Loran Alexander Umpleby was born on July 30, 1921, in Middlebourne, Tyler County, West Virginia. He served in the 703rd Bomber Squadron, 445th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Second Lieutenant and was a passenger on the B-24 #42-50347 at the time of his death.

On October 18, 1944, their airplane was flying from the repair depot in Greencastle, Ireland to Tibenham on a familiarisation flight over Britain. Onboard were 24 replacement crewmen who had been sent to the 445th Bomb Group after the unit had suffered heavy losses on the Kassel mission in September that year. During the flight, the aircraft broke up in mid-air and crashed near the village of Landican, near Birkenhead on the Wirral peninsula in England. All 24 passengers and crew were killed in the crash.

2Lt Umpleby is now buried in the Grafton National Cemetery, Grafton, Taylor County, West Virginia, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, https://aviation-safety.net, www.americanairmuseum.com