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Cecil J. Umstead

NAME
Cecil Joseph Umstead
NICKNAME
SERVICE NUMBER
O-13899
UNIT
HQ Company
Regulating Station
I Marine Amphibious Corps
HOME OF RECORD
10 Baltimore Street
Kensington, MD
NEXT OF KIN
Wife, Mrs. Edith H. Umstead
DATE OF BIRTH
January 31, 1910
at Kensington, MD
ENTERED SERVICE
October 9, 1942 (commissioned)
at Kensington, MD
DATE OF LOSS
April 17, 1943
REGION
Australia
CAMPAIGN / AREA
New South Wales
CASUALTY TYPE
Non-battle death

CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSS
Second Lieutenant Cecil J. Umstead was a Marine officer assigned to IMAC and stationed in Australia. In April of 1943, he received orders assigning him to duty with the 1st Marine Division.

On 17 April 1943, Umstead and 1Lt. Horace A. Teague boarded a RAAF DH-84 “Dragon” (serial A34-47) at Mascot Aerodrome, Sydney. His final destination was Canberra, but the Dragon failed to arrive at its first stop (RAAF Forest Hill, Wagga Wagga, NSW).

Despite intensive searches, no trace of the aircraft, its crew, or passengers was ever found. Lieutenants Umstead and Teague were declared dead as of 18 April 1944.

INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS
LAST KNOWN RANK
Second Lieutenant
(posthumous First Lieutenant)
STATUS OF REMAINS
Not recovered.
MEMORIALS
Parklawn Memorial Park, Rockville, MD
Manila American Cemetery

Non-USMC personnel lost aboard RAAF Dragon A34-47

Sergeant Douglas Bryan Doyle, Royal Australian Air Force | Pilot
Sergeant Francis Doyle, Royal Australian Air Force | Co-Pilot
Flight Officer Geoffrey Hugh Lester, Royal Australian Air Force | Passenger
For more information and photographs, visit “Missing Dragon”


Biography:
Contact the webmaster for more information about this Marine.


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