MiddletonClyde - 671st POW

416th Bombardment Group (L)

S/Sgt. Clyde Walton Middleton

Airplane Mechanic - Gunner, 17100579

Prisoner Of War

671st Bombardment Squadron (L)

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Born: 15-Mar-1919, Altoona, Wilson County, Kansas

Entered Military Service: Date: 5-Nov-1942

POW summary:
Fail to Return Date: 29-Sep-1944
POW Camp: Stalag Luft 4 Gross-Tychow (formerly Heydekrug) Pomerania, Prussia (moved to Wobbelin Bei Ludwigslust) (To Usedom Bei Savenmunde) 54-16
Return Date: 12-Jun-1945
NARA WW II POW Data File Latest Report Date: 12-Jun-1945
NARA WW II POW Data File ID: 55972 / (PDF)

Died: 3-Jul-1984, Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas

On-line Memorials:
National World War II Registry
Find-A-Grave

Obituary

Clyde W. Middleton

WICHITA - Clyde W. Middleton, 65, of Wichita, died Tuesday at the St. Francis Medical Center in Wichita.

He was born March 15, 1919, in Altoona, to Walter and Maye (Landsdowne) Middleton. He married Dorothy Baldwin on April 12, 1941, in Independence. She survives of the home.

An industrial engineed with Boeing Military Airplane Co. in Wichita, he retired in 1978.

He was a member of the Christian Church, the Bestor G. Brown Masonic Lodge in Wichita and the Veterans of Foreign War. He was a veteran of World War II, having spent nine months as a prisoner of war.

Other survivors include: his mother, Maye Middleton of Parsons; one brother, Robert Middleton of Federal Way, Wash; and two sisters, Aleene Coots and Marjorie Middleton, both of Parsons.

Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Friday at the Loran Fawcett Funeral Home in Neodesha. Burial will be at the Altoona Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home.

The family suggests memorials to the American Cancer Society.

The Parsons Sun (Parsons, KS), 04 Jul 1984, Wed. Page 4 , Clyde W. Middleton Obituary, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/610265915/?article=2df970da-6a54-4879-8ff5-693a8e825de5 [subscription required] : accessed 3 February 2021)

MACR 9274 Details

Notes:
A/C Last Sighted and was Lost as a result of Enemy Anti-Aircraft. Exploded in mid-air from direct flak hit.

Description:
Three planes, all from the 671st Bomb Sq (L), were knocked down, and almost simultaneously, at the target. All three were in the same flight. Lt F.W. DeMand was leading the flights with Lt A.C. Burns, B-N, in the nose and Staff Sergeants R.J. Troyer and C.W. Middleton in the tail. The plane received a direct hit and exploded in mid-air in the area over the target. Two chutes were observed to emerge from the falling wreck.
(416th BG History 1944)

See also Mission # 149

Photos and Documents

1920 US Census

1925 KS Census

1930 US Census

1940 US Census

WW II Draft Registration
16-Oct-1940

WW II Draft Registration
16-Oct-1940

S/Sgt. Clyde W. Middleton

L-R: S/Sgt. Reuben J. Troyer, Lt. Francis W. De Mand, S/Sgt. Clyde W. Middleton
(courtesy of Rick Greer)

L-R: S/Sgt. Clyde W. Middleton, Lt. Francis W. De Mand, S/Sgt. Reuben J. Troyer
(courtesy of Rick Greer)

Francis De Mand caption on rear of photo:
"Left to right:
S/Sgt. Clyde W. Middleton - Wichita
Myself - Ha!
S/Sgt. Rueben J. Troyer
These are my boys!"
(courtesy of Rick Greer)

L-R: S/Sgt. Reuben J. Troyer, S/Sgt. Clyde W. Middleton, Lt. Francis W. De Mand
Sitting on bombs ready to be loaded for a mission
(courtesy of Rick Greer)

L-R: S/Sgt. Clyde W. Middleton, Lt. Francis W. De Mand, S/Sgt. Reuben J. Troyer
(courtesy of Rick Greer)

L-R: S/Sgt. Reuben J. Troyer, Unknown, S/Sgt. Clyde W. Middleton, Sgt. Laurence E. Nanney, Unknown
(courtesy of Rick Greer)

Newspaper Clipping
The Manhattan Mercury
02-Mar-1945

Newspaper Clipping
The Manhattan Mercury
02-Mar-1945

City Directory
1948 Wichita, KS

City Directory
1956 Wichita, KS

City Directory
1961 Wichita, KS

City Directory
1962 Wichita, KS

Headstone

Newspaper Obituary
The Parsons Sun
04-Jul-1984

WW II Honoree

See also:
"CONNECTIONS - A SHARED MISSION, A SHARED MEMORY"
By Kathe Rensner in Collaboration with Barry Walker, Grandson of S/Sgt. Clyde W. Middleton
2021 Friends of the 416th Bomb Group Annual Newsletter (PDF pages 18-23)