2LT Philip Bernard Cleary was a Pilot with the 12th Air Force; 57th Bombardment Wing; 321st Bombardment Group; 446th Bombardment Squadron; stationed in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, (MTO).

His Hometown was Odell, (near Bloomington), Illinois.

On 05 April, 2LT Cleary was flying as Co-Pilot on a sea sweep bombing mission.

Monday, 05 April 1943
446th BS Mission Summary: (Ops Order 19/mission 18) Group Mission # 18: Group mission 18, Squadron 10. Eight planes led by Lt. Bradley on a Sea Sweep. 500 lb bombs were dropped and 3 merchant vessels, 1 destroyer, and 3 flak barges were sunk. Lt. Garmon and T. Martin were wounded by light caliber fire. One complete crew was lost, Lt. Lovingood, Lt. Cleary, Lt. Cordes, S/Sgt. Kralicek, and S/Sgt. Belser. Lt. Bradley’s stabilizer and rudder were pretty well shot up and he was forced to make an emergency landing at Bone.

446th BS: Extracts from Missing Air Crew Report # 14576: The aircraft was seen to crash into the sea while on a low sea sweep but reports as to the cause were conflicting. Some reported its being hit by anti-aircraft fire and others said it was hit by a water spout caused by the explosion of a bomb from a preceding aircraft. A Report of Burial received by this command stated that S/Sgt. Oscar L. Belser had been buried by Germans on 5 April 1943. He was later disinterred on 15 June 1943 and reinterred in Am Cam Tunis, Tunisia. (MACR contains very little information)

A/C No. 41-13196 “Avenger” (shot down)
P Lovingood, Willard J. “Bill”, 2Lt - KIA
CP Cleary, Philip B., 2Lt - KIA
N None
B Cordes, Jacob H., Jr., 2Lt - KIA
E Kralicek, Frank C., S/Sgt - KIA
R Brooks, George C., Cpl - KIA
G Belser, Oscar L., S/Sgt - KIA
F None

446th BS Special Account: On April 5, 1943 we lost Lt. Lovingood and his crew on a Sea Sweep. His crew was made up of: Lt. Cleary, co-pilot; Lt. Cordes, bombardiernavigator; S/Sgt. Kralicek, engineer; S/Sgt. Belser, turret gunner; and Cpl. Brooks, radio operator, in addition to Lt. Lovingood, the pilot. The following narrative is an eyewitness account of that mission and the loss of the plane:

I had been advancing the throttles constantly and when, after passing over my target and dropping my bombs into it, I glanced at the airspeed indicator it showed 280 plus. At this time the gunner, S/Sgt. E.V. Mitchell called on the interphone and I looked back to see a very large splash which he explained was Lt. Lovingood’s plane. Sgt. Mitchell said a large explosion resulting in a water spout had hit the left engine of the doomed plane, wrenching it from its mounting. Having only one power plant and at the terrific speed the plane twisted into a half-roll and crashed into the water upside down. This was when he called me on the interphone and I observed the splash.

For the loss of one of our planes the enemy suffered the loss of four ships sunk, three sinking, and others damaged. The plane flown by Lt. Bradley was so severely hit by shell fire he was forced to make an emergency landing at Bone. All the other planes, though hit, returned safely to the Base.

Axson, Ralph Leonidas, Jr., 1Lt, pilot

Philip B Cleary