Career
On 24 May 1937, Robert Tills enlisted in the Naval Reserves as a Seaman Second Class and reported for active duty on 14 June. He was appointed an aviation cadet on 3 August 1938, and reported for flight training at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida.
On 18 September 1939, 17 days after World War II began in Europe, Tills was commissioned as an ensign in the Naval Reserve and assigned to Patrol Wing 2, Patrol Squadron 21. On 14 April 1941, Tills was upgraded to regular Navy status and commissioned as an Ensign. At this time, Tills was flying patrols with Patrol Wing 10 from USS Langley (CV-1) in the Philllippines. With the threat of war imminent, Tills was assigned to USS William B. Preston (AVD-7) stationed in Malalag Bay, Philippines. William B. Preston served as a base for three PBY Catalinas tasked with patrolling the eastern parts of the Celebes Sea, one of which was flown by Tills.
Early on 8 December 1941, William B. Preston received a radio dispatch: "Japan started hostilities; govern yourselves accordingly." Preston and her planes prepared for war. One Catalina took off immediately to search for Japanese ships in the area while Tills and the other Catalina stayed in the waters of Malalag Bay, ready to take off.
Shortly before 8:00 AM, nine Mitsubishi A5M4 "Claudes" escorting 13 Nakajima B5N1 "Kate" from the Japanese carrier Ryujo approached Malalag Bay from Davao Gulf. Ignoring USS William B. Preston, they straffed the two helpless Catalinas 101-P-4 and 101-P-7 from VP-101. Ensign Robert Tills was killed by enemy fire while onboard his Catalina. The rest of the crew escaped unharmed and the Catalina sank to the bottom of the bay with Tills's remains still on board. Robert Tills's body was never found and he joined a list with 78,000 other Americans missing in action during World War II.
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