Second Lieutenant Clyde R. Custer of Maryland, U.S.A. died in Northern Ireland when B-26B Marauder #41-18072 came down close to Toome Airfield, Co. Antrim.
Second Lieutenant
O-815093
Second Lieutenant Clyde R. Custer (O-815093) served in 3rd Combat Crew Replacement Center, 8th United States Army Air Force during the Second World War. Born on 7th January 1919, he was the son of Thomas S. Custer of Accident, Garrett County, Maryland, U.S.A.
Clyde enlisted on 3rd October 1941 at Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. and was based at Toome Airfield, Co. Antrim from June 1944 – July 1944. He was a recipient of the Purple Heart.
Custer died on American Independence Day, 4th July 1944 while serving as a bomber pilot on B-26B #41-18072. The plane crashed tail first in a peat bog on high ground in Co. Antrim while on a short navigational flight from Toome Airfield.
Burial first took place at Lisnabreeny American Military Cemetery, Belfast on 5th July 1944. After the war, Custer was repatriated to St. Paul’s Cemetery, Accident, Garrett County, Maryland, U.S.A.