GEORGE E. RUMILL (1895 - 1978)
(Pilot)
(CNAC June 1, 1933 - December 1933)
(Captain - ???)

George E. Rumill was born in Maine, August 10, 1895 to Edwin and Lettie (Smith) Rumill. When George died in Coral Gables, Florida, July 6, 1978, he was survived by his wife, Lela (Saunders) Rumill. He was entombed at Woodlawn Mausoleum in Coral Gables, Florida.


From Gene Banning's notes of 8/31/00:
"transferred MIA to SHA 6/1/33. tfrd to Miami 12/33."

For some additional details see Wings for an Embattled China by W. Langhorne Bond, page 87.

Injured in the crash on CNAC S-38.


Now here's one of those name which we were not sure of the spelling, but after some research, we have decided that George's last name is spelled, "Rumill". Read on...

August 31, 2007

This is a poser!

I have some articles where the spelling is Rummel or Rummill, none where it is Rummil, and several with Rumill. I am leaning to Rumill. (BTW, the crash article you cite also says “Rumill”). I have 11 news articles that deal with George’s career, both in America and China, and a variety of spellings are given, but the Rumills have it:

Rummell – 2

Rummill – 3

Rumill – 6

From the Syracuse [NY] Herald, 27 September 1929.
Here is one of those articles with a photo of George Rumill.
left to right
George Rumill, Harry Busky, Thomas King



One of them says that George (spelled Rumill) comes from Mt Desert, ME, so I looked up the locations of Rummels (4), Rummills (0) and Rumills (3) based in Maine. None of the Rummels live in Mt Desert, and they live in various towns located >100 miles away. While no Rumills live in Mt Desert either, all three of them are situated a mere 5-10 miles away.

None of this is very scientific - only George’s mother knows for sure.

Good luck!
Patti (Gully)

AND

September 1, 2007

Tom:

Right, names can go to many spellings. Actually, Banning's book spells the name Rumill in a number of citations and in the index. According to Banning, Rumill was a former navy pilot. In 1931 he was hired by Compana Nacional Cubana de Aviacion S.A. In 1932 Cubana was bought by Pan Am and Rumill was transferred to Miami and then to China. He came out with a group that included Hugh Woods and Zigmund Soldinski along with Bob Gast (killed later), William Grooch and Bill Ehmer in 1933 to complete the Shanghai-Canton route. As you noted, he was injured in the S-38 crash in November 1933.

That's all according to Banning who I trust implicitly, so I go with his spelling, "Rumill"

Found another source that would indicate Rumill is the correct spelling. In a history of naval aviation, George E. Rumill is listed as # 217 in the list of early naval aviators as published in January 1918. He was trained at Pensacola.

That was before my time. Best,

Bob (Willett)


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