Ralph S Bryant
Military ROLL OF HONOUR
Squadron Operations Officer - Command Pilot
466th BG - 786th BS
KIA 29 April 1944 when the 389th BG a/c he was flying in as command pilot, B-24H-15-DT #41-28784, was forced to ditch in the North Sea. After helping every crew member exit the aircraft, he stepped into the rescue boat and collapsed dead, presumably from exposure/hypothermia. 466th Bomb Group collection
466th BG Historian
Object Number - UPL 6983 - Captain Ralph S. Bryant Squadron Operations Officer - Command Pilot 466th BG - 786th BS KIA 29 April 1944 when the 389th BG a/c he was flying in...
Shot down 29 April 1944 in B-24 41-28764. Plane ditched in North Sea. Killed in Action (KIA).
When asked about the saddest event that he remembered from his tour with the 466th BG, William Lakeman, a pilot in the 786th BS stated; "The loss of Captain Ralph Bryant on a mission that our crew didn't go on. He landed a crippled plane in the Channel and was helping others to safety when he keeled over dead, we were told. We had called him the "scout master" and snickered behind his back. Not until he was dead did we realize what a leader he had been. I went to his burial service at Cambridge."
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 564th Bomb Squadron
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Attlebridge Arsenal, Station 120
- Site type: Airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Enlisted |
Atlanta, GA, USA | 12 July 1941 | |
|
Other Killed in Action (KIA) |
North Sea | 29 April 1944 | Captain Ralph S. Bryant Squadron Operations Officer - Command Pilot 466th BG - 786th BS KIA 29 April 1944 when the 389th BG a/c he was flying in as command pilot, B-24H-15-DT 41-28764, was forced to ditch in the North Sea. After helping every crew member exit the aircraft, he stepped into the rescue boat and collapsed dead, presumably from exposure/hypothermia. |
|
Born |
Georgia, USA | ||
|
Buried |
Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial Coton South Cambridgeshire District Cambridgeshire, England Plot: Plot A Row 5 Grave 32 | ||
|
Born |
Marion, SC, USA |
Revisions
Added " / " in the "Role/job" field as a separator to aid readability.
Merged with duplicate entry to include details from :
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia ;
MACR 5473;
466th BG Historian;
Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
MACR 5473 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
