Claude Wallace Kline Jr. was born on September 28, 1915, in Buchanan County, Missouri. He was the son of Claude Wallace Kline Sr. and Edna M. Wyatt. He was married to Edith Idol Kemp. He graduated from Central High School in 1933, where he participated in Band, Track, and served as a Sergeant in the school’s ROTC detachment. Before the war, he worked as a salesman for the Great Western Paint Manufacturing Company in Kansas City, Missouri. He enlisted in June 1942 and entered pilot training as an Aviation Cadet, completing advanced flight training at Lubbock Army Airfield and receiving his commission as a Second Lieutenant on 29 July 1943. He then underwent B-26 Marauder training at Dodge City Army Airfield before joining the 394th Bombardment Group, which deployed to Europe in early 1944. Assigned to the 587th Bombardment Squadron, he flew B-26 Marauder 42-96263 from Station 161, Boreham Airfield, Essex, England, as part of the Ninth Air Force. The Group earned the nickname “Bridge Busters” for its precision strikes against bridges, gun emplacements, fuel depots, and transportation targets.

On D-Day, June 6, 1944, his aircraft was part of a group departing for a mission when it collided midair with another B-26 (serial 42-96050) over Gillingham, Kent, England, at 5:05 a.m. in poor weather conditions. His aircraft crashed into an orchard at East Court Farm, Gillingham, and all crew members were killed. He is remembered as one of the American airmen who lost their lives on D-Day, not in combat, but while preparing to support the invasion efforts from the air.

2Lt Kline is now buried in the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, uk.forceswarrecords.com