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| Lt. Clyde Allen was a B-17 pilot in the bomber nicknamed Devil's Mate. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/43513428/clyde-m_-allen https://b17flyingfortress.de/en/b17/42-31108-devils-mate/42-31108-1200px/ |
Clyde Marion Allen never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
Clyde was born on May 4, 1920 in Salt Lake City, Utah. His parents Orson and Elizabeth were also both born in Utah. His father worked as a mail carrier. Clyde had seven older brothers and one older sister. By 1940 Clyde had completed four years of high school and was still living at home. He found work as a baker. Four of Clyde's brothers plus himself all served during World War II.
He volunteered for the Army Air Corps in October 1940 and was originally assigned to the Philippines. He married Ardyth Bailey in December 1942. He eventually graduated from flight school in May 1943. He became a first lieutenant and pilot in the 709th Bombardment Squadron, 447th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, which was equipped with B-17 Flying Fortresses. The 447th BG was sent to England in November 1943. It was based in Rattlesden, England.
On January 29, 1944 Lt. Allen was part of a bombing mission to Frankfurt, Germany that included 31 planes from the 447th BG. He was flying B-17 #42-31108 nicknamed Devil's Mate. This was the 11th overall mission for the 447th and a rescheduled one to bomb Frankfurt after the same target was called off for mission 10. His plane failed to return from the mission and was originally listed as missing in action. It was later discovered that the plane was shot down by an enemy fighter and crashed near Waldeck Castle, Gonderhausen, Germany and that no one survived the crash, including Lt. Allen.
His grave is at Larkin Sunset Lawn Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Utah. His widow remarried.
Last year on this date I profiled B-26 pilot Donald Scott, Ohio State All-American quarterback. You can read about Donald here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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