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Personal info

Full name
WREN, Clyde Leroy
Date of birth
9 February 1918
Age
26
Place of birth
Lewes, East Sussex, England
Hometown
Seattle, King County, Washington

Military service

Service number
O-764104
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Function
Co-Pilot
Unit
327th Bombardment Squadron,
92nd Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
13 September 1944
Place of death
Neustädt, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
L 21 12

Immediate family

Members
William E. Wren (father)
Roberta F.M. (Holder) Wren (mother)
Maybelle (Wurster) Wren (wife)
Carolyn M. Wren (daughter)

Plane data

Serial number
42-31250
Data
Type: B-17G
Nickname: Mag the Hag the 2nd
Destination: Altenburg, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the oil refinery
MACR: 8882

More information

2nd Lt Clyde L. Wren joined the Air Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve in Seattle, Washington, on 29 August 1942.

The airplane feathered one engine and left the formation about halfway between the target and Frankfurt, shortly after the formation was attacked by fighters. The pilot looked for a suitable place for an emergency landing, but the aircraft lost altitude very rapidly, hit a chimney on a house, and crashed at 1245 hrs at the railway line on point 184,8. Only one crewmember had time to jump before the crash.

One crew member was taken prisoner, and eight were killed. They were all buried at the cemetery of Neustädt-Werra.

According to the report of an investigation in January 1950, the remains of all the crew members were recovered by the 3046th QM Unit from this cemetery on 3 and 4 June 1945 and transferred to Margraten. At that time, the remains of only one crew member were interred by name. A new investigation at Neustädt could not be conducted due to the political situation in the area since this town lay in the Russian-occupied zone of Germany.

In 1991, a German citizen, who was digging a grave in the cemetery of Neustädt, discovered a metal U.S. military identification tag and notified officials. The U.S. Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command was not able to gain access to the site until 2007 and, in 2008, excavated the area within the cemetery, recovered human remains, and additional metal identification tags from three of the crew members. After forensic and circumstantial evidence research, the remains could be identified as those of John J. Bono, John E. Hogan, and Emil T. Wasilewski.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / Family Tree

Photo source: Mart Janssen, Arie-Jan van Hees, Pilot Class Book 44-A, Pecos, Texas.