Robert D. Tester

Sgt. Robert Denton Tester, SN 36003276, was born 25 Dec 1910 in Butler, Johnson County, Tennessee. Butler eventually was flooded in the 1940’s by TVA to create a dam and lake to generate electricity. Watauga Dam and lake were created. It was the only city in Tennessee that was flooded for this reason. In 1983 the lake needed a drawdown to do repairs on the dam and you could see remains of the town at that time. Over 600 families had to be displaced but Robert’s parents were already living in Telford, Washington County Tennessee. His parents were Millard Franklin Tester (1880-1942) and Eliza Catherine Walker Tester (1882-1977). Millard and Eliza had 8 children and 2 half-siblings. In the 1930 census two of the boys were working in a rock quarry and the rest of the children helped farm. Five of the eight children served during WWII with three of them losing their lives overseas. A very brave mother of the Tester family lost a husband and son, Thomas Milton, in 1942, Sgt. Robert Denton in 1943, Sgt. James Earl in 1944 and Pfc. Glen William in 1945.

Sgt. Tester enlisted 12 Feb 1941 in Chicago Illinois while he was working for Carl Snodgrass of Mt. Morris, Ogle County, Illinois as a farmer. The 320th was activated at Camp San Luis Obispo, California on January 28, 1943. Formed from a cadre of the 131st Infantry sent from Fort Brady, Michigan, and from men transferred from the 134th and 137th, the 320th became the youngest third of the triangular, streamlined 35th Division. The outfit suffered growing pains in its training and organization at Obispo. The next step was arriving in Oran, Algerian late October 1943. The troops worked, continued training, played softball and cards but mainly tried to stay healthy. There were no lights in the camp and the temperature during the day was 100 degrees and 30 at night. It rained a lot and the fleas, ticks and lice were rampant thus many men battled disease. The men were excited to finally be able to board the ship but that had required a truck trip, marching with full bags on their backs and carry their weapons for two miles. Even though Sgt. Tester was with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 320th Infantry Regiment of the 35th Division the following description of what happened on the HMT (His Majesty’s Transport) Rohna pertained to his story on 26 Nov 1943. The troops boarded the HMT Rohna on 25 Nov 1943 (Thanksgiving Day) from Oran, Algeria. The survivors of this tragedy remember being served canned chicken and rolls filled with weevils for their dinner.

The following information was condensed from HISTORY – 853rdAviationEngineers (853rdengineerbattalion.org): The Battalion boarded HMT Rohna 23 November 1943 and quartered in the aft decks 6 – 8 of the ship. The roll call listed 793 officers and men. After a complete day of boarding supplies and troops they departed at 1200 hours on the 24th. The ship was one of five in Convoy KMF-26 Annex (UK-Mediterranean Fast. The troops continued to drill concerning boat stations, abandon ship, and other important tasks, during the voyage.

Around 1600 hours on the 26th, an “Alert” alarm sounded, and all troops were ordered below decks while the gun crews and fire-control details were ordered to their stations. Several German twin engine bombers were noted from the southwest and the escort vessels opened fire.

At 1700 hours, the HMT Rohna was hit by a Henschel Hs-293 radio-controlled missile. The He-177a was piloted by Hans Dochtermann and the bomb hit the ship at the water line and all power was lost. The 853rd were quartered near the impact site and due to the blast, fires, and exploding ammunition accounted for most of the dead.

The weather had become difficult, and the sea was producing 15-foot swells. Of the 16 lifeboats only 5 were successfully launched. At 1730 hours, LTC Frolich ordered “Abandon Ship”. The water was very cold, and hypothermia took the lives of many that had successfully escaped the sinking ship. USS Pioneer collected 606 survivors alone. Overall, 1,015 of the 2,000 personnel was lost. Over 100 crewmen also were casualties of the bombing.

For further information concerning the sinking and the US Classification as “Secret”, please open the following hyperlink. Rohna-Classified – TRSMA (rohnasurvivors.org). Sgt Tester’s body washed ashore and was buried in nearby Algiers. Robert’s mother, Eliza, had Robert moved from El Alia Cemetery, Algiers, Algeria to Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Henri-Chapelle, Belgium, to be buried next to his two brothers.

He has a memorial marker located in New Victory Baptist Church Cemetery, Jonesborough, Washington County, Tennessee. There is another memorial erected by the Tennessee Historical Commission with the following inscription, “The Volunteer State of Tennessee and this small community of New Victory proudly recognize brothers Robert D., Glenn W. and James E. Tester who bravely served their country during World War II. Growing up a mile north of here, the sons of Millard and Eliza Tester gave the supreme sacrifice of their lives in the Northern African and European battles of WWII. The marker is in New Victory, Tennessee, in Washington County. The Memorial is at the intersection of Conklin Road and Treadway Trail, on the right when traveling north on Conklin Road.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org/). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here and on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen’s name and read his/her story.

If you have any details, photos or corrections for this story, please email me by clicking on my name.

Kim Hardaway – Contributing Author, Stories Behind the Stars

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=158242

https://www.newspapers.com/article/45672594/

http://www.coulthart.com/134/320-uh.htm

wikipedia.com

ancestry.com

findagrave.com

familysearch.com

https://rohnasurvivors.org/casualties/