:mad:Thanks to all the usual suspects, Devil5O5, Greebo, Lyric1, Oboe, FTJR, etc. and all those who commented on my preview thread awhile back. I have more to do to this one down the road but it is far enough along to use in the game.
Greebo's work on the default was tremendous. I've stuck with the majority of his panel lines for continuity but have modified a few. Any mistakes can be placed at my feet.
P-38J-15-LO, s/n 43-28408
"Gentle Annie" - MC*R
Col. Harold J. Rau
20th FG, 79th FS
King's Cliffe, Northamptonshire - April 1944
This is the P-38J-15-LO MC*R (s/n 43-28408) [some sources say this is actually P-38J-10-LO s/n 42-68165] named "Gentle Annie" flown by Col. Harold J. Rau, of the 20th FG, 79th FS, out of Station 367, King's Cliffe in 1944. Rau served as the Commanding Officer of the 356th FG from February to November 1943 before taking over the 20th FG which he commanded twice during the timeframe of March to December 1944. An experienced fighter pilot, he flew 275 combat hours scoring five victories--one in the air (ME-109) and four on the ground (1 x JU-52, and some combination of three HE-111s and ME-110s--one source says three JU-88s). All of these occurred on a single mission on 8 April 1944 making him an Ace-in-a-Day [the 8th AF counted an aircraft destroyed on the ground as a kill from early 1944 on].
At the request of General William Kempner, commander of 8th Fighter Command, Rau wrote a highly detailed report on flying the Lightning in combat which in effect made the case that the airplane was an incredibly able machine but far too complicated for the "average" pilot coming out of the training pipeline. He recommended changes to the P-38 and training program to increase the effectiveness of the aircraft.
Rau had at least three airplanes (two P-38s and a P-51) all with the same "Gentle Annie" name. Of interest is the following story published in the "King's Cliffe Remembered" Summer, 1996 issue:
'To an overseas fighter station a few days ago came a letter postmarked Wilson, N.Y., and addressed in a childlike scrawl to: "Pilot of Gentle Annie, U.S. 8th. Air Force, England." Delivered promptly to Col. Harold Rau, who leads his Mustang Group (The 20th.FG) in the P-51, "Gentle Annie," the envelope contained a newspaper clipping, a photograph of a little girl in pig tails and this message:
"Dear Pilot,
I saw the pikchore [picture] of Gentle Annie in the Buffalo Courier Express. My Mummy and Daddy call me Gentle Annie and I will pray that you don't get into as much trubol as I do. I am in the third grade.
Annie Croop
P.S.: Here is my pikchore [picture]. I am 7."
Colonel Rau had named his plane originally for Ann Kenyon, of Providence, R.I., a Women's Air Force Service Pilot, but, he decided, "effective immediately, Gentle Annie is named for little Annie Croop, of Wilson, NY.” ’This aircraft was later transferred to the 401st FS, 370th FG, 9the AF. Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) 8477 states that on 1 Sept 1944 2nd Lt. William C. Schiefen failed to Return (FTR) from a mission over Belgium when he lost control strafing road transports and crashed. He was listed as Killed in Action (KIA).
Col. Rau died on 17 November 1974 at the age of 64.
Apologies for any issues with the screenshot. I am on my laptop so it may be pixelated.
Click to enlarge.
Edit In: This one was just prior to making some final tweaks (mainly it has the thin white stripe and is missing the red NO STEP stencils that I added later). It still is a good representation of the final product.
