World War II · U.S. Army Air Forces
Aircrew member
Bomber crew · exact group and squadron under research
Approximately 37–40 missions · wounded in Italy
His story
Family accounts remember Ralph Leslie Dutton as a bomber crewman, likely a gunner. His exact crew position, unit, aircraft, and mission list remain under active research.
Explore the archive
Long-form sources are kept in separate reading rooms so Ralph Leslie Dutton’s profile can remain a clear guide to his life, service, and surviving records.
At a glance
Every statement is phrased according to the strength of the evidence currently held or identified.
Operational timeline
Writing to his aunt Ada Wilcox, Ralph described fourteen months of difficult service: an airfield withdrawal during cold weather in Tunisia, operations during the Kasserine Pass period, dust and gun problems, bombing and strafing, earlier operations from Gozo near Malta, and his longing to return home. The letter was printed the following month in The Reedsburg Times-Press.
A Wisconsin State Journal family profile identified Ralph as a twenty-year-old Staff Sergeant serving with the Army Air Corps in Italy. It reported operations connected with North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and protection for the Dieppe raid, while noting that a 23 December letter placed him at what the paper believed was a rest camp after major combat.
Family history places Ralph on a bomber crew in the Mediterranean theater.
The mission count will be paired with crew and sortie records when located.
Medical, award, and unit records may place this event more precisely.
Beyond the uniform
A military file can record a rank, unit, wound, or death—but not a laugh, a favorite story, an occupation, or the way a person was known at home. This section is reserved for photographs, letters, memories, and the details of Ralph Leslie Dutton’s life outside his service.
Documents & evidence
What is known, what comes from family memory, and what the archive is still seeking.
Further records
A letter to his aunt Ada Wilcox, dated 16 August 1943 and published in The Reedsburg Times-Press on 23 September 1943.
The starting source for his crew role, mission count, and wounding.
Needed to identify his group, aircraft, position, and sorties.
May document his assignment and wounds.