Name |
Ralph I. "Sonny" Goloven |
Birth |
12 Jan 1918 |
Colorado Springs, El Paso Co, Colorado |
Gender |
Male |
Education |
Juilliard School of Music, New York |
- studied bassoon, piano & composition. Also, later, added keyboards, saxes & songwriting to his repertoire.
[1]
|
Residence |
1939 |
Colorado Springs, El Paso Co, Colorado |
- 1939 Colorado Springs city directory
Goloven Ralph student C C. r816 N. Wahsatch av
Goloven Ruth student r 816 N Wahsatch av
Goloven Saml A (Jennie) v-pres Peerless Furn Co h 816 N Wahsatch av
|
|
1939 - Colorado, Colorado Springs City Directory Ralph Goloven, Samuel A and Jennie Goloven, Ruth Goloven
|
Military |
1 Nov 1941 |
USAC, Colorado Springs, El Paso Co, Colorado |
enlistment |
- Name: Ralph Goloven
Birth Year: 1918
Race: White, citizen (White)
Enlistment Date: 1 Nov 1941
Branch: Air Corps
Branch Code: Air Corps
Grade: Aviation Cadet
Grade Code: Aviation Cadet
Component: Regular Army (including Officers, Nurses, Warrant Officers, and Enlisted Men)
Source: Civil Life
Education: 4 years of college
Civil Occupation: Actors and actresses
Marital Status: Single, without dependents
Height: 68
Weight: 138
|
Residence |
1943 |
Colorado Springs, El Paso Co, Colorado |
- 1943 Colorado Springs city directory
Goloven Ralph (USAC) r 1816 N Washatch av
Goloven Saml A (Jennie v-pres Peerless Furn Co h816 N Wahsatch av
|
Military |
7 Jul 1944 |
Germany |
Prisoner of War |
- World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946
about Ralph Goloven Name: Ralph Goloven
Race: White
Residence State: Colorado
Report Date: 7 Jul 1944
Latest Report Date: 16 Jun 1945
Grade: Second Lieutenant or Nurse or Dietitian or Physical therapy aide
Grade Notes: Second Lieutenant or Ensign
Service Branch: Army
Arm or Service: Air Corps
Arm or Service Code: Air Corps
Organization Type: Heavy Bomber
Parent Unit Type: Group/Regiment/Commands/System
Area Served: European Theatre: Germany
Detaining Country: Germany
Camp: 032
Status: Returned to Military Control, Liberated or Repatriated
Report Source: Individual has been reported through sources considered official.
------------
Events aboard Frank Haag's aircraft were equally grim. The copilot and radio operator were dead on the flight deck, which was a total wreck. Two gunners were dead at their stations, and there was a fire in the bomb bay. Meanwhile in the nose compartment the following was taking place - quoted verbatim from what must be one of the classic action vignettes of World War II. This was written by Haag's navigator, Lt. Ralph Goloven, upon his release from POW camp in 1945:
"When leading a mission I always found it best, after definitely establishing the IP and target, to ride on the nose wheel doors, giving the bombardier complete freedom of the little space in the nose. We had always flown B-24J's whose nose wheel doors open upward. This time we were flying a B-24H, whose nose wheel doors open down-wards, and I had forgotten this, otherwise I would never have been on them. After bombs were reported away, I heard the pilot say rudder control was lost, and though there was much firing I didn't think it was anything serious. Interphone was shot out soon after, and about two minutes past the target I noticed that the nose gunner, who always was so careful about shooting in short bursts and handled his turret very smoothly, must have been hit for the turret suddenly and violently slewed around to the right and the ammo tracks leading to the turret from the ammo boxes in my compartment were running wild. I started to get up from the wheel doors when I noticed the bombardier look out one window, then the other, rip his flak suit off and snap on his parachute. I still didn't think too much about the matter but took my flak suit off in order to move more quickly into the nose to help the nose gunner. Something prompted me to reach for my chute which was on the catwalk to the right and (I) had just started to get from my knees to climb into the nose when the bombardier hit the emergency release, and out I went with chute in hand. Later the bombardier told me he saw the plane completely on fire in the wing section and, fearing immediate explosion, thought only of getting out fast.
"After falling I managed to hook the left side of the chest pack and, after pulling rip cord with no result, ripped the chute pack open by hand, coming down with only the left side fastened. I still believed nothing serious had hap-pened. Next day I found out our ship had exploded in mid-air."
George Haag, flying in the lead squadron, watched his brother's plane go down.
The 492nd lost one other at Bernberg - the only aircraft lost from the lead squadron. Small deviations in routes and timing had placed the 453rd and 492nd on a collision course. As the formations, both under fighter attack, approached each other Major Heaton, sitting between the seats of Konstand's lead B-24 as Command Pilot for the mission, nudged the pilot and pointed to the on-coming Liberators. Lt. Konstand, an utterly dedicated officer whose only intent at that moment was to bomb his target, acknowledged their presence with a single comment: "They're empty and we're full. Let them move over!"
Just then the aircraft flying deputy lead for the 453rd, which actually was a PFF Liberator supplied by the 389th, was hit and veered toward the on-coming 492nd with its right wing on fire. The events that followed are again quoted from the mission diary of Lt. Crowley.
"Lt. Cary was flying on our right wing - his wing tip practically in our side window. I was called to the back of the plane by Sgt. McCarthy whose heated suit had shorted and was burning him. I tried unsuccessfully to fix it and finally sent him to the flight deck to keep warm while I remained in back to man his window gun. I took over the gun facing Cary. Suddenly Sgt. Coomer, the nose gunner, started quite a fuss on the intercom as he saw another plane thundering in on us head-on. We all floated about 2 feet off the floor as O'Sullivan put it into a steep dive. Just as he did I saw the two planes come together. It almost seemed like slow motion; Cary's wing was sheared off, the plane seemed to stay in level flight as the gasoline poured out of the wing just as though someone were emptying a tumbler of water. Then it started to go all directions at once."
