Howard Knox Ramey (28 June 1896 – 26 March 1943) was a

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

general during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Ramey learned to fly in 1918 during World War I and served as an instructor at the Air Corps Advanced Flying School and as a staff officer with the

1st Bombardment Wing The 1st Bombardment Wing is a disbanded United States Army Air Force unit. It was initially formed in France in 1918 during World War I as a command and control organization for the Pursuit Groups of the First Army Air Service. Demobilized after ...

between the wars. He was commander of the IV Bomber Command from 12 August 1942 to 8 November 1942, and was promoted to brigadier general on 17 September 1942. In November 1942, he became deputy commander of the

Seventh Air Force The Seventh Air Force (Air Forces Korea) (7 AF) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, South Korea. The command's mission is to plan and direct air component operations in ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

. In January 1943 he became the commander of the

V Bomber Command The V Bomber Command is an inactive United States Army Air Forces unit. It was last assigned to Fifth Air Force, based at Irumagawa AB, Japan. It was inactivated on 31 May 1946. During World War II the unit initially controlled Fifth Air Forc ...

in Australia and Papua, which he led during the

Battle of the Bismarck Sea The Battle of the Bismarck Sea (2–4 March 1943) took place in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) during World War II when aircraft of the U.S. Fifth Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) attacked a Japanese convoy carrying troop ...

. In March 1943 he disappeared on a reconnaissance flight over the

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mai ...

. Neither his aircraft nor his body has ever been found.

Early life

Howard Knox Ramey was born in

Waynesboro, Mississippi Waynesboro is a city in Wayne County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 5,043 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Wayne County. Geography Waynesboro is located at (31.674026, -88.643553), just east of the Chickasawhay Rive ...

on 28 June 1896. He attended Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College from 1915 to 1917. In December 1917 he enlisted as a private first class in the

Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps The Aviation Section, Signal Corps, was the aerial warfare service of the United States from 1914 to 1918, and a direct statutory ancestor of the United States Air Force. It absorbed and replaced the Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps, and con ...

, in which he was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 20 April 1918.

Between the wars

In July 1920, Ramey received a permanent commission as a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

in the

United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial war ...

. He attended the Air Service Photography School in 1921, and became commander of the 6th Photo Section at

Camp Nichols Camp Nichols, also known as Fort Nichols or Camp Nichols Ranch, was a short-lived historic fortification located in present-day Cimarron County, Oklahoma, about northwest of the community of Wheeless, Oklahoma. It was built by New Mexico and Calif ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

from January to October 1925. He then served as intelligence officer there until he returned to the United States in February 1927. He commanded the 22nd Photo Section at Kelly Field,

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

from 1927 to 1928, and was an instructor at the Air Corps Advanced Flying School there from 1928 to 1931. After more than ten years as a first lieutenant, Ramey was finally promoted to captain on 1 March 1932. On 26 March 1934, Ramey was one of 35 American World War I military pilots who founded the

Order of the Daedalians The Order of Daedalians is a fraternal and professional order of American military pilots. The namesake of the order is Daedalus who according to Greek mythology was the first person to achieve heavier-than-air flight. History The idea of a fra ...

, a fraternal order of military pilots. He attended the

Air Corps Tactical School The Air Corps Tactical School, also known as ACTS and "the Tactical School", was a military professional development school for officers of the United States Army Air Service and United States Army Air Corps, the first such school in the world. C ...

Maxwell Field Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. O ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

, graduating in 1934, and then the

Command and General Staff School The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., and the oldest perma ...

, graduating in 1936. Shortly afterwards, he was promoted to major on 16 June 1936. Ramey served as operations officer and assistant chief of staff for intelligence of the

March Field March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Ma ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

from 1936 to 1941. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 30 December 1940.

World War II

Ramey was deputy chief of staff for operations (G-3) of the

Fourth Air Force The Fourth Air Force (4 AF) is a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California. 4 AF directs the activities and supervises the training of more than 30,000 Air Force Res ...

from January to August 1942, with the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

from 5 January 1942. He was commander of the

IV Bomber Command The IV Bomber Command is a disbanded United States Air Force headquarters. It was established in September 1941, shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor to command bomber units assigned to 4th Air Force. Following the entry of the United State ...

from 12 August 1942 to 8 November 1942, and was promoted to

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

on 17 September 1942. In November 1942, he became deputy commander of the

. Following the death of the commander of the

, Brigadier General Kenneth Walker, in an air raid over Rabaul in January 1943, the commander of the

Fifth Air Force The Fifth Air Force (5 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It is the U.S. Air Force's oldest continuously serving Numbered Air Force. The organizat ...

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

George Kenney George Churchill Kenney (August 6, 1889 – August 9, 1977) was a United States Army general during World War II. He is best known as the commander of the Allied Air Forces in the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA), a position he held between Augu ...

asked Lieutenant General

Henry H. Arnold Henry Harley Arnold (June 25, 1886 – January 15, 1950) was an American general officer holding the ranks of General of the Army and later, General of the Air Force. Arnold was an aviation pioneer, Chief of the Air Corps (1938–1941), ...

, the chief of Army Air Forces to send Ramey to Australia as a replacement. The two men had known each other for years and Ramey had recently been on Kenney's staff when Kenney was commander of the Fourth Air Force. "I had a lot of confidence in him," Kenney later wrote, "and believed he would do a real job for me. Arnold replied the next day that I could have him." Ramey assumed command of V Bomber Command in January 1943. After the arguments over bombing tactics with Walker, Kenney was pleased that Ramey liked the

skip bombing Skip bombing was a low-level bombing technique independently developed by several of the combatant nations in World War II, notably Italy, Australia, Britain, Soviet Union and the United States. It allows an aircraft to attack shipping by skippi ...

tactics the Fifth Air Force was developing. These tactics were put in practice with devastating effect at the

in March 1943.

Death and legacy

On 26 March 1943, Ramey took off from

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

in the B-17 Flying Fortress #41-24384, "

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest ...

", to carry out a scheduled seven-hour reconnaissance flight to

Merauke Merauke is a large town and the capital of the South Papua province, Indonesia. It is also the administrative centre of Merauke Regency in South Papua. It is considered the easternmost city in Indonesia. The town was originally called Ermasoe. It ...

and Horn Island. A message from the radio operator twenty minutes after take-off was the last that was ever heard from the aircraft. An extensive air search was conducted but no sign was found of the aircraft or the twelve men on board. Ramey was declared dead on 19 November 1945. He left behind a wife and two daughters.

Ramey Air Force Base Ramey Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. It was named after United States Army Air Forces Brigadier General Howard Knox Ramey. Following its closure, it was redeveloped into Rafael Hernandez Airp ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

was named in his honour. In February 2007, diver

Ben Cropp Benjamin Cropp AM (born 19 January 1936) is an Australian documentary filmmaker, conservationist and a former six-time Open Australian spearfishing champion. Formerly a shark hunter, Cropp retired from that trade in 1962 to pursue oceanic do ...

reported that he had found the wreckage of the plane. However, the plane turned out to have been a misidentified C-47. The location of the wreck of "Pluto" remains unknown.

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramey, Howard Knox 1896 births 1943 deaths People from Waynesboro, Mississippi Air Corps Tactical School alumni Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Australia Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1943 United States Army Air Forces generals United States Army Air Forces personnel killed in World War II United States Army Air Forces generals of World War II