301st BG, 419th BS

Il 14 febbraio 1944 era il mitragliere di coda del B-17 A/C #42-31893.

Ralph Kenneth Carlisle nacque 19 luglio 1922 a Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio, USA; figlio di John W. e Ida Lillie Carlisle. Si arruolò a Fort Benjamin Harrison, nell’Indiana, l’11 settembre 1942. I documenti di arruolamento affermano che aveva completato quattro anni di scuola superiore e lavorava come operaio all’interno di un’officina meccanica. Fu addestrato come artigliere aereo e nell’agosto del 1943 fu assegnato, insieme al resto dell’equipaggio da combattimento, ad un’unità in Nord Africa¹. Effettuò almeno dieci missioni con questo equipaggio.
Il 14 febbraio 1944, in rotta verso l’area bersaglio, l’aereo (#42-31893) venne colpito dalla contraerea quindi abbattuto anche a seguito della collisione con un aereo da caccia nemico; furono osservati nove paracadute.
Il pilota rimase ucciso nello schianto del suo aereo poiché i rapporti tedeschi affermano che il suo corpo fu trovato tra i rottami. Il Sgt. Carlisle si paracadutò ma il suo paracadute non si aprì e rimase ucciso nell’impatto con il suolo; all’equipaggio fu mostrato il suo corpo.
Fu sepolto localmente e alla fine della guerra traslato nel cimitero di Mirandola.
Nel 1948 il corpo venne recuperato e restituito alla famiglia per la sepoltura negli USA. Attualmente giace nel Walnut Grove Cemetery a Worthington, Franklin County, Ohio, USA, nella sezione C, lotto 155.

14 Feb 1944 was tail gunner on B-17 A/C #42-31893.
Sergeant Carlisle was born July 19, 1922 in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio, USA; son of John W. and Ida Lillie Carlisle.
He enlisted at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana on September 11, 1942. Enlistment documents state that he had completed four years of high school and was working as a laborer in a machine shop. He was trained as an air gunner and in August 1943 was assigned, along with the rest of the combat crew, to a unit in North Africa (301st Bomb Group records show they were assigned on August 1, 1944 but it clearly deals with an error). He flew at least ten missions with this crew.
On February 14, 1944, en route to the target area, the plane (#42-31893) was hit by flak and then shot down also following a collision with an enemy fighter plane; nine parachutes were observed.
The pilot was killed in the crash of his plane as German reports state that his body was found in the wreckage. Carlisle parachuted but his parachute failed to deploy and he was killed on impact with the ground; the crew were shown his body.
He was buried locally and in 1948 his body was recovered and returned to the family for burial in the USA. It currently lies in Walnut Grove Cemetery in Worthington, Franklin County, Ohio, USA, in section C, lot 155.

EQUIPAGGIO

• A/C #42-31893. Bond’s crew

MACR

• MACR 2303

POW

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COLLEGAMENTI

• https://www.301bg.com/Carlisle_Ralph_C0263_301BG.cfm
• https://it.findagrave.com/memorial/23303205/ralph-kenneth-carlisle
• https://www.fold3.com/memorial/657782478/carlisle-ralph-k-sgt/stories
• https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p16007coll97/id/11035

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1. Dai registri del 301st Bomb Group risulta siano stati assegnati il ​​1° agosto 1944 ma si tratta chiaramente un errore. ↩︎

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