Ralph Wile
MACR-13602 Account
T/Sgt. Ralph W. Wils served as flight engineer and top turret gunner aboard B-24L 44-49573 on 23 March 1945. His surname appears as "Wils" on the MACR form and as "Wyle" in 2nd Lt. Diez's December 1945 statement, a possible phonetic transcription error in one of the documents.
Killed in action 23 March 1945. Survivor 2nd Lt. Diez and 1st Lt. Howering were ordered by their German captors to dig his grave after his body was recovered a few miles from where most of the crew came down.
Sortie Log
12 SEP 1944 — 06 FEB 1945
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.