Carl E Cleland

Military

Joined Sqd 8/3/42.

ETO/Flight Echelon 10/2/42.

DS/Bengahzi 6/26/43.



Took part in Operation Tidal Wave, the raid on Ploesti on 1 August 1943, flying in B-24 Liberator 41-23699.



Completed tour 8/22/43.

Returned to base 8/22/43.

Returned to ZOI 8/24/43.

Pilot: Phillips.



Staff Sergeant Cleland served with the 331st Combat Crew Training Squadron aboard B-24E

Liberator 42-7066.He was one of eight airmen killed when the four-motored bomber crashed, approximately twenty-five miles northeast of the Casper Army Air Base, Wyoming, during a training flight.



The other airmen killed were:



Capt. Charles W Bley Instr. pilot

2nd Lt. Eugene E Ravera

2nd Lt. John A Williams

Sgt. Vernon E Arne

Sgt. George P Peterson

Sgt. Duane T Zetah

Connections

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Units served with

The insignia of the 44th Bomb Group.

44th Bomb Group

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment
B-24 Liberators of the 44th Bomb Group line up for takeoff at Shipdham in 1943. The 'Flying Eight-Ball' emblem of the 68th Bomb Squadron is visible on the nose of the leading aircraft. Image stamped with field press censor, 1943. Press Agency photograph- original printed caption has been removed.

68th Bomb Squadron

  • Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

41-23699

  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: Lemon Drop
  • Unit: 44th Bomb Group 68th Bomb Squadron

Missions

Events

Event Location Date Description

Died

2 March 1944

Born

Sunbury, OH, USA

Revisions

Date
Contributorgeneral ira snapsorter
Changes
Sources

Ploesti Sortie Reports, 44th Bomb Group;
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/126145721/carl-edward-cleland

Date
ContributorEmily
Changes
Sources

Webb Todd; History of the 68th Bomb Squadron 44th Bomb Group The Flying Eightballs, pg 20
/Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia