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Clarence Arnold Aaberg

Military

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Clarence Aaberg was on his 3rd mission, and pilot of B-17 #42-37855 on return from a mission to Regensburg, Germany on 25 February 1944. The Fortress had lost #3 engine 10 minutes after target. The crew saw a lot of German fighters around, a few shooting rockets at them, but they never came in close. The bomber made it back to the French coast on 3 engines but was then hit by Flak and the engines #1 and #4 went out right after they left French coast. Aalberg managed to cross the Channel on one engine and once over southern England ordered his crew to bail out over England. All did this safely but Aaberg was the last to leave the plane, bailed out too low and was killed when his parachute failed to open. The B-17 crash landed in woods at Starvecrow Hill, a mile north of Tonbridge, Kent. It was a total loss.

Service

People

  • Ellis Colvin

    Military | First Lieutenant | Navigator | 447th Bomb Group
    Bailed out before B-17G #42-37855 'Mr Terrific' crashed N of Tonbridge, Kent upon returning from the target of Regensburg, GR on 25 Feb 1944. RTD.

  • Irving Danzig

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 447th Bomb Group
    Bailed out before B-17G #42-37855 'Mr Terrific' crashed N of Tonbridge, Kent upon returning from the target of Regensburg, GR on 25 Feb 1944. RTD.

  • Fernand DuHadway

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 447th Bomb Group

  • W Earnest

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Radio Operator | 447th Bomb Group
    Bailed out before B-17G #42-37855 'Mr Terrific' crashed N of Tonbridge, Kent upon returning from the target of Regensburg, GR on 25 Feb 1944. RTD.

  • Gilbert Foster

    Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
    Bailed out before B-17G #42-37855 'Mr Terrific' crashed N of Tonbridge, Kent upon returning from the target of Regensburg, GR on 25 Feb 1944. RTD.

  • F Hadway

    Military | Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
    Bailed out before B-17G #42-37855 'Mr Terrific' crashed N of Tonbridge, Kent upon returning from the target of Regensburg, GR on 25 Feb 1944. RTD.

  • Cleveland Lamb

    Military | Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
    Bailed out before B-17G #42-37855 'Mr Terrific' crashed N of Tonbridge, Kent upon returning from the target of Regensburg, GR on 25 Feb 1944. RTD.

  • Thomas Moriarty

    Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 447th Bomb Group
    Flew first mission 4 Feb 1944. 30 missions on 2 June 1944. Flew in 'Journey's End' and 'Mr Terrific'. Bailed out before B-17G #42-37855 'Mr Terrific' crashed N of Tonbridge, Kent upon returning from the target of Regensburg, GR on 25 Feb 1944. RTD.

  • Richard Pitt

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Flight Engineer; Top Turret Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
    Bailed out before B-17G #42-37855 'Mr Terrific' crashed N of Tonbridge, Kent upon returning from the target of Regensburg, GR on 25 Feb 1944. RTD.

  • William Powell

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 447th Bomb Group
    Bailed out before B-17G #42-37855 'Mr Terrific' crashed N of Tonbridge, Kent upon returning from the target of Regensburg, GR on 25 Feb 1944. RTD.

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Units served with

  • 447th Bomb Group

    447th Bomb Group

    Group
    The 447th Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses on strategic bombardment missions out of Rattlesden, Suffolk. With their first mission coming on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1943, their main focus was hitting sites that would weaken enemy forces...

  • 711th Bomb Squadron

    711th Bomb Squadron

    Squadron

Aircraft

  • 42-37855 Mr Terrific

    B-17 Flying Fortress
    Delivered Denver 21/9/43; Harvard 10/10/43; Assigned 92BG Podington 18/11/43; transferred 447BG Rattlesden 1/44; sustained battle damaged Regensburg 25/2/44 with Clarence Aaberg (KIA - nursed it across the English channel, jumped after he ordered the...

Missions

  • 8th Air Force 235 BIG WEEK - DAY 6

    25 February 1944
    On this final operation of BIG WEEK, Day 6, a combined force of 754 heavy bombers from 1st, 2nd and 3rd Air Divisions are despatched to bomb the German aircraft industries at Regensburg, Augsburg, Stuttgart and Furth, Germany. Mission Summary follows: ...

