Ralph Waldo Cummings
Military ROLL OF HONOUR
Object Number - UPL 54470 - 1st Lt. Ralph W. Cummings
Enlisted January 1942, trained at Roswell, NM. Assigned to 330BS,93BG,8thAF USAAF. Bombardier for Utah Man for Operation Tidal Wave. He dropped the first bombs on a Ploesti target. Failed to return (FTR) from Bremen, attacked en-route to target 13-Nov-43; Joisey Bounce, lost right wing and suffered a mid-air collision with B-24, 42-40765, 'The Valient Virgin' spiraling to the ground. Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 2179
Awards: DFC, PH.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 330th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 330th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 330th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 330th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 330th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Flight Officer
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: - Joisey Bounce - Utah Man
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 330th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 13 November 1943
- Date: 1 August 1943
- Official Description: 177 B-24’s, of IX Bomber Command (including Heavy Bombers on loan from Eighth AF) are dispatched to bomb oil refineries at Ploesti and nearby Campina. The operation (TIDALWAVE) is costly, 54 planes and 532 airmen being lost, but damage to the targets...
Places
- Site type: USAAF heritage site
- Known as: Station 104
- Site type: Airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Great Falls, MT | 27 December 1919 | Son of Hiram C and Dolly E Cummings. |
|
Enlisted |
Seattle, WA | 13 January 1942 | Seattle, Washington |
|
Other Killed in Action (KIA) |
Husum, Germany | 13 November 1943 | Failed to return (FTR) from Bremen in B-24 41-24226 'Joisey Bounce' 13-Nv-43; mid air collision with B-24 Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 2179 |
|
Based |
Hardwick | 13 November 1943 | Assigned to 330BS, 93BG, 8AF USAAF. |
|
Buried |
Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery Lemay, St. Louis County, MO | Re-Interred Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri |
Revisions
Added Tidal Wave raid info
1st Lt. Ralph W. Cummings in front of Utah Man
Ralph Cummings Personal diary, as well as a letter written in Nov. 1945 from Joisey Bounce (B24 # 41-24226) top turret gunner Robert L. Cox (who was able to bail out from the plane as it fell to the ground on Nov. 13th, 1943, and who was taken prisoner) to Ralph's mother describing the action.
MACR 2179 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
