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Personal info

Full name
ENOCH, Clifton Jr
Date of birth
11 September 1924
Age
20
Place of birth
Crittenden, Grant County, Kentucky
Hometown
Marion, Crittenden County, Kentucky

Military service

Service number
O-829832
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Function
Pilot
Unit
368th Fighter Squadron,
359th Fighter Group
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
19 March 1945
Place of death
North of Halle, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
Tablets of the Missing
* This soldier has been accounted for. A rosette has been placed next to his name.

Immediate family

Members
Clifton Enoch (father)
Mattie A. (Lucas) Enoch (mother)
Margarete (Wylie) Enoch (wife)
Howard Enoch III (son)

Plane data

Serial number
44-15371
Data
Nickname: Happy
Type: P-51D
Destination: Halle, Germany
Mission: Bomber escort
MACR: 13162

More information

Clifton Enoch Jr joined the Air Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve at Patterson Field, Ohio, on 16 November 1942.

Statement of Maj Niven K. Cranfill, who flew in the same mission: "On 19 March 1945, I was leading White flight on an area-support mission to Halle. Lt Enoch was flying my wing. He was flying about 500 yards behind me and a little to the left when we engaged an enemy aircraft. As the E/A went into a dive to the left, I pulled up at 5,000 feet to watch him crash. Immediately after the E/A crashed, I saw another explosion about a quarter of a mile away. I looked around for Lt Enoch but could not see him, nor could I get an answer on the radio. I can only assume that Lt Enoch was so absorbed in watching the E/A that he did not realize how low he was until it was too late to pull up. I did not actually see his airplane in a dive previous to seeing the explosion. The time was between 1410 and 1415, and the vicinity east of Leipzig, Germany."

In 2004, German historian, Hans Guenther Ploes, identified a particular rural area as a potential location of plane wreckage. A Defense Department official found fragments of the plane scattered over an area the size of a football field. Two years later, military investigators recovered human remains and aircraft wreckage. A forensic analysis confirmed the identity in April 2004.

Lt Enoch was buried on 22 September 2008 in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, 359th FG database & Archived History, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.fold3.com, www.findagrave.com

Photo source: FOHF, Charlotte Baldridge (359th FG Historian), www.findagrave.com