Associated Place

  • Rattlesden

    Military site : airfield
    Built for the Eighth Air Force in 1942, Rattlesden had three concrete runways, 50 hardstandings and two dispersed T2 hangars. Intended to be a twin-engine B-26 bomber base, it was originally a satellite for nearby Rougham, and first occupied from...

Events

Event Location Date
Born Wichita, KS, USA 26 April 1918

Burial:
East Writing Rock Cemetery
Fortuna
Divide County
North Dakota, USA.
This is a cenotaph. 2Lt Aaberg's remains are buried in Cambridge American Cemetery in Cambridgeshire, England.
Enlisted 18 November 1941

Missoula, Montana, as a Private in the Air Corps
Killed In Action (KIA) 25 February 1944

in the crash of B-17 42-37855 he was piloting. Last one to bail out on return from the Regensburg mission, his parachute didn't open due to the low altitude at which he managed to jump after all his crew members had safely left the plane
Died Tonbridge, Kent, UK 25 February 1944
Buried 1945

Clarence Aaberg rests at Plot D, Row 1, Grave 49
Nationality
American
Nickname
Pappy
Service numbers
19055438 at enlistment, then O-802686
Highest rank
Second Lieutenant
Role/job
Pilot
Awards
  • American Campaign Medal
  • American Defense Medal
  • Distinguished Flying Cross
  • European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
  • Purple Heart
  • World War II Victory Medal

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
23 September 2020 18:40:50 jmoore43 Changes to biography and events
Sources

Removed a duplicate Buried event.
Added punctuation to the "Summary biography" to aid clarity.
Date Contributor Update
03 November 2018 09:30:33 ED-BB Changes to service number, biography, events and person associations
Sources

NARA WWII Enlistment records
ABMC website
Date Contributor Update
29 April 2017 01:56:43 Vanessa Changes to biography
Sources

Richard Pitt Jr. diary, Clarence's flight engineer and top turret gunner.
Date Contributor Update
19 July 2016 16:35:08 millebr Changes to middlename and awards
Sources

TogetherWeServed.com; Fold3.com; Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Records
Date Contributor Update
22 January 2016 19:37:02 Rich11 Changes to nickname and events
Sources

Clarence akaerg plane was hit by ack ack over France
And lost one engine, then lost a another due to overheating over the coast
Was trying to make for the emergency airfield at penshurts about 4 miles west of tonbridge Kent
Seeing that he was not going to make it
Ordered the crew to jump, but he left it to late and his parachute did not open
The plane crashed into the woods
The crew landed on plough fields and some turn their angles
The crew called Clarence pappy
I know of this story because as a school kid I worked on a farm during my school holidays, and one of the old farm workers was the first one on the scene as he was working the field near by
Date Contributor Update
20 June 2015 20:16:49 Lee8thbuff Changes to biography, events and place associations
Sources

Lee Cunningham 20-Jun-2015. Added map location to KOM event, made connection to Place; per "Losses of the 8ht & 9th Air Forces", Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE; Added burial grave location per American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) records. Slight edits to Biography.
Date Contributor Update
11 June 2015 13:20:07 A. van Erp Changes to events
Sources

www.ancestry.com
Date Contributor Update
22 May 2015 20:35:19 bombercommand Changes to events and media associations
Sources

Find A Grave http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=133328061
Date Contributor Update
28 February 2015 23:58:44 Lee8thbuff Changes to events
Sources

Lee Cunningham 28-Feb-2015. Combined Born events.
Date Contributor Update
20 October 2014 12:29:51 IWMPM Changes to service number, biography, awards and events
Sources

ABMC http://www.abmc.gov/search-abmc-burials-and-memorializations/detail/WWII...
Date Contributor Update
29 September 2014 15:32:17 samc Changes to awards
Sources

Removed dummy content.
Date Contributor Update
29 September 2014 15:31:25 samc Changes to awards
Sources

d
Date Contributor Update
29 September 2014 13:26:32 LucyM Changes to awards
Sources

Test edit
Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:06:13 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces

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