I have seen pictures of 3 kinds of kill stencils used; the swastika, used two ways and the German cross.Was this the prerogative of each FG or was there a specific reason ?
I always got a kick out of this guy's kill marks. He didn't like anybody.Plus his Crew Chief was OTAY! (Image removed from quote.)
"There is one example of a USAAF pilot displaying an American flag on his kill markings - and not only diplaying it proudly, but receiving a DFC for his action! Lt. Louis Curdes of the 4th Fighter Squadron, 3rd Air Commando Group was flying a P-51D on February 10, 1945, during a sweep to Batan Island. He saw a P-51 pilot parachute into the sea, and Curdes circled around him to pinpoint his position to rescuers. While circling, he saw a USAAF C-47 that was preparing to land on the Japanese-held strip on Batan. Unable to veer the C-47 away, Curdes saw only two possibilities - first that it was a Japanese plane using US markings (the DC-3 was made under licence in Japan,) or it was a US plane truly lost. He therefore carefully shot out both engines, causing the plane to land in the sea. All 13 people on board the C-47 were rescued - and they were indeed Americans, including several nurses, one of whom was a girlfriend of Curdes! The plane had lost its way, and had tried to land in error on the Japanese-held island. Curdes' quick thinking averted the Americans' capture. He later adorned the victory scoreboard on his P-51 with seven German swastikas, one Italian fasces, one Japanese rising sun, and one American flag!"
Thanks AKAK, that is great part of history. I'm going to save that to a .doc that is definitely a story worth saving Butch
Curde was given a DFC for his shoot down of the C-47 that earned him the American kill flag on his plane.ack-ack
