John D. Crimmins.
Of Little Falls, New York, NY.
The Man Behind the Name
T/Sgt. John D. Crimmins served as radio operator aboard his aircraft during the August 1, 1943 Ploesti mission. He had completed 12 missions. Three sources document his fate: E&E Reports No. 2444 and 2451, and MACR-462. His next of kin was his mother, Mrs. Catherine M. Grimley, of 100 Harwell Street, Little Falls, New York.
Crimmins did not bail out and was killed in the mid-air collision over Bulgaria. He was last seen at the base in Africa before the mission's departure. Murray's report places the loss over Serbia, while Koen's account and the MACR both record the crash over Bulgaria. Crimmins was among those confirmed as being in the aircraft when it struck the ground.
His name appears variously as 'Grimmins,' 'Grimley,' and 'Grimmings' across OCR-corrupted document pages; serial number 34167965 confirms his identity as Crimmins. He was killed in action on 1 August 1943.
Service record.
Missions flown.
The missions below are those we have been able to document for this airman, drawn from flight logs, mission records, and archival sources. It is not necessarily a complete account of every mission flown; gaps may reflect missing documentation, transferred assignments, or records lost to time.