Eugene Tobin - Misplaced Pages

Royal Air Force pilot

Eugene Quimby Tobin
Eugene Tobin (left) with Andrew Mamedoff (right) and Vernon Keough, Church Fenton, Yorkshire, October 1940
Nickname(s)	Red
Born	(1917-01-04)4 January 1917 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	7 September 1941(1941-09-07) (aged 24) near Boulogne-sur-Mer, German-occupied France
Place of burial	Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, France
Allegiance	France United Kingdom
Service / branch	France Royal Air Force
Years of service	1940–1941
Rank	Flying Officer
Service number	81622
Unit	No. 609 Squadron RAF No. 71 Squadron RAF
Battles / wars	World War II European air campaign † Battle of Britain

Flying Officer Eugene Quimby "Red" Tobin (4 January 1917 – 7 September 1941) was an American pilot who flew with the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain in World War II. He was one of 11 American pilots who flew with RAF Fighter Command between 10 July and 31 October 1940, thereby qualifying for the Battle of Britain clasp to the 1939–45 campaign star.

Early life

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, but raised from early childhood in Los Angeles, California, the son of Ignatius Quimby Tobin and Mary Alicia Tobin (née O'Fallon). Tobin initially came to Europe to fight on the side of Finland against the Soviet Union's invasion of that country, but hostilities had ceased before he arrived. He was already a qualified pilot, having learned to fly in the 1930s.

Tobin and Andrew Mamedoff had been flying friends at Mines Field in California before the war.

Second World War

Tobin and his friends and fellow Americans Andrew Mamedoff and Vernon Keogh were among 32 pilots recruited by American soldier of fortune Charles Sweeny to join the French Air Force. However, by the time they reached France, Germany had already invaded the country. The trio made their way to England and joined the Royal Air Force in 1940. (Of the rest of Sweeny's recruits, four were killed, 11 were taken prisoner, and two others reached England.)

On 8 August 1940 Tobin was posted to No. 609 Squadron RAF at Middle Wallop airfield. He flew his first mission on 16 August 1940. He flew many missions during the height of the Battle of Britain in August and September. He was credited with two shared kills – a Bf 110 on 25 August and a Do 17 on 15 September.

He was posted to RAF Kirton in Lindsey in Lincolnshire on 18 September 1940 and was a founding member of the No. 71 'Eagle' Squadron along with Art Donahue, Andrew Mamedoff and Vernon Keogh.

After arriving in Britain Tobin had been diagnosed with lupus which at the time was a fatal disease, but kept his illness a secret so he could continue to fly for the RAF.

Death

On 7 September 1941, Tobin was killed in combat with Bf 109s of JG 26 on 71 Squadron's first sweep over northern France, one of three Spitfires shot down. He crashed into a hillside near Boulogne-sur-Mer and was buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, France. He was 24 years old.

References

Klaus Ulrich Spiegel: "Quel canto mi conquide" - Stuttgart Spinto in his Era - HAfG Disc Edition - Hamburger Archiv

Battle of Britain - Roll of Honour
"Ga-pilots".
Alex Kershaw, World War II Magazine Volume 25, No.4 November/December 2010, pp.36
Caine, Philip D. Eagles of the RAF: The World War II Eagle Squadrons (PDF). National Defense University Press. p. 69. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 October 2021.
Kan, Kenneth C. (2007). "First in the Air: The Eagle Squadrons of World War II" (PDF). Air Force History and Museums Program.
"Ww Ii Ace Stories". Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2009.
"Battle of Britain London Monument - P/O e Q TOBIN". Archived from the original on 30 May 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2010.

Air Defence of Great Britain during the Second World War

Overview

People

RAF	Hugh Dowding Charles Portal Cyril Newall Trafford Leigh-Mallory Keith Park Sholto Douglas
Army	Frederick Pile
Scientists	R. V. Jones Robert Watson-Watt

Organisation

Commands	RAF Fighter Command RAF Balloon Command RAF Coastal Command Anti-Aircraft Command RAF Bomber Command
Groups	No. 9 Group RAF No. 10 Group RAF No. 11 Group RAF No. 12 Group RAF No. 13 Group RAF No. 14 Group RAF
AA Corps	I AA Corps II AA Corps III AA Corps
AA Divisions	1 AA Division 2 AA Division 3 AA Division 4 AA Division 5 AA Division 6 AA Division 7 AA Division 8 AA Division 9 AA Division 10 AA Division 11 AA Division 12 AA Division
Other units	Battle of Britain airfields Eagle Squadrons Royal Observer Corps Women's Auxiliary Air Force

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Topics	Air warfare of World War II In Europe Blitzkrieg Comparative military ranks Cryptography Declarations of war Diplomacy Governments in exile Home front Australian United Kingdom United States Lend-Lease Manhattan Project British contribution Military awards Military equipment Military production Naval history Nazi plunder Opposition Technology Allied cooperation Mulberry harbour Total war Strategic bombing Puppet states Women Art and World War II Music in World War II Weather events during World War II
Theaters	Asia and Pacific China South-East Asia Pacific North and Central Pacific South-West Pacific Indian Ocean Europe Western Front Eastern Front Mediterranean and Middle East North Africa East Africa Italy West Africa Atlantic timeline Americas
Aftermath	Chinese Civil War Cold War Decolonization Division of Korea First Indochina War Expulsion of Germans Greek Civil War Indonesian National Revolution Keelhaul Marshall Plan Occupation of Germany Occupation of Japan Osoaviakhim Paperclip Soviet occupations Baltic Hungary Poland Romania Territorial changes of Germany Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany United Nations
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Participants