Both B-24s spun in, leaving a single parachute in their flaming wake. Underneath the canopy was the collision's only survivor, the navigator from Cary's crew....".
Quote
The Sturmgruppe closed on the American Group's Low Squadron, as Hauptmann Wilhelm Moritz split his force into its three component Sturmstaffeln and directed them against different parts of the enemy formation. Leutnant Walther Hagenah was one of the German pilots who took part in the attack;
" My Staffel was in position about 1,000yd behind 'its' squadron of bombers.The Staffel leader ordered his aircraft into line abreast and, still in close formation, we advanced on the bombers. We were to advance like Frederick the Great's infantrymen, holding our fire until we could see 'the whites of the enemy's eyes'.''
The tactics of the Sturmgruppe were governed by the performance of the wing-mounted 3cm cannon. Although the hexogen high-explosive ammunition fired by this weapon was devastatingly effective, the gun's relatively low muzzle velocity meant that its accuracy fell off rapidly with range . With only 55 rounds per gun, sufficient for about five seconds' firing, the Sturmböcke could not afford to waste ammunition in wild shooting from long range. The sky was alive with a withering hail of defensive fire from the bombers. As the unwieldy fighters slowly advanced on the bombers, the Sturmbock pilots could only grit their teeth until they were right up close against the bombers. The huge bulk of the radial engine and the heavy armour plate around the cockpit allowed the Sturm force to press on with a certain impunity, as Hagenath remembers
" like the armoured knights in the Middle Ages, we were well protected . A Staffel might lose one or two aircraft during the advance, but the rest continued relentlessly on ."
Positioned now about 100yd behind the bombers the Staffel leader barked out the order to open fire
' Pauke ! Pauke ! ..'.
From such a range the Staffel could hardly miss, and the 3cm explosive rounds struck home . Just 2 rounds could take the tail off a B-17 , and a B-24's fuselage structure was not as sturdy. The enemy bombers literally fell apart in front of the Sturmgruppe.
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?topic=116258.0;wap2
|
Other-Begin |
28 May 1956 |
Manchester, England |
"Empress of Britain" |
- trip to Manchester, England with mother Jennie
"Empress of Britain," owner or agent: Canadian Pacific
from Montreal
Ralph Goloven b 12/1/1918, single, from Montreal; address in Montreal: 10th Crescent [sic]*, Fallowfield, Manchester; musician; permanent residence U.S.A.; intended duration in U.K. 4 months
Jennie Goloven b 11/1/1893; single; 10th Crescent, Fallowfield, Manchester housewife
*10 Lees Hall
|
|
Galoven, Ralph and Jennie Schwartz Galoven Travel: "Empress of Britain" from Montreal to Manchester, England
28 May 1956 |
Other-Begin |
Between 5 Jul 1956 and 10 Jul 1956 |
New York |
R.M.S. "Queen Elizabeth" |
- List of Inbound Passengers
R.M.S. "Queen Elizabeth"
class: tourist from Southampton England 5 Jul 1956
arriving port of New York 10 July 1956
Goloven, Ralph
Goloven, Jennie
|
|
Goloven, Ralph and Jennie Schwartz Goloven return travel:
R.M.S. "Queen Elizabeth" from Southampton to New York
5 Jul 1956 thru 10 Jul 1956 |
Residence |
Between 1987 and 2002 |
San Diego, California |
- Name: Ralph Goloven
Birth Date: 12 Jan 1918
Address: 4127 Hamilton St, San Diego, CA, 92104-6145 (1987)
[4149 1st St 2, San Diego, CA, 92103 (1978)]
1994
Name: J Goloven
Address: 4127 Hamilton St 1
City: San Diego
State: California
Zip Code: 92104
Phone Number: 619-(unlisted)
Residence Years: 1994
Name: J Goloven
Address: 4127 Hamilton St
City: San Diego
State: California
Zip Code: 92104-1751
Phone Number: 619-291-6378
Residence Years: 1995 1996 1997
Name: Ralph Goloven
Address: 4127 Hamilton St Apt 1
City: San Diego
State: California
Zip Code: 92104-6145
Phone Number: 619-291-6378
Residence Years: 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
|
Residence |
2009 |
Veteran Hospital, Chula Vista, San Diego, California |
- forum:
http://forum.armyairforces.com/Looking-for-vets-of-the-July-7th-1944-mission-m72766.aspx
Crew 611, 492nd BG, shot down July 7, 1944
posted: 10/07/2009 07:40:40 PM (permalink)
Al,
I am the cousin of Ralph Goloven, the navigator of crew 611. I have been compiling information along with his detailed account of his flight and his time as a POW.
I found a thread on this forum where you mentioned Ralph. Yes, he is still alive but in poor health. He is at the VA hospital in Chula Vista, San Diego. You also mentioned that their was a film shot which included his B24J, the "Troublehunter". I would love to try and locate this film/video.
I will be sending his experience to the 492ndBombGroup site once I have finished collecting details and editing.
The compuserve link you provided in old forum postings is no long available. I wonder if there is a new link for this information?
Thank you,
Mike Swartz (DrMikie)
|
Death |
7 Mar 2015 |
Chula Vista, San Diego Co, California |
Person ID |
I49986 |
Roots |
Last Modified |
30 Jul 2015 |