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Denning Clifford Lewis

Name:
Clifford Lewis Denning
Rank:
First Lieutenant
Serial Number:
O-751592
Unit:
706th Bomber Squadron, 446th Bomb Group
Date of Death:
1944-04-27
State:
Oklahoma
Cemetery:
Cambridge American Cemetery, United Kingdom
Plot:
C
Row:
6
Grave:
12
Decoration:
Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart
Comments:

Clifford Lewis Denning was born on April 11, 1921, in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma. He was the son of Forrest C. Denning and Iva Jewell Moore Denning. Clifford was assigned to the 706th Bomb Squadron of the 446th Bomb Group, and deployed with the unit to England in October 1943. The unit was tasked with striking a V-site near Blainville. France.

On April 27, 1944, 1Lt Denning was part of a crew of B-24 H # 41-29543 that was assigned to a bombing mission on the marshaling yards at Blainville, France. The bomber stream encountered heavy flak en route to and over the target. The aircraft Scott was in was struck, with two engines set ablaze. The pilot nursed the wounded bomber back toward the English coast but eventually felt he could not make it. He gave the bailout signal. Two of the crew made it out.

Attempting to land, the aircraft struck the cliff top at Foreness Bay, near Cliftonville, Kent, England. Witnesses state the engines broke off, the remainder of the aircraft toppled backward on the beach, and exploded. All crew was killed except the two who bailed out. This was the 9th mission for the crew.

1Lt Denning is now buried in the Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom. He also has a cenotaph located in Rose Hill Burial Park, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, USA.

Crew listing on mission log is as follows:
1 Lt Harold J. Larson p
1 Lt Clifford L. Denning
1 Lt George M Hafner nav
1 Lt Claude Lanphere
SSgt Louis Bart gun
SSgt William Holt gun
SSgt Melvin Warren gun
SSgt Orval B. Scott gun
TSgt Edward Hilgeman eng
TSgt Carl M. Smith r/o

Crew positions not indicated were not given. No Missing Air Crew Report found, but individual names appear on USAAF Accident Log for April 1944.

Source of information: https://airforce.togetherweserved.com, www.findagrave.com