Philip Simonte was born in 1923 and was from Michigan. On August 4, 1943 he was a Crew member (Waist Gunner) on B-17F (42-3124) (No Nickname) flying out of Molesworth Airfield (427th Bomber Squadron, 303rd Bomber Group {Heavy}), was on a night training flight over the United Kingdom. The aircraft crashed on the Arenig Fawr mountaintop, 6 miles west of Bala, Wales with a complete loss of the eight crew members. The community of Bala placed a memorial plaque remembering the sacrifice of the crew.