DOB/DOD: April 16, 1919 (Weston, CT) – June 13, 1943; 24 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married to Dorothy Maddock Rose in March 1943
LOCAL ADDRESS: RFD 2, Weston (unknown connection to Norwalk)
ENLISTMENT: October 15, 1941
SERVICE NUMBER: 31053118
UNIT: 336th Bomber Squadron, 95th Bomber Group (Heavy)
STATUS: Missing In Action (MIA); at sea, not recoverable
FAMILY: Born to Charles E. (1890-1962) and Elizabeth A. Pennell Broch (1887-1969). Two sisters, Charlotte Broch Edstrom (1914-1997) and Lillian A. Broch Kimball (1916-1980).
DECORATIONS: Awarded the Air Medal and Purple Heart Medal.
CIRCUMSTANCES: On 13 June 1943, 60 B-17s from the USAAF attacked the U-boat pens in Kiel. 16 B-17s from 95th BG flew at the front of the formation, which was attacked on the bombing run to the target. As usual, the German fighters particularly attacked the front of the formation, and before it had passed the target, 7-8 B-17s from 95th BG were lost. Aircraft B-17F 42-3286 is reported to have been hit after having passed the target and crashed in Kiel Bay, with the loss of all onboard.
Pilot Lt Austin V. Stone, Navigator 2nd Lt. Bernard D. Sharpe, Bombardier 2nd Lt Charles D. Johnson, Top turret gunner Sgt R.D. Cloar, Radio operator Sgt Graydon W. Spellman, Ball gunner Sgt Clayton E. Broch, Waist gunner Howard Buller, waist gunner Sgt John A. Richardson and tail gunner Sgt Charles S. Bruce have no known grave.
From The Westport Town Crier newspaper on June 25, 1943; contributed by James L., Reference Librarian, The Westport Library
The body of Copilot 2nd Lt Cebert Walter was found washed ashore on Kastager beach near Nalskov on the island of Lolland and was laid to rest in Svinø cemetery on July 26, 1943. On May 8, 1948, his body was disinterred and evacuated to the U.S. Military Cemetery, Neuville-en-Condron, in Belgium. Today, he rests in the Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Holland.
From The Norwalk Hour June 23, 1943
CLAYTON E. BROCH MISSING IN ACTION
Staff Sergeant Clayton E. Broch, 24, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Broch of Weston, was reported today as missing by the War Department since June 13. The Weston lad was a gunner and assistant radio operator on “Sweet 17”, a Flying Fortress operating out of North Africa. Mrs. Broch, Weston’s correspondent for The Hour, received a letter yesterday from her son dated June 12. He apparently was missing after a flight the following day. Sergeant Broch entered the service in October 1941. After service with the Medical Corps, he transferred to the Air Corps and graduated last Fall from the Las Vegas, Nevada Gunnery School. He has been overseas since April.
Correction to the previous article published June 26, 1943
The report that Staff Sergeant Clayton E. Broch was reported missing in the African area should have read in the European area. He has been stationed in England since the middle of April. He was with the Eighth Army Air Force and probably was lost in the mass raid over Kiel, Germany, which took place on June 13 when 26 Fortresses failed to return.
From The Westport Town Crier newspaper, unknown date
C.E. Broch Is Missing In Action
Staff Sergeant Believed To Have Been In Fortress Flying Over Europe
Staff Sergeant Clayton E. Broch was reported “missing in action” following a bomber raid from England over the continent, only a few days after his sister, Miss Lillian Adeline Broch, was sworn in as an apprentice seaman in the WAVES. A telegram was received by Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Broch of Norfield Road, Weston, from the War Department yesterday, announcing that their son had been missing since June 13. He was a gunner and assistant radio operator on “Sweet 17,” a flying fortress heavy bomber. A letter written on June 12th by “Clayt,” as he is known by his former employees at the Westport Bank and Trust company, had arrived at the Broch home on Monday. Sergeant Broch entered the service in October 1941. After serving with the Medical Corps, he transferred to the Air Corps and graduated last fall from the Las Vegas, Nevada, gunnery school. He has been overseas since April. He married Mrs. Dorothy Maddock Rose on March 4th, last, while on leave from a Western post. She has continued working at the Westport Bank and Trust Company. Miss Broch has been a fifth-grade teacher at Bedford Elementary School for the past three years. She graduated from Norwalk High School and the Danbury State Teachers College. She expects to report at Hunter College, U.S. Naval training station for WAVES in New York, on or about July 15. She was one of the salvage campaign officers at the Bedford Elementary School during the past school year and was the YMCA Fencing Club secretary.
Memorialized Tablets of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery, Madingley Road, Coton, England.
Memorialized at Coley Cemetery, 27 CT-57 (Weston Road), Weston, Connecticut. Photo by webmaster.
On the Norfield Grange World War II marker in Weston, CT in front of the Norfield Congregational Church, 64 Norfield Road, Weston.
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