The personal identification tag was handed over to the family and a plaque was affixed in memory of the US pilot who lost his life on a mission on Mount Cicuto in 1944.
Monday 29 April 2024, in the province of Frosinone, in the presence of the Commander of the 72nd Wing, Col. Alessandro Fiorini, the commemoration day dedicated to 1st Lt Robert Layne May, a US pilot of an A-36A “Apache” aircraft who crashed in the Monte Cicuto area in February 1944 after being hit by German anti-aircraft fire.
On 3 February 1944, a pair of A-36A “Apache” aircraft, a light fighter-bomber known by the unofficial name “Invader,” considered among the best ground-attack aircraft of the era, took off from Pomigliano (NA) airbase and headed on a mission to the lower Lazio region. During the return phase, while gaining altitude, the aircraft piloted by Lt. Robert Layne May was hit by German anti-aircraft fire and crashed, disappearing into the woods on the northern slope of Monte Cicuto.
After approximately 10 years of investigations, site inspections, research, and partial discoveries of the aircraft's remains, on 18 June 2023, the nameplate of the American pilot.
This nameplate was symbolically presented during the Commemoration ceremony to the grandson and great-grandson of the Lieutenant who specially came to Italy from the United States. The handover took place at the representative hall of Palazzo Ducale Cantelmo in Atina (FR), in the presence of religious authorities, local civil authorities, and the’Aeronautical Attaché at the US Embassy in Italy, Col. Robert Horton. On the morning of the same day, in the impact zone on Monte Cicuto, the placement of the Commemorative plaque in memory of the pilot and, in the afternoon, the Laying of a wreath at the War Memorial of the Municipality of Atina.
Lt. Robert Layne May was born in Warren, Oregon, on 2 May 1919 and after his studies, he enlisted in the USAF in 1941. In 1942, he passed the flight selection and, as a cadet, joined the Air Corps, undertaking initial training at Pendleton base and advanced training in Florida. On 1 September 1943, he was sent to the Pomigliano d’arco (Naples) base with the 527th Fighter Bomber Squadron.
