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427th Clifford Crew
Bernard J. Clifford, Pilot
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BERNARD J. CLIFFORD CREW - 427th BS
(Assigned 427BS: 03 September 1943)

2Lt Bernard J. Clifford (P)(KIA), 2Lt Charles O. Jahn (CP)(KIA),
2Lt Charles M. Stata (N)(KIA), 2Lt Robert V. Bruce (B)(KIA)

T/Sgt Andrew A. Dyke (E)(KIA), T/Sgt Foy G. Hartzog (R)(KIA),
S/Sgt Charles L. Gale (BTG)(KIA), S/Sgt Allen E. Horning (RWG)(KIA),
S/Sgt Jack L. McLarty (LWG)(KIA), S/Sgt William O. Heller (TG)(KIA)

2Lt Clifford Crew Five Dispatched (Four credited) Combat Missions:
71 (23 Sept 44), 72, 74 (A), 75, 76 (9 Oct 44)
(A) Non-Credited Aborted mission. For mission dates and targets see the missions lists.

Crew Note: All crewmen flew on all five missions.

Last Combat Mission: Mission #76, 9 October 1944 to Anklam, Germany in B-17F 42-5221 Son (427BS) BN-Z. Was last seen to be hit by 20 mm cannon fire from a formation of three FW-190s flying abreast. The approximate position was at the Danish coast at 8,000 feet altitude. The #3 engine was on fire and feathered. When the wheels were let down the fighter attacks ceased. The B-17 crashed in the Baltic Sea south of Lolland, Denmark. The entire crew of ten men were killed in action. Lt Bruce and T/Sgt Dyke are buried in the Ardennes American Cemetery near Liege, Belgium.

[Researched by Historian Harry D. Gobrecht]