Ralph A Felton Jr
Military ROLL OF HONOURMichel Beckers WW2CRASHSITERESEARCH
On 23 Nov 1942 St Nazaire Submarine Pen mission, he failed to reach the target and turned back. The Stabilizer was accidentlly shot off by the waist gunner.
Killed in Action (KIA) 4-Mar-43 in B-17F 41-24512 'Rose O' Day' 91BG/322BS while serving as Pilot. Aircraft sustained damage from repeated fighter attacks and crashed into North Sea just west of the southern tip of Texel Island, Holland. My dad was one of the original B-17 pilots who served with Wray's Ragged Irregulars. He flew 22 missions between 11-Jul-42 and 4-Mar-43. He was declared Missing in Action (MIA) 11 days after I was born. His plane was last seen near Texel Island returning from Hamm Raid
Purple heart, Air medal w/several Oak Leaf Cluster; Meritorious Commendation for 11-9-42 Saint Nazaire Mission and 2-Apr-42 for Emden Mission
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
Aircraft
Missions
- Date: 4 March 1943
- Date: 4 February 1943
- Date: 27 January 1943
- Date: 13 January 1943
- Date: 3 January 1943
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
New Jersey | 6 June 1918 | |
Other Killed in Action (KIA) |
Texel, Netherlands | 4 March 1943 | Killed when aircraft was shot down by fighters and crashed just west of the tip of Texel Island. He baled out but was lost in the sea. His remains have never been recovered. |
Other Commemorated |
Netherlands American Cemetery, AM Begraafplaats 1, 6269 NA Margraten | Commemorated on the Wall of the Missing, Netherlands American Cemetery. |
Revisions
Lee Cunningham 23-Jun-2015. Added Decorations and Commemorated event per American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) records; made connections to Place, Aircraft and Mission within existing website data; Added KIA event per MACR 3721; Edited SUmmay Biography with loss detail and converted dates to military-style signification per "Losses of the 8th & 9th AIr Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBe.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Roll of Honor/ Pat Felton, Daughter, Losses of the 8th and 9th AFs Vol. I by Bishop and Hey, pp. 87-88, MACR 3721