Clarence Edward Walker was born at Hartland, Somerset County, Maine on June 22, 1923. His parents were Edward Noah Walker (19 Mar 1896 – 24 Nov 1983), who was born at Athens, Somerset County, Maine; and Rita M. (Leighton) Walker (abt 1906 – unk), who was born at Hartland, Somerset County, Maine. His parents married at Hartland, Maine on February 8, 1922. His father served in the U.S. Navy from April 1917 to August 1919, and later worked as a toggler at the Irving Tannery in Hartland. His father married Florence E. (Spencer) Walker (1915 – 1993) in Maine on February 16, 1935. He had at least three younger siblings: Dennis E. Walker (abt 1926 – unk), Melvin S. Walker (1935 – 1995), and Virginia Walker (abt Aug 1939 – unk). In 1940 the family lived on Athens Road in Hartland, Maine.
He completed four years of high school and worked as a shipping and receiving clerk. He was single, without dependents, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Bangor, Maine on January 21, 1943. His home of record was an uncle's address on Star Route in Hartland, Somerset County, Maine.
He completed Army Air Forces flight engineer and aerial gunnery training, and was assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt Robert G. Reeder in the 839th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group. The Reeder crew completed B-24 crew training with the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. Reeder's copilot, 2/Lt Floyd Schwab, was moved to the first pilot position, and 2/Lt Norman C. Van Kirk was assigned as the crew's copilot at Herington, Kansas, the first stop during the overseas deployment. They flew B-24H 42-52624 overseas via the southern Atlantic ferry route and arrived in England by mid-April 1944. The 487th Bomb Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.
On June 7, 1944, Lt Schwab's crew flew B-24H 42-52624 'BoxCar' on the 487th Bomb Group mission to bomb a tactical target at Angers, France, in support of the Normandy Invasion. Clouds obscured the target and the Lead Squadron bombed an alternate target, the Loire River bridge at Montjean, France, about 20 miles west of Angers. The Schwab crew flew in the High Squadron and bombed a railroad marshalling yard at Chateaubriant, France, about 50 miles northwest of Angers. S/Sgt Walker and six of his crewmates were killed in action when their aircraft was shot down by flak near Rennes, France on the return from the mission. The aircraft broke up and crashed at La Rabine, just west of Bruz, France. Three men survived and became prisoners of war.
The dead were buried at the civilian cemetery in Bruz, France. After the war, S/Sgt Walker's remains were reinterred at Brittany American Cemetery in Saint-James, France. He also has a cenotaph in his family's plot at Pine Grove Cemetery in Hartland, Somerset County, Maine. (His birth year is listed on the cenotaph as 1922.)
The Breton Air Memorial Association and the Lacy-Davis Foundation dedicated a monument to the Floyd Schwab crew on June 9, 2012 in Bruz, France.
B-24H 42-52624 crew:
• Schwab, Floyd – 2/Lt – Pilot – POW
• Van Kirk, Norman C – 2/Lt – Copilot – KIA
• Swiridow, Louis – 2/Lt – Navigator – KIA
• Smith, Cecil J – 2/Lt – Bombardier – KIA
• Olsen, August M Jr – T/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA
• Gross, Billy D – T/Sgt – Engineer – POW
• Marxmiller, Robert K – S/Sgt – Ball Turret – KIA
• Siegel, Melvin – S/Sgt – Tail Turret – POW
• Coe, Seymour – Sgt – Nose Turret – KIA
• Walker, Clarence E – S/Sgt – Upper Turret – KIA
Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov