Charles F. Gumm Jr.
American flying ace (1920–1944)
Charles Francis Gumm Jr. (October 29, 1920 – March 1, 1944) was an American flying ace in the 354th Fighter Group and the first pilot to score an aerial victory in the North American P-51 Mustang.
Early life
Gumm was born in 1920 in Spokane, Washington. He was a relative of actress Judy Garland. After graduating from John R. Rogers High School in 1939, he attended Gonzaga University for higher studies.
Military career
After the entry of United States into World War II after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Gumm dropped out of his studies at Gonzaga and enlisted in the Aviation Cadet Program of the United States Army Air Forces in January 1942. He earned his wings and commission as second lieutenant in September 1942. In the same year, he married Muriel Wiley with whom he would have a daughter.
World War II
Gumm was assigned to the 355th Fighter Squadron of the 354th Fighter Group. In November 1943, the 354th FG arrived in the United Kingdom, and was assigned to RAF Boxted, where the group received the P-51B Mustangs, becoming the first fighter group to fly P-51s in aerial combat on December 11, when they flew a long-range bomber escort mission over Bremen, Germany.
“Charles F. Gumm Jr.” enters the record as american flying ace (1920–1944). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Charles, Gumm and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Charles F. Gumm Jr.” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.