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Robert George Tills was born in Manitowoc, Wis., on 09 March 1918. Enlisting in the Naval Reserve as a seaman 2c on 24 May 1937, he reported for duty on 14 June. Tills
was appointed an aviation cadet on 03 August 1938 and reported to the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Fla., for flight training on 26 August 1938. On 18 September 1939 Tills was commissioned
an ensign in the Naval Reserve, and reported to Patrol Wing 2, Patrol Squadron 21, on 05 December. On 14 April 1941, Tills was augmented to regular Navy and commissioned as ensign. Ensign
Tills was flying neutrality patrols with Patrol Wing 10, based on the tender Langley (AV 3) in the Philippines at Cavite. With war imminent, CinC, Asiatic Fleet, Adm. Thomas C. Hart,
deployed his surface units to the southward, away from the Manila Bay anchorages in reach of Japanese land-based bombers on Formosa. As part of this southern movement, William B. Preston
(AVD 7) received orders dispatching her to Malalag Bay, near Davao Gulf, on the southeastern coast of Mindanao. Dropping anchor on 01 December, she served as an advance base for three PBY's
assigned the duty of patrolling the eastern reaches of the Celebes Sea. Ensign Tills flew one of the Catalinas, and the planes alternated on aerial reconnaissance flights. Early on 08 December
1941, a radio dispatch crackled over the airwaves into the destroyer-seaplane tender's radio room: "Japan started hostilities; govern yourselves accordingly." The terse message alerted all hands,
and William B. Preston and her planes prepared for war.
One plane took off immediately to search the seas for signs of the Japanese; while the other two, including the one to which Tills was attached, remained in the serene waters of Malalag Bay, their
crews ready to take off at once. William B. Preston shifted her anchorage from the two Catalinas to lessen the chances that one bomb, aimed at the ship, would also damage the aircraft.
Anxious eyes peered intently into the lightening skies for signs of Nipponese aircraft. Shortly before 0800, nine Mitsubishi A5M4 "Claudes" from Japanese carrier Ryujo, escorting
13 Nakajima D3A-1 "Vals," swept around the narrow point of land screening Malalag Bay from Davao Gulf. Leaving the destroyer seaplane tender alone for the time being, the "Claudes" strafed the
helpless PBY's, turning them into collanders of metal and fabric and setting them afire. Ensign Robert Tills died in the fusillade of bullets from the Japanese strafers, the first American naval
officer killed in the defense of the Philippines. Click Here For Additional Information Page On Ens. Tills
USS Tills (DE 748) (1944-1968) was the first ship to be named in his honor.
(Photo courtesy of the Tills Family.) |
Richard Leonhardt
Bethlehem, Pa. |
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June 1944: San Diego, Cal. - USS Tills (DE 748) in a view taken off San Diego, California.
(U.S. Navy photo #19-N-78079 from the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.)
|
Mike Smolinski
Clifton, N.J.
Manager, Navsource
DE / FF / LCS Archive
|
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27 August 1944: San Pedro, Cal. - Starboard side view of USS Tills (DE 748) underway in San Pedro Bay. Tills is wearing Measure 31/10D camouflage scheme.
(U.S. Navy, Bureau of Ships Photo #BS 70882 from the United States National Archives) |
Nick Tiberio
Shelton, Conn. |
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27 August 1944: San Pedro, Cal. - Port side view of USS Tills off San Pedro, California.
(U.S. Navy Photo #19-N-78078 from the United States National Archives) |
Mike Green
Port Angeles, Wash. |
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27 August 1944: San Pedro, Cal. - USS Tills (DE 748) underway in San Pedro Bay, California. She is painted in camouflage Measure 32, Design 10D (a modification
of that design as prepared for the DE-51 class).
(U.S. Naval Historical Center photo #NH 107525 from the Naval History and Heritage Command)
|
Mike Smolinski
Clifton, N.J.
Manager, Navsource
DE / FF / LCS Archive
|
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undated wartime image |
Robert Dunn |
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Tills and USS Roberts (DE 749) going through the Panama Canal during WWII,
taken from USS Hemminger (DE 746) |
Robert Taylor |
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undated: Hemminger and Tills in drydock. |
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Tills underway in the Pacific during WWII. Note her "Homeward Bound" pennant trailing over the ship. Taken from Hemminger |
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11 October 1944: A port beam view of Tills underway slowly off San Pedro, Cal.
(Photo courtesy of Chris Wright) |
Ed Zajkowski
Narvon, Pa. |
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undated wartime image (I found this photo in my Dad's things, he was a seagoing Marine in WWII, PFC Robert Dale Gray.) |
Donald Jones |
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May 1958: Boston, Ma. - Public Visiting Day at the South Boston Naval Annex.
(Photo © Richard Leonhardt) |
Richard Leonhardt
Bethlehem, Pa. |
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May 1958: Boston, Ma. - Public Visiting Day at the South Boston Naval Annex. (Note... that's Dick Leonhardt on the 40mm in this photo.)
(Photo © Richard Leonhardt) |
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early 1960: Gloucester, Mass. - Two reserve training vessels on a port visit to Gloucester. Tills, homeported at Portland, Maine is moored outboard of USS
McClelland (DE 750), homeported at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. |
Tommy Trampp |
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1961: off Portland, Maine - My brother served in USS Tills before and during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I frequently drove my brother, Gerald Standel, from
our home in Massachusetts to the ship's home port of Portland, Maine. Jerry was a corpsman who also served in Vietnam with the 3rd Marine Amphibious Brigade and ended his career of twenty
odd years as a CPO. |
Harry Standel |
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at Gitmo, taken from USS Roberts, early '60's |
Jay Jones EM3
USS Roberts (DE 749)
1962-1964 |
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circa 1969: Palm Beach, Fla. - Tills on a port visit to the Port of Palm Beach. |
Rick Barton
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. |
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20 January 1969: Philadelphia, Pa. - ex-Tills nested at "D" Dock, in the Reserve Basin, at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. She is between
ex-Albert T. Harris (DE 447) and Eberle (DD 424). |
James Swank
Tomball, Tex. |
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20 January 1969: Philadelphia, Pa. - A port quarter view of ex-Tills in the Reserve Basin at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Eberle
has been moved out since the previous photo was taken. |
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23 March 2009: Arlington National Cemetery - An Army Old Guard escort platoon leads a horse-drawn caisson carrying the remains of World War II Navy pilot
Ensign Robert Tills during his funeral on 23 March at Arlington National Cemetery. The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command identified Tills' remains and material evidence more than 66 years
after his death 8 December 1941, in the Philippines. The mission of the Hawaii-based JPAC is to search for, identify and return the remains of fallen Americans from the nation's past conflicts.
(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Chlosta) |
Bill Gonyo
Downey, Cal.
Assoc. Researcher
Navsource |
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