Allies	Algeria Australia Belgium Brazil Bulgaria (from September 1944) Canada China Cuba Czechoslovakia Denmark Ethiopia Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) Finland (from September 1944) France Free France Greece India Italy (from September 1943) Luxembourg Mexico Netherlands Newfoundland New Zealand Norway Philippines Poland Romania (from August 1944) Sierra Leone South Africa Southern Rhodesia Soviet Union Tuva United Kingdom British Empire United States Puerto Rico Yugoslavia
Axis	Albania protectorate Bulgaria (until September 1944) Wang Jingwei regime Independent State of Croatia Finland (until September 1944) German Reich Hungary Azad Hind French Indochina Iraq Italy (until September 1943) Italian Social Republic Empire of Japan Manchukuo Philippines Romania (until August 1944) Slovak Republic Thailand Vichy France Collaboration
Neutral	Afghanistan Andorra Bhutan Ireland Liechtenstein Portugal Spain Sweden Switzerland Tibet Vatican City
Resistance	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Czech lands Denmark Dutch East Indies Estonia Ethiopia France Germany Greece Hong Kong Italy Japan Jews Korea Korean Liberation Army Korean Volunteer Army Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malaya Netherlands Northeast China Norway Philippines Poland Romania Thailand Soviet Union Slovakia Western Ukraine Vietnam Quốc dân Đảng Viet Minh Yugoslavia
POWs	Finnish prisoners in the Soviet Union German prisoners Soviet Union Azerbaijan United States United Kingdom Italian prisoners in the Soviet Union Japanese prisoners Soviet Union German atrocities against Polish POWs Soviet prisoners Finland atrocities by Germans Polish prisoners in the Soviet Union Romanian prisoners in the Soviet Union

Timeline

Prelude	Africa Second Italo-Ethiopian War Asia Second Sino-Japanese War Battles of Khalkhin Gol Europe Anschluss Munich Agreement Occupation of Czechoslovakia Operation Himmler Italian invasion of Albania
1939	Invasion of Poland Battle of the Atlantic Phoney War First Battle of Changsha Battle of South Guangxi Winter War 1939–1940 Winter Offensive
1940	Norwegian campaign German invasion of Denmark Battle of Zaoyang–Yichang German invasion of Luxembourg German invasion of the Netherlands German invasion of Belgium Battle of France Dunkirk evacuation Battle of Britain Battle of the Mediterranean North Africa West Africa British Somaliland Hundred Regiments Offensive Baltic states Eastern Romania Japanese invasion of French Indochina Italian invasion of Greece Compass
1941	Battle of South Henan Battle of Shanggao Invasion of Yugoslavia German invasion of Greece Battle of Crete Anglo-Iraqi War Battle of South Shanxi Syria–Lebanon campaign East African campaign Invasion of the Soviet Union Summer War Finland (Silver Fox) Lithuania Battle of Kiev Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran Second Battle of Changsha Siege of Leningrad Battle of Moscow Bombing of Gorky Siege of Sevastopol Attack on Pearl Harbor Japanese invasion of Thailand Fall of Hong Kong Fall of the Philippines Battle of Guam Battle of Wake Island Malayan campaign Battle of Borneo Japanese invasion of Burma Third Battle of Changsha Greek famine of 1941–1944
1942	Fall of Singapore Battle of the Java Sea St Nazaire Raid Battle of Christmas Island Battle of the Coral Sea Battle of Madagascar Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign Battle of Gazala Battle of Dutch Harbor Battle of Midway Aleutian Islands campaign Kiska Attu Blue First Battle of El Alamein Battle of Stalingrad Kokoda Track campaign Rzhev Jubilee Second Battle of El Alamein Guadalcanal campaign Torch Chinese famine of 1942–1943
1943	Black May Tunisian campaign Battle of West Hubei Battle of Attu Bombing of Gorky Battle of Kursk Allied invasion of Sicily Smolensk Solomon Islands campaign Cottage Battle of the Dnieper Allied invasion of Italy Armistice of Cassibile Burma Northern Burma and Western Yunnan Changde Second Battle of Kiev Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign Tarawa Makin Bengal famine of 1943
1944	Tempest Monte Cassino / Anzio Korsun–Cherkassy Narva Ichi-Go Overlord Neptune Mariana and Palau Bagration Western Ukraine Second Battle of Guam Tannenberg Line Warsaw Uprising Eastern Romania Liberation of Paris Dragoon Gothic Line Belgrade offensive Lapland Market Garden Estonia Crossbow Pointblank Vietnamese famine of 1944–1945 Philippines (1944–1945) Leyte Syrmian Front Hungary Budapest Burma (1944–1945) Ardennes Bodenplatte Dutch famine of 1944–1945
1945	Vistula–Oder Battle of Manila Battle of Iwo Jima Indochina Vienna offensive Project Hula Western invasion of Germany Bratislava–Brno offensive Battle of Okinawa Second Guangxi campaign West Hunan Italy (Spring 1945) Battle of Berlin Prague offensive Surrender of Germany document Borneo Taipei Naval bombardment of Japan Manchuria Atomic bombings Debate South Sakhalin Kuril Islands Shumshu Surrender of Japan Potsdam Declaration document End of World War II in Asia

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References