DUKE CUMMINGS

CUMMINGS DUKE

Duke D. Cummings is inexplicably left off the official listing of men and women from Caldwell County who died in WWII. It may be that he had moved off briefly to California. Nonetheless, he is most definitely one of our own. Duke was born in Port Aransas but spent most of his school years in Luling. He was a star football player on the Eagle squad. His father Newton Cummings was a teamster in the oil patch. His mother was Elva Lynn Duke, who was living in Grayson County, Texas when she met and married Newton Cummings. Duke’s first name was apparently in honor of his mother’s family. The family moved around. His younger sister, Val Jean, was born in Erath County in 1927. In 1930, the family was living at 167 Rife Street, Aransas Pass. Between 1930 and 1935, his parents divorced. His father, Newton S. Cummings, was a teamster, and would eventually move up to central Texas. Duke was raised by his mother in Luling. Elva Lynn remarried in 1942, moving to Texarkana, Arkansas.

After high school, he attended Seguin Lutheran College (now Texas Lutheran University) for two years. According to his high school classmate, Dr. Tom Matthews, Duke moved to California to work in the defense industry. He enlisted the Army Air Corps on November 1, 1941 at Ft. Sam Houston. In all probability, he was told he would be called up when a slot opened. The 1942 Paso Robles phone book still showed Duke living at 629 Osos Street, with a listed occupation as a ‘warehouseman.’

Sometime in 1942, Duke was called up. After successfully completing primary and basic flight training, he was sent to Geiger Field in Spokane, Washington, and graduated with a co-pilot designation on the B-17 four-engine bomber. He was assigned to the 301st Bombardment Group’s 353rd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy). Part of the U.S. Twelfth Force, the Group and its four squadrons were based in North Africa. Extensive bombing raids were made over the island of Sicily as part of the Allied attempt at strangling Axis supply lines to North Africa (Operation Flax) and in anticipation of the invasion of the island. The B-17 was one of one of the US Army Air Corps’ most prolific bombers. However, despite its designation as a ‘Flying Fortress’ is could prove easy prey to enemy fighters, unless properly escorted. In early 1943, this often was not the case.

On April 13, 1943, his ship was piloted by 1st Lt. Jerry E. Thomas. It took off from its base at St. Donat, Algeria on a bombing raid against airfields at Castelvetrano, Sicily. After turning back toward North Africa, it was attacked by German aircraft. The plane went down in the

CUMMINGS EMBLEM

353rd Bombardment Squadron Emblem  

 waters ten miles west of Cape Granitola, Sicily. As Dr. Matthews says, “It was wartime. No one had time to look for survivors.”

Missing Air Crew Report 16302, declassified in 1982, shows just how little effort was made, and possibly how little effort could have been made, to ascertain the exact circumstances of B-17, Aircraft Number 41-24394’s disappearance. Five pages, mostly blank, with a few blanks filled in on a pre-printed form, are all that memorialize the deaths of a crew of ten. “Failed to return from a mission over Castelvetrano, Italy,” is all that is said.

The Luling Newsboy was hopeful. “It is entirely possible that Lieut. Cummings has bailed out of his damaged plane somewhere in the African wastes – again, he may be a prisoner of the enemy. Luling has already experienced several instances of our sons reported ‘Missing In Action’ who turned up later, and it is the fervent hope of every soul of this community that such are the circumstances now.”

Elva received a letter from Duke’s tent-mate, Lt. William Benson. Benson wrote:

The plane of which Lt. Cummings was a crew member was damaged, but not badly, but practically all of the crew got clear and parachuted to safety, though in enemy territory. I believe he is safe, but a prisoner of war, for I took particular notice to look where the             

CUMMINGS BOMB GROUP

 

 A 301st Bomb Group B-17 – North Africa

 parachutists came from and although I was flying some distance ahead of his damaged plane, I am nearly certain he got clear…

It was not to be. By letter dated April 14, 1944, the War Department notified his mother at her rented house on North Oak Street in Luling that a year had passed, and there was no more hope. She was told that the War Department “must terminate such absence by a presumptive finding of death.”

            The plane and crew were never found. Duke’s name is memorialized at an American Cemetery in Italy.

Duke Cummings was twenty-one years old.

CUMMMINGS TABLETS

 

Tablets of the Missing, Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno, Italy

6 thoughts on “DUKE CUMMINGS”

  1. I stumbled across this looking up members of the flight crew that were with my father’s cousin on April 13, 1942. His name was Harry Arthur Wann. If I could get a PDF of this post, it would appreciated. Or any other information on this person.

    Randy Graham wrote a book “WWII Journal” which I just purchased a few weeks ago. If you are interested, Randy’s father was a pilot in the 353rd squadron in 1942 and I would bet that he knew this crew by his journals. This book gives you a look into being a pilot and crewman on a B17 during the North African invasion and what they went thru.

      1. rwann@sbcglobal.net

        Thanks for responding. I lost track of this post and just found it again. It is interesting to me that Duke Cummings tent mate, William Benson wrote that these guys got out and parachuted to safety.

        I sent a request to the US Army for any information for my relative that was in this B17 with Duke Cummings. In the report there was one crew member, Loewecke, that was found washed up on the shore three days later that was the only crew member found. In the report it is stated that two German’s were killed trying to capture the crew. Assumed that all of the crew went into the Mediterranean and were drown from being in parachutes due to rough waters and high winds.

        If you’ll send the pdf of this article and anything else on Duke Cunningham or members of that crew it is appreciated.

        1. Thank you for following up with this Duke is my Daughter’s Great Uncle and I am researching to get his DD 214 for a scholarship application for my daughter.
          We still have Duke’s letters and metals.

  2. Another crew member was Robert Francis Nance. He was from Bedford, VA. I have seen that he was the photographer/gunner. Maybe he was another waist gunner. He is in the Gold Star Book of Bedford County men as missing for one year and then declared dead. I am searching for a photograph of him for an archival display. Any leads would be most appreciated. Thank you.

    1. I wish I had some of all the crew. Sadly, Duke moved to California and was left off the Caldwell County rolls of the dead. A friend of mine (now deceased) who went to HS with him asked that I include him. It was an honor. It seems that they were lost after a bombing run over Sicily, but I wish I had more to relate. Anything you have would also be appreciated.
      Todd

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