Ralph W. Edington World War II Photographs Collection

Collection — Folder: 1

Identifier: 2026-03-10

Content Description

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The Ralph W. Edington World War II Photographs Collection is a small collection of photographs taken and collected by Sgt. Ralph W. Edington during his World War II service.

The collection is comprised of 33 photographs related to Edington's service. Seven of the images depict Edignton and his fellow members of "Crew 392." Eighteen images depict aircraft, primarily Boeing B-29s, on bombing missions. These photos were taken in-flight of surrounding aircraft, giving insight to the perspective of the crewmen flying on bombing missions. Some of these images show bombs in the process of being dropped. Seven photos are aerial images of bombing targets, including sites in Belgium, France, and Germany. One image provides an aerial view over fields in England.

All images are black-and-white prints, 4.5x5.5 inches and smaller. Some were presumably taken by Edington but others likely collected from other sources. Some have handwritten captions and identifications.

Also present is a photocopy of Edington's military diary with mission list.

Dates

Creation: circa 1940-1945

Creator

Edington, Ralph W., 1922-1950 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research and is accessible in the Dahlberg Research Center by appointment. For more information contact us.

Conditions Governing Use

The Museum of Flight (TMOF) Archives is the owner of the physical materials in the archives and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from TMOF archives before any publication use. TMOF does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners. Consult repository for more details.

Biographical Note: Ralph W. Edington

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Ralph W. Edington served as a radio operator in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II and later worked as an actor.

Ralph William Edington was born on December 18, 1922 in Spokane, Washington to Lawrence Amzi and Alma May Edington. He attended elementary school in New York, New York and high school at Richmond Hill High, also in New York. He then attended college at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He was a member of Phi Eta Sigma fraternity.

Edington was drafted for military service while in college, serving for about two years circa 1944-1945. He served with the 487th bomb group, 839th bomb squadron working as a radio operator. He acheived the rank of technical sergent. He was awarded an Air Medal and five clusters for his participation in missions over France and Germany.

After the war, he returned to New York City where he worked as an actor and stage manager at the Ethyl Barrymore Theater on Broadway from 1946-1950.

Ralph W. Edington died on May 9, 1950 in Amityville, New York. He is buried in Riverside Memorial Park in Spokane, Washington.

Biographical note derived from donor information and records on Ancestry.com.