Clarence Raymond Bitner | American Air Museum in Britain

Standing Left to Right: William N. Dunwoody (P), Max E. Burrows (CP), Paul L. Facteau (N), Arden L. Quesinberry (TOG) Kneeling Left to Right: Clarence R. Bitner (BTG), Ray W. Detweiler (FE), Arl B. Cross (WG), Gabriel B. Chapra (RO), Wilfred B. Cullerne (TG) This crew was involved in a mid-air collision on their 29th mission, on 23 March 1945 resulting in the deaths of Facteau, Bitner, and Cullerne as well as two other men not in the photo

Show caption About this image

Assigned to 336BS, 95BG, 8AF USAAF. 24 x combat missions. Failed to Return (FTR) mission to Holzwickede 23-Mar-45. Mid air collision with B-17 44-8754, crashed Campsea Ash, Suffolk. Killed in Action (KIA).

Awards: AM (3OLC), GC, PH.

Service

People

William Dunwoody

Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 95th Bomb Group

Units served with

8th Air Force

Eighth Air Force Bomber Command became the Eighth Air Force on February 1944, it oversaw bombardment of strategic targets in Europe until 1945. ...
95th Bomb Group

Group
The 95th Bomb Group was the only Eighth Air Force Group to be awarded three Distinguished Unit Citations. The first, shared by all four Bomb Wing Groups, was for the bombing of an aircraft factory under intense enemy fire at Regensburg on 17 August...
336th Bomb Squadron

Squadron

Aircraft

42-106993

B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 21/1/44; Kearney 22/1/44; Grenier 25/2/44; Assigned 336BS/95BG [ET-P/W] Horham 13/3/44; with J. M. Bastion; Co-pilot Frank Puckett Barbour; force landed France 22/6/44; with J.E. Hamilton force landed RAF Bentwaters, Sfk 6/10/44;121m...
42-31867 'Go Getter'

B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 29/12/43; Kearney 12/1/44; with Wilmot Chamberlain force landed Morrison, FL 31/1/44; Memphis 19/4/44; Kansas City 20/4/44; Kearney 24/4/44; Presque Is 28/4/44; Grenier 30/4/44; Assigned 335BS/95BG [OE-P] Horham 2/5/44; battle damaged...
42-97844

B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 14/3/44; Kearney 13/4/44; Dow Fd 29/4/44; Assigned 336BS/95BG [ET-R] Horham 20/4/44; with Glovik 7/10/44, Waist gunner: Chas Buda KIA; 97m, Missing in Action Frankfurt 9/3/45 with Bill Durant (Ouratt?), Co-pilot: Dwight King, Navigator...
43-38469

B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 7/8/44; Lincoln 17/8/44; Grenier 3/9/44; Assigned 336BS/95BG [ET-U] Horham 5/9/44; with T.C. Gibson force landed A-81 airfield on continent 20/5/45; 82m, Returned to the USA Bradley 24/6/45; 4168 Base Unit, South Plains, Texas 26/6...
43-38676

B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 1/9/44; Hunter 20/9/44; Dow Fd 25/9/44; Assigned 336BS/95BG [ET-V] Horham 28/9/44; 51m, Returned to the USA Bradley 21/6/45; 4168 Base Unit, South Plains, Texas 23/6/45; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal in USA...
44-8272

B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Dallas 27/7/44; Lincoln 17/8/44; Grenier 3/9/44; Assigned 1377 AAF Base Unit detailed UK, via Goose Bay, Lab.; on 3/9/44 with Joe Arwood, Co-pilot: Walt Johnson, Navigator: Bill Fowler, Bombardier: Clarry Counsell, Flight engineer/top turret...
44-8604 Section Eight

B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Lincoln 31/10/44; Grenier 15/12/44; Dow Fd 15/12/44; Assigned 336BS/95BG [ET-X] Horham 17/12/44;with Bill Dunwoody force landed B-53 Merville Afd, Bel. 19/3/45; battle damaged Holzwickede 23/3/45 with Bill Dunwoody, Co-pilot: M. Burrows,...

Missions

731

30 November 1944
734

2 December 1944
736

4 December 1944
738

5 December 1944
745

10 December 1944
748

12 December 1944
8th Air Force 760

24 December 1944
1. Decision. ...
761

25 December 1944
766

28 December 1944
769

29 December 1944

Associated Place

Horham

Military site : airfield
Horham airfield was planned and built for RAF use, but handed over to the Eighth Air Force and used initially by the 47th Bomb Group. When they joined the Twelfth Air Force in January 1943, it became home to the B-26 Marauders of the 323rd Bomb Group....
Cambridge American Cemetery

Cemetery

Events

Event	Location	Date
Born	Detroit, MI	8 February 1923
Son of Herman and Helen Bitner.
Lived in	Detroit, MI	February 1942
3602 Humboldt Street
Based	Horham	30 November 1944 – 23 March 1945
Assigned to 336BS, 95BG, 8AF USAAF.
Died	Campsea Ashe, Suffolk, UK	23 March 1945
Failed to Return (FTR) mission to Holzwickede 23-Mar-45. Mid air collision with B-17 44-8754, crashed Campsea Ash, Suffolk. Killed in Action (KIA).
Buried	Cambridge American Cemetery	April 1945
Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial Coton, South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England Plot D, Row 7, Grave 68

Date	Contributor	Update
18 August 2020 15:45:10	Al_Skiff	Changes to biography, events and place associations
Sources
https://www.fold3.com/image/30087440 https://www.fold3.com/image/659890209 https://www.fold3.com/image/310763849 https://www.fold3.com/image/146062259 https://www.fold3.com/record/529898977-clarence-r-bitner https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56287830/clarence-r-bitner
Date	Contributor	Update
17 August 2020 22:58:19	466thHistorian	Changes to middlename, highest rank, role, awards, events, place associations, aircraft associations and mission associations
Sources
https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2238&h=26766127... https://95thbg.mmsw.eu/crew/111
Date	Contributor	Update
05 November 2016 16:41:07	Al_Skiff	Changes to service number, role, biography, awards, events, unit associations and place associations
Sources
https://www.fold3.com/image/30087437 https://www.fold3.com/page/529898977_clarence_r%20bitner/details/ http://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=62171 http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=56287830
Date	Contributor	Update
27 September 2014 18:06:19	AAM	AAM ingest
Sources
Combat Sup / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia