Albert Patton Clark

Military
media-17761.jpeg UPL 17761 Lt Gen Albert 'Bubb' Patton Clark.

Object Number - UPL 17761 - Lt Gen Albert 'Bubb' Patton Clark.

Shot down doing a sweep over France with the 412 Squadron (Royal Canadian Air Force) 26 July 1942 while assigned to 31st Fighter Group as a Lieutenant Colonel, flying Spitfire Mk Vb, BL964. Prisoner of War (POW). Was executive officer of the 31st FG in early days of training with the 52nd FG. He was the first combat casualty in the European theater for the U S Fighter Forces. First 8th AF pilot to become a Prisoner of War (POW). After the war he stayed in the service and at one time was commander of the U. S., Air Force Academy.

Connections

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Units served with

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: Spitfire
  • Unit: 309th Fighter Squadron

Missions

Places

  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Dulag Luft Grosstychow Dulag 12
  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Germany

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Schofield Barracks, HI 96857, USA 27 August 1913 Schofield Barracks, Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawaii

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

Zagan, Poland 26 July 1942 - 12 May 1945 Held at Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia (now Poland) later moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser. Officially Returned to Military Control 12-May-45. Instrumental in the planning of the famous "Great Escape". Officially Returned to Military Control 12-May-45. First fighter pilot POW in 8th Air Force.

Other

Shot Down

Parking Cap Gris-Nez, 62179 Audinghen, France 26 July 1942 Shot down by JG26 Fw190's doing a sweep over France with the 412 Squadron (Royal Canadian Air Force) 26 July 1942 while assigned to 31st Fighter Group as a Lieutenant Colonel, flying Spitfire Mk Vb, BL964.

Died

Colorado Springs, CO, USA 8 March 2010 Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Buried

United States Air Force Academy Cemetery Colorado Springs, El Paso County, CO 15 August 2010 Buried in the USAF Academy Cemetery.

Other

West Point Graduate

U S Military Academy Library, 758 Cullum Road, West Point, NY 10996, USA United States Military Academy graduate

Revisions

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added an association to Stalag Luft 3 per WW2 POW records at the National Archives (NARA).
Added punctuation in the "Summary biography" to aid readability.

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Sources

Spitfire Production List.

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Sources

Spitfire Production List.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 12-Nov-2014. POW event clarification.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 4-Nov-2014. POW details.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 4-Nov-2014. Difficulty with program accepting POW data.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 4-Nov-2014. edit POW description.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 4-Nov-2014. POW event description

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 1-Nov-2014. Addition of decorations and life events . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_P._Clark#Biography

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 20-Oct-2014.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 20-Oct-2014, Correction made to Summary Biography, date of action, unit assignment, aircraft type. Information verified from two sources, "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A Hey and "Mighty Eighth War Diary" Roger A. Freeman. Service Number and rank at time of incident from National Archives Records Administration (NARA) POW database.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Roll of Honor, Losees of the 8th and 9th AF by Bishop and Hey p. 21

Albert Patton Clark: Gallery (4 items)