Carl Ray Thompson
MilitaryFrom Cindy Thompson Carrell Daughter of Carl Ray Thompson
Reported to ETO on 03 Nov 1943. Completed tour on 27 Mar 1944. Departed in ETO on 10 Apr 1944.
26 combat missions, 19 as Co-Pilot on John Gassler crew, 6 as Airplane Commander, and 1 as aerial observer and Tail Gunner. Of the 25 men who left our barracks, I was one of the 4 who finished their tour. Missions: 1943 - Nov 16 Knaben; 26 Bremen; Dec 1 Leverkusen; 5 La Rochelle; 13 Kiel; 16 Bremen; 1944 - Jan 5 Kiel; 14 Noball, France; 21 Noball, France; 29 Frankfurt; 30 Brunswick; Feb 3 Wilhelmshaven; 4 Frankfurt; 5 Chateaudun; 20 Leipzig; 21 Hopsten; 22 Bernburg; 24 Schweinfurt; 28 Noball, France; Mar 8 Berlin; 9 Berlin; 16 Gessertshausen; 18 Lechfeld; 20 Frankfurt; 22 Berlin; 23 Hamm.
AM 3OLC, DFC,
His Daughter has said that he used to use a line as follows.
"It would have been the greatest adventure imaginable - - 19-year-old farm-boys operating the latest technology and traveling the world - - except that they were shooting at us!"
Post war he worked for Ford Motor Co.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
People
Aircraft
Missions
- Date: 5 December 1943
- Date: 1 December 1943
- Date: 26 November 1943
- Date: 16 November 1943
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Brookston, Texas | 13 September 1922 | |
Died |
23 November 1999 | Renal failure | |
Buried |
Roselawn Cemetery, Denton, TX, USA |
Revisions
Thompson's personal flight log lists each of these missions with notations.
From Thompson's personal flight record: 16 March 1944 mission was to Gessertshausen, Germany, but there is nothing showing on this site listing the 306BG on that date and location.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / daughter, Cynthia Thompson Carrell, 306th BGA Collection, Russell Strong Index Cards, / http://www.306bg.org/crewphotos/Crew%20Pictures%20Adam-Rector/Crew%20Pi…