Cletis L. Horner      Updated: 12 JUN 2016  Photo: AS 30 MAY 2016 Horner

Airman: u096087.htm Surname: Horner Init: C L Rank: Sgt Service: USAAF Sqdn: 339

P_link: p279.htm Plane: B17 42-40051 Operation: Bomb G Crash_site: The Baltic Sea

Crash_d: d090444 Buried_d: b110444 C_link: c096.htm At_Next: Svinø and Luxembourg 1

 Se monument ved havnen i Nysted for besætningen på B17 42-40051.

Den 9. april 1944 kort efter kl. 15 styrtede B17 42-40051 i havet ca. 8 km sydvest for Nysted (omkring her). Flyet blev skudt ned af en tysk Me109 jager efter et togt til Poznan (her). Hele besætningen omkom. Alle de omkomne flyvere undtagen W. C. Cantrell blev begravet den 11. april 1944 på Svinø Kirkegård. Cantrell, der tilsyneladende nåede at springe ud med faldskærm, druknede og blev begravet den 16. maj 1944 på Svinø Kirkegård. (Kilde: FAF)

"Under kraftig beskydning blev halepartiet beskadiget, og haleskytten sprang ud med faldskærm. Piloten forsøgte en nødlanding på Rødsand (omkring her), men flyet tippede herunder over,
hvorved alle besætningsmedlemmer omkom. Tyskerne bjærgede i de efterfølgende dage ni lig
fra vraget, der lå på ryggen med hjulene stikkende op af vandet. Senere blev også selve vraget bjærget, men man fandt aldrig resterne af halepartiet. Nogen tid efter drev liget af haleskytten
ind på kysten ved Nysted." (FT 86-90-24)

Sgt (Ball Turret Gunner) Cletis L. Horner og andre amerikanske flyvere begravet på Svinø blev opgravet i 1948 for at blive overført til USA. Han er dog begravet på
Luxembourg American Cemetery, Plot D Row 3 Grave 5. Han kom i tjenesten fra New Mexico. Hæderstegn: Air Medal, Purple Heart. (Source: ABMC)
Se Monument for 46 amerikanske flyvere og kortet USAAF med alle amerikanske flyvere begravet i Danmark.

Se tegning af besætningen på en B-17, Foto af en B-17 + B-17 i airmen.dk samt
B-17 Ball Turret, Ammunition og Ball Turret Gunner. 10 flyvere.

 See the monument at the harbour of Nysted to the crew of  B17 42-40051.

On 9 April 1944 shortly after 15:00 B17 42-40051 crashed into the sea about 8 km south west of Nysted (about here). The plane was shot down by a German Me109 fighter after a raid on Poznan (here). All of the crew perished. All of the perished airmen except W. C. Cantrell were buried in Svinø Churchyard on 11 April 1944.
Cantrell had managed to bail out, but he drowned and was buried on 16 May 1944 in Svinø Churchyard. (Source: FAF)

"The tail section was damaged under heavy fire and the Tail Gunner bailed out. The Pilot attempted a forced landing on Rødsand (about here), but the plane turned
over so all of the crew perished. In the next days the Germans recovered 9 bodies from the wreck, which was lying on its back with the wheels out of the water.
Later they also salvaged the wreck, but the tail section was never found. Some time later the body of the Tail Gunner drifted ashore at Nysted." (FT 86-90-24)

Sgt (Ball Turret Gunner) Cletis L. Horner and other American airmen buried in Svinø Churchyard were disinterred in 1948 to be tranferred to the USA.
However, he is buried in Luxembourg American Cemetery, Plot D Row 3 Grave 5. Entered the Service from: New Mexico.
Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart. (Source: ABMC) See Monument to 46 American airmen and the map USAAF with all American airmen buried in Denmark.

See a drawing of the crew of a B-17, Photo of  a B-17 + B-17s in airmen.dk and B-17 Ball Turret, Ammunition and the story of a Ball Turret Gunner.
See 339 BS, 96 BG, 45 CBW, 3 BD * The 96th Bombardment Group (H) * This B-17 Flying Fortress took off from RAF Snetterton Heath - USAAF Station 138
10 airmen.