-nieces Nancy Roy Nunnally, Becky Roy Terrill, Darla Roy Blazek, Denise Broadrick, and Rebecca Gilbert; numerous great-great-nieces and nephews and great great-great- nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held at the North Chapel of the Chattanooga Funeral Home on Monday, April 7, from 4-8 p.m.

A graveside service will be held at the Chattanooga National Cemetery on Tuesday, April 8, at 12:30 p.m., with full military honors. The public is invited. If anyone wishes to join the procession to the cemetery, you will need to be at the North Chapel around 11:30 am for the procession to leave at noon.

In lieu of flowers the family would suggest donations to: Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758519, Topeka, KS 66675-8516; 855-448-3997; www.woundedwarriorproject.org. Or Wreaths Across Chattanooga, 426 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402; 423-250-3215; www.chattareaveterans.com/wac .

Please share your thoughts and memories at www.chattanooganorthchapel.com

Arrangements are by the North Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, Crematory and Florist, 5401 Highway 153, Hixson, TN 37343.