Charles Wynfield Speece was born on 10 May 1920, in Marion County, Ohio. His parents are Earl & Delila (Bayles) Speece, of near Kirkpatrick, Ohio. Charles’ brother is Corporal Earnest Speece. Charles W. Speece attended Kirkpatrick School and was a 1938 graduate of the Waldo High School. Charles “Slim” worked as a dairy helper at the Chuck Walt Farm, located north of Bucyrus.

Charles W. Speece was inducted into service on 15 April 1942, in Crawford County. He attended radio school at Scott Field, Illinois; flexible gunnery school at Fort Myers, Florida. Speece was assigned as a crew member of a B-24 Liberator in January 1943, while in Tucson, Arizona. He was a Technical Sergeant trained as a Radio Operator/Gunner, at Scott Field, Illinois before going to Tucson. While home in May of 1943, he was engaged to Miss Geneva Underwood.

Tech. Sergeant Charles W. Speece was assigned to the 564th Bomber Squadron, 389th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force. He was stationed in England. Tech. Sgt. Speece was assigned to B-24 Liberator #42-40767, named “The Bad Penny.” He had completed five missions.

On 27 August 1943, Tech Sgt. Charles W. Speece was reported as Missing in Action, while returning to England from a mission in North Africa.

B-24 Liberator #42-40767 ‘The Bad Penny’ 564thBS, 389th BG, 8th AF. Slated for 1st Aug 43 Ploesti oil refinery raid, aborted on ground due to mechanical failure. Flew on next mission after Ploesti.
27th Aug 43, while en-route from Marrakesh to England, the Lighter crew and their aircraft disappeared, with all aboard presumed lost. A/C was attacked by German fighters over the Channel. One prop was feathered after the first pass, the aircraft losing altitude. Then the rear fuselage was badly hit; the top turret also exploding. The pilot ditched as he was too low for a bailout. Due to the rough sea the B-24 broke in two at the back end of the bomb-bay and sank quickly, approximately 65 miles southwest of Portreath. 12 KIA 3 POW.

MACR 12266.

It appears that the remains of Tech. Sgt. Charles W. Speece were recovered and returned for burial in New Caledonia Cemetery, Ohio.

Charles W. Speece is remembered on the Honor Roll, at the Veterans Memorial Park, in Marion, Ohio; on the west wall of the Marion County Courthouse; and on the World War Two Memorial Wall, at the Marion Cemetery.

Crew and passengers of B-24 Liberator #42-40767 ‘The Bad Penny’
2/Lt. Dwayne C. Ligther -Pilot – POW
2/Lt. Dale E. Reinard – CoPilot – POW
S/Sgt. Claude H. Mitchell Jr. – Gunner- Normandy A.C. Memorial
S/Sgt. Alfred E. Poitras – Gunner- Saint Hyacinth Cemetery, Maine
S/Sgt. Herbert W. Hurst – Gunner – Brittany A.C.M., Plot K, Row 14, Grave 22
S/Sgt. John E. Stout – Gunner – Normandy A.C.M., Plot E, Row 18, Grave 3
2/Lt. Lars F. Schultz- Bombadier – Normandy A.C. Memorial
T/Sgt. Thomas L. Shaver – Engineer- Normandy A.C. Memorial
T/Sgt. Charles W. Speece – Radio Operator – New Caledonia Cemetery, Ohio
2/Lt. Sherwood V. Williams – Navigator – Calvary Cemetery, Minnesota
Sgt. Chester R. Woolfe – Passenger – Brittany A.C.M., Plot F, Row 15, Grave 3
S/Sgt. Howard S. Haaf – Passenger – Normandy A.C. Memorial
T/Sgt. Edward L. Keller – Passenger – Brittany A.C.M., Plot L, Row 11, Grave 19
M/Sgt. Charles E. Kronenberg – Passenger – POW
Sgt. Manuel H. Weems – Passenger – Fairview Cemetery, Oklahoma