Herbert B. Cummings                                                                             Updated:  13 JAN 2015

Airman:
 u096104.htm Surname: Cummings Init: H B Rank: S/Sgt Service: USAAF Sqdn: 366

P_link: p336.htm Plane: B17 42107105 Operation: Bomb G Crash_site: Sea S of Lolland

Crash_d: d040844 Buried_d: b280844 C_link: c096.htm At_Next: Svinø

Den 4. august 1944 kl. 15.50 styrtede B17 107105 i Østersøen syd for Gedser (måske omkring her) på hjemvejen fra et bombetogt til Anklam (her) (Kilde: MACR)

"Flyet blev ramt af flak over målet, og på hjemturen forlod flyet pludselig formationen over Østersøen. En faldskærm blev observeret og lidt senere sås 6 faldskærme.
Flyet fortsatte i cirka 10 minutter, medens det hurtigt tabte højde, og ved sydspidsen af Falster foretog piloten en vellykket nødlanding på vandet. Der foreligger intet
om, hvorledes piloten blev reddet, men de resterende besætningsmedlemmer omkom alle." (FT 86-92-30)

MACR har mere: "Jeg så en stor geyser af vand skyde op i luften, da flyet ramte vandet. Det kan have været hvid røg. Alle faldskærme kom ned i vandet, og der var
ingen både i nærheden," erklærede S/Sgt Norman G. DeLorme, 366 Bomb Sq.

Staff Sergeant Herbert B. Cummings var Radio Operator på B17 107105. (Kilde: MACR)
Han drev i land ved Rødby Havn (omkring her). Den 28. august 1944 blev han begravet på Svinø Kirkegård.
I 1948 blev han og andre Amerikanske flyvere fra Svinø flyttet til
Ardennes American Cemetery i Belgien. (Kilde: FAF) Hans navn er ikke i registret hos ABMC, så mest sandsynligt blev han begravet på en privat kirkegård i USA. Se Monument for 46 amerikanske flyvere.

4 flyvere fra B17 107105 blev begravet på Svinø Kirkegård og 1 i Rødby. 2 er begravet i USA og 1 har ingen kendt grav. 1 flyver blev krigsfange.
Se Tegning af besætningen på en B-17*
Foto af en B-17 + B-17 i airmen.dk*B-17 Ball Turret, Ammunition og Ball Turret Gunner*B-17 Flyvende Fæstning. 9 flyvere.

On 4 August 1944 at 1550 hours B17 107105 crashed into the Baltic Sea south of Gedser (maybe about here) on the return flight of a bombing raid on
Anklam (here). (Source: MACR)

"The plane was hit by flak over the target, and on the return flight the plane suddenly left the formation over the Baltic Sea. A parachute was observed and a little later
6 parachutes were seen. The plane went on for about 10 minutes rapidly losing altitude and at the southern tip of Falster the pilot successfully ditched the plane.
There is no evidence how the pilot was rescued, but all of the remaining crew members perished." (FT 86-92-30)

MACR has more: "I saw the geyser of water shoot up into the air when the plane struck. It may have been white smoke. All the parachutes came down in the water,
and there were no boats nearby," S/Sgt Norman G. DeLorme, 366 Bomb Sq stated.

Staff Sergeant Herbert B. Cummings was the Radio Operator of B17 107105. (Source: MACR)
He drifted ashore near the harbour of Rødby (about here). On 28 August 1944 he was buried in Svinø Churchyard.
In 1948 he and other American airmen from Svinø were taken to
Ardennes American Cemetery in BELGIUM. (Source: FAF) His name is not in the ABMC records,
so most likely he was buried in a private cemetery in the U.S.A.
See Monument to 46 American airmen.

See Drawing of the crew of a B-17 * Photo of  a B-17 + B-17s in airmen.dk * B-17 Ball Turret, Ammunition and the story of a Ball Turret Gunner.
This B-17 was from 366th Bomb Squadron, 305th Bomb Group, 40 Combat Bombardment Wing, 1st Bombardment Division of the 8 AF, USAAF.
See also 305th Bomb Group. It took off from RAF Chelveston - USAAF Station 105. 9 airmen.