Today, a friend of mine at work brought in some pictures that his dad took back in WWII from the CBI (China/Burma/India) theater. He was in a Combat Cargo squadron and crewed C-47 aircraft. One that caught my eye was of a P-47 (razorback) that had a bad day. It was mostly intact and was in a field, though some parts were missing. Some panels and the cowl flaps had been removed but the main components were all still there. Fuselage was straight, primary and secondary control surfaces, canopy, engine and cowling were all there. Looks like guns had been removed.
The tail number was 228134 (meaning USAAF S/N 42-28134), nose art "ROSA LEE" could be clearly seen on the engine cowling and it had a series of diagonal stripes on the fuselage tail section starting just aft of the canopy opening. The only damage seen is the tire is rolled off of the rim and the rim is separated from the R/H main gear with the gear being partially dug into the turf. There could have been major damage the left side, but thats impossible to tell from that photo.
Things like this intrigue the crap out of me. There is a story behind that photo. What happened to "Rosa Lee"?
What I've found so far by searching until my eyes hurt is this:
"Rosa Lee" was a P-47D-23-RA, USAAF S/N 42-28134 and was built at the Evansville, Indiana plant. Judging by the markings and AOA, she had to be assigned to the 5th ACS, 1st ACG (Air Commando), 10th AF and was based in Asansol, India (which existed Mar 44 to May 45).
Below is a Jug with like markings and a very close serial number.
I have found combat action summaries telling of the missions the Jugs performed and the damage they inflicted, but no serial numbers of acft or accounts of losses. I cannot find any info on this particular S/N Jug.
I found an original photo of a P-51D a while back in an old book and found a ton of info on it pretty much from birth to it's tragic end
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,225205.0.html but am not so lucky on this one.
Does anyone know of any sites that may have more info on this particular Jug? The most complete history site that I know of list nothing on this S/N Jug. (
www.warbird-central.com)
Thanks
RE
