Crew Roster · Personal File

Jim M. Crumley

330th Squadron

HometownTN

S/Sgt. James M. Crumley served as tail gunner on the Ploesti mission of 1 August 1943 with the 93rd Bomb Group.

Crumley was killed in action before the aircraft went down. According to Adams, the tail gunner was killed in the turret as the aircraft reached the initial point (I.P.), prior to the bomb run and before the crash. The crew questionnaire lists both Crumley and Sylvester Havens under the tail gunner position; Crumley appears to be the individual killed in the turret at the I.P.

Killed in ActionPASSED 01 AUG 1943

Sortie Log

1 CATALOGUED SORTIE
01 AUG 1943

The sorties 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.

8AF Mission

Date

Target

Aircraft

№ 115

01 AUG 1943

Ploesti

The aircraft was badly shot up by anti-aircraft fire over Ploesti on 1 August 1943. Two engines were knocked out and fire broke out in No. 1 engine. The crew did not bail out; instead the aircraft crash landed. Upon impact it began burning. Only the nose section, wing tips, and vertical stabilizers survived — the rest of the aircraft was reduced to ashes. Six crew members survived the crash landing. The tail gunner (Havens) was killed in the turret before the crash. The engineer was pulled from the wreckage by the bombardier, Adams, but died of his wounds later.

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§ Interment

Cemetery

Ardennes American Cemetery

Location

C 12 22