Clarence Wilfred Randall was born at Big Sandy, Chouteau County, Montana on July 5, 1923. His parents were Clarence Enoch Randall (19 Jan 1889 – 7 Apr 1985), who was born at Mallard, Palo Alto County, Iowa; and Anna P. (Christensen) Randall (3 Sep 1894 – 4 Feb 1971), who was born in Denmark. His parents married on October 6, 1915 at Big Sandy, Montana, where his father was a farmer and rancher. His parents moved to Tacoma, Washington in 1947, and to Vancouver, Washington by 1949; they later moved to Riverside, California. He had two sisters: Laura A. (Randall) Engelke (abt 1919 – unk) and Ethel Ann (Randall) Pilling (21 Nov 1926 – 18 Nov 2014).
He attended Big Sandy High School, where he was active in Future Farmers of America and the school rifle club. He graduated on May 22, 1941, and worked as a shipping and receiving clerk. He was single, without dependents, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Butte, Montana on November 7, 1942.
He completed Army Air Forces flight engineer training at Amarillo, Texas; and aerial gunnery training at Kingman, Arizona. Then he reported to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he was assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt Joseph D. Conwill Jr. The Conwill crew completed B-17 operational training at Biggs Field in El Paso, Texas, and deployed to England in early January 1945. They were assigned to the 837th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England. They arrived at Station 137 by January 20, 1945, and became part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe. The crew was soon chosen to become a lead crew.
On March 15, 1945, the Conwill flew on the 487th Bomb Group mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Oranienburg, Germany, near Berlin. Lt Conwill's crew lead the Diamond Squadron (aka the Low, Low Squadron) of the formation. Air leader Captain Robert G. Reeder flew in the copilot seat. Copilot Lt Birtrum Lindquist moved to the tail as officer tail gunner and formation observer, as was the custom.
S/Sgt Randall and three of his crewmates were killed in action when their aircraft, B-17G 44-8746, was shot down by flak over Wittenberge, Germany in the Elbe River Valley. They had dropped their bombs on the marshalling yards at Oranienburg, and encountered intense, accurate flak over Wittenberge on the return. Direct flak hits blew off the nose of the aircraft and the forward underside of the fuselage, probably killing navigator Lt McNeish and bombardier Lt Moderski instantly. S/Sgt Randall was observed to be seriously wounded and unconscious, lying on the floor at the bottom of the top turret. The catwalk in the bomb bay was blown away and his crewmates could not reach him. He went down with the plane. Pilot Lt Conwill survived the parachute jump, but was seriously wounded. He died of his wounds at a military hospital in Neuruppen, Germany on April 2, 1945.
The remains of navigator Lt McNeish were found in a German churchyard in 1947. This was probably at Perleberg, Germany, a short distance northeast of Wittenberge. S/Sgt Randall's remains may have been found there about the same time. His remains were returned to the United States in 1949, and arrived by train at Havre, Montana on September 8, 1949.
B-17G 44-8746 crew:
• Conwill Jr, Joseph D – 1/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Reeder, Robert G – Capt – Air Leader – POW
• McNeish, Cecil C – 2/Lt – Navigator – KIA
• Moderski, Jerome D – 1/Lt – Bombardier – KIA
• Dippo, Ramor W – 2/Lt – Radar Operator – POW
• Randall, Clarence W – S/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
• Polifka, George J – Sgt – Radio Operator – POW
• Copelin, Robert L – Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – POW
• Valentine, James A – Sgt – Waist Gunner – POW
• Lindquist, Birtrum – 2/Lt – Officer Tail Gunner – POW
Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com