George Albert Toms
PFC George A. “Gat” Toms was a Marine Corps gunner who flew with VMSB-241.
He was shot down at the battle of Midway on 5 June 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 315281
Current Status
Remains not recovered.
Pursuit Category
Based on circumstances of loss, this individual is considered permanently non-recoverable.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
January 3, 1923
at Philadelphia, PA
Parents
Frederick James Toms (d. 1943)
Kezia (Fisher) Toms
Education
Marple-Newton High School (1941)
Occupation & Employer
Enlisted from high school
Service Life
Entered Service
June 27, 1941
at Philadephia, PA
Home Of Record
Happy Creek Farm
St. David, PA
Next Of Kin
Parents, Frederick & Kezia Toms
Military Specialty
Radioman / Gunner
Primary Unit
VMSB-241
Campaigns Served
Midway
Individual Decorations
Distinguished Flying Cross
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Private First Class George Toms served as an aviation radioman and gunner with VMSB-241, a Marine scout-bomber squadron based at Midway in early 1942. He flew in the rear seat of an outdated Vought SB2U Vindicator bomber; from 26 May 1942 onwards, his pilot Second Lieutenant George Thurman Lumpkin. With limited supplies restricting practice flights, Toms and Lumpkin had very little time to get acquainted in the air.
Pilots and gunners were placed on standby early on the morning of 4 June 1942. Conflicting orders and confusion rattled the nerves somewhat, but by 0600 the bombers were taking off to strike at an approaching Japanese fleet. Director John Ford was on Midway, and brought his film camera to the runway in time to catch the Vindicator unit taking off. He shot a color sequence of SB2U-3 #2088 – painted with squadron number 2 – taking off, with Lumpkin and Toms visible at their positions.
Major Benjamin W. Norris rendezvoused his formation at Point Affirm and led them towards the reported carrier position, climbing as he went. The Vindicators trailed behind the Dauntlesses, and Japanese fighters were already in the air when they arrived over the fleet. As the fast “Zekes” raced through the Americans, Norris opted to attack the nearest target: the battleship Haruna, directly below. Despite their slow speed and shallow dive angle, not one of the Vindicators fell over the enemy fleet. The formation scattered and the pilots were left to find their own route back to Midway.
Lumpkin and Toms were beset by Japanese fighters on the return; they found (and then lost) another Vindicator with their buddies 2Lt. Kenneth O. Campion and Private Anthony J. Maday. Finally, they spotted an SBD and followed the friendly bomber back to base.
The shocked squadron had suffered serious losses – including their commander, Major Lofton R. Henderson. Major Norris took command and reorganized his surviving pilots and planes into two new sections for a second strike on the Japanese fleet. To minimize the effectiveness of enemy fighters, Norris planned to take off after dark. The more senior pilots were assigned to the challenging mission; Lumpkin was bumped and Captain Richard E. Fleming took over the controls of Vindicator #2. Fleming’s regular gunner had been badly wounded, so Toms kept his spot in the rear seat. Unfortunately for VMSB-241, the Japanese fleet was not where it was reported to be: the night strike returned without dropping bombs – and without Major Norris, whose plane crashed on the return flight.
Toms, Fleming, and the other survivors tried to snatch a few hours of sleep while their planes were serviced and prepared for another day of combat. They were placed on alert at 0300, and ordered airborne at 0630 for an attack on a damaged Japanese warship. The Marines followed a thirty-mile oil slick to the heavy cruiser Mikuma, which was retiring northward with a badly damaged bow. Six SBDs made a high-angle diving attack, while Fleming led the Vindicators in a shallow glide approach.
Mikuma and her escort put up an extremely rapid, accurate screen of flak – and singled out Fleming’s plane as the leader. Vindicator #2 began trailing smoke, and then erupted in flame as Fleming and Toms continued to dive.
Our attack was initiated at 4,000 feet out of the sun. AA was fired at us at approximately two second intervals. Smoke was coming out of Captain Fleming's engine throughout his dive, and on the pull-out his plane burst into flames.
We made glide-bombing attack with Captain Fleming's section attacking from stern and on my left. Captain Fleming's plane burst into flames about half-way down in glide.
Captain Fleming was leading the attack and he was hit by AA fire and went down in flames. He stayed in his dive even though he was in flames and dropped his bomb at 500 feet. He got a near miss on the stern of the ship.
VMSB-241 squadron scored no hits on Mikuma. The strike was their last of the battle for Midway; the utterly exhausted survivors would finally have a chance to rest and process the events of the preceding two days. News reports covering the aviators’ bravery soon reached papers in the United States – particularly Captain Fleming’s final dive. A myth arose that Fleming’s bomb struck a Japanese “battleship” and that he deliberately crashed into the vessel; this rumor still persists, though most reliable sources (including the statements of Fleming’s fellow pilots) offer conflicting stories. Fleming was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor.
George Toms, however, was largely left out of the news, with only a few items of local interest appearing in Pennsylvania papers. He received a posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross – the same award given to every gunner who flew at Midway – and was declared dead on 6 June 1943.
Burial Information or Disposition
Shot down at sea; remains not recovered.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of parents, Frederick & Kezia Toms
Frederick Toms was a butler at “Happy Creek Farm,” a Gilded Age mansion designed by Frank Furness. The house no longer stands.
Location Of Loss
Toms was shot down at sea after departing from Midway Island.
