There are details in the Newell Crew and Case History 328 pages that are not presented in these pages. Additional information can be found within the Osaka Virtual Cemetery created by Scott Muselin.

Lt Cobb grew up in the San Diego area, graduated from Point Loma High School in 1939 and attended UC Berkeley from 1939 through 1943. According to his enlistment records, he officially enlisted in the Army in August 1942 with a deferrment until Month 00 and Year 03.

From the few dental records in his Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) his path can be traced from Ellington AAF, Texas, in August 1943 to the Navigator School at San Marcos AAFNS, Texas, in October 1943.

In April 1944 the 499th Bomb Group relocated from Clovis AAF, New Mexico, to Smoky Hills AAF (SHAAF) in Salina Kansas. Lt Cobb's name does not appear in the orders issued 6 April 1944 concerning this move but he does show up in the Roster of Officers dated 30 April 1944. In the Newell Crew are details of the crew's move from SHAAF to Saipan in October 1944.

Five of the 142 files in Lt Cobb's IDPF concern CH 328. Other documents from CH 328 that you will find in these pages come from other men who were executed at Osaka.

These pages are fairly straight forward with a short introduction appearing on the first page of each section.

However, there is considerable overlap between the Recovery and Identification pages and I have been unable to create a distinct separation between the two.

Lt Cobb's remains were transported from Japan to the Oakland Army Base (OAB) by the USAT STAR REEFER. Most of the documents in his Coming Home page concern transport by rail from Oakland to San Diego and then his interment at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.

My thanks to the following men for their contributions to Lt David W Cobb's page:

John Lehnen
Scott Muselin
Roy Wall