The image depicted on the nose of Palmer's P-47
Dale Mabry Field, where it is thought Lt. Palmer got his pilot training. Near Tallahassee, FL
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Clarence Palmer enlisted at Camp Shelby as a draftee June 18, 1941. He was enlisted as a private, but he would later become an officer, so sometime between June of 1941 and June of 1944, Palmer would complete both officers’ school and pilot’s training. Dale Mabry Field seems a likely place for Palmer to have received his pilot’s training, as he received a physical examination for flying on March 16, 1944 at this field. At this time, Palmer had logged 1050 flight hours.
Lt. Palmer did not arrive into the European theater of operations until June 4, 1944, just two days before the Allied assault on Normandy. Likely because he was so new to the unit, Palmer did not participate in the initial Normandy assault. His first flight in enemy territory was on Jun 10, 1944. Palmer, along with 10 of his fellow pilots, went on a patrol across the channel for the purpose of destroying trucks and strafing, and they encountered substantial flak from a camouflaged Nazi train. Palmer flew in a second patrol, this time in the dark, early in the morning of June 11. The mission was uneventful and few observations were made due to the conditions of the patrol. The nose of Lt. Palmer’s P-47 Thunderbolt had the phrase “HAR-R-D – LUCK” on it and featured a pair of dice. Lt. Palmer’s third and final mission was flown on June 12, 1944. This mission was another patrol, sweeping over the northern French coast around the mouth of the Seine River to look for ground targets. When Palmer and his four companions (Palmer was flying wingman to the mission leader, Captain Randall Hendricks) were five miles north of Lisieux, they spotted 15 German FW190 fighters heading towards Caen. The American pilots engaged the enemy, downing several planes. Lt. Palmer was on the tail of an enemy when he was shot from behind by another FW190. His P-47 thunderbolt caught fire, and the plane nosed up, causing it to stall and crash into the woods below. Due to their low altitude for the duration of the engagement, Lt. Palmer was unable to get out of his aircraft.Lieutenant Palmer was declared Killed-in-Action June 12, 1944. Captain Hendricks shot down the plane that downed Lieutenant Palmer. A Focke-Wulf 190, the kind of lightweight fighter Lt Palmer encountered in his final mission.
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