Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: Guppy35 on October 22, 2004, 02:13:19 PM
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Saw this on another board. Jack Ilfrey, who flew 38s with the 1st FG and then 38s and 51s with the 20th FG, passed away on October 15th.
He wrote his autobiography a while back "Happy Jack's Go Buggy", named for his 20th FG 38 and 51.
He was one of the more colorful USAAF aces from WW2. Forced to land in Gibralter low on fuel while flying from England to North Africa, Ilfrey was set to be interned. While 'showing" a Portuguese pilot how to start up the 38, he blew the guy off the wing and took off, making it to North Africa.
Later with the 20th he was downed and evaded back. There are also some classic photos of Illfrey 38s after returning from combat. One from his 20th days shows the wingtip gone from a collision with a 109. Another from his 1st FG days shows him standing on the wing of his 38 with a feathered prop and shot up tail.
They're all going too fast
Dan/Slack
(http://www.onpoi.net/ah/pics/users/169_1098472275_illfrey.jpg)
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Jack Ilfrey. Thanks for your efforts on our behalf.
Godspeed.
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Missing man formation of P-38s in order?
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the last mosquito pilot reunion had maybe 10 people at it, another 5 years and they'll all be gone. kinda depressing really.
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Jack Ilfrey. There is a great interview with him in the "Hunters of the Sky" video set I have. You could tell he was a character by the stories he told.
Here is a 20th FG P-38 AH II skin I just pretty much finished, skin errors and all:
(http://www.onpoi.net/ah/pics/users/81_1098479060_p-38l-20thfg-55thfs.jpg)
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Originally posted by vorticon
the last mosquito pilot reunion had maybe 10 people at it, another 5 years and they'll all be gone. kinda depressing really.
piss off, i was at the last ever mosquito aircrew association reunion, was over 100. Had live news coverage and everything.
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I had the picture of Jack on his early P-38 "Texas Terror" with the prop feathered and a huge cannon hole in the engine cover.
Sad news indeed, I know several of the P-38 pilots who flew in those groups, and their ranks are indeed thinning quickly.
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Originally posted by Furball
piss off, i was at the last ever mosquito aircrew association reunion, was over 100. Had live news coverage and everything.
blast my shoddy memory. sorry.
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Jack Ilfrey on the wing of his 1st FG Lightning "Texas Terror".
Dan/Slack
(http://www.onpoi.net/ah/pics/users/169_1098488666_illfrey1st.jpg)
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Thanks Dan, I lost that picture, and over 300 other P-38 pictures when my old rig died.
I have a picture of the Duxford P-38, as it was originally painted when delivered, it wore the colors of "Happy Jack's Go Buggy". It's actually a decent candidate for a skin even though the AH II P-38 as it is currently would be very hard to reskin.
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Is that an Ike jacket or a British one?
Jack.
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This was a sad passing. I met Jack several years ago. He contributed photos for an article I co-wrote for Air Power International.
Jack was the first USAAF fighter ace against Germany. Remember those stories about P-51 pilots landing in France and Germany to pick up downed squadron mates. Well, Jack did exactly that.
You can read about Jack on Syd Edwards tribute page here. (http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/6940/index.html)
Jack's Book and my published review:
(http://home.att.net/~C.C.Jordan/GoBuggyCover.JPG)
"Having grown up on a steady diet of 1940s and 50s war movies, I thought that most of the characters and their wild exploits were the work of overly imaginative writers. By and large, my belief was accurate. Recently though, I was introduced to a man and his true story that has caused me to reconsider the deeds of derring-do seen on film.
Jack Ilfrey (ILFREY) is a real life cross between Hans Solo and Indiana Jones. Of course, Jack predates those fictional characters by more that 35 years. Flying P-38 Lightnings and the P-51 Mustang, Jack was involved in events that would leave Steve Canyon trembling like a mouse.
Forced to make an emergency landing in a very German friendly Portugal, Jack escaped internment by tricking the local military authorities into refueling his P-38F. Once that was accomplished, he offered to show them how to start the engines. With Portuguese officers still kneeling on the wings, Jack firewalled the throttles and pulled the canopy closed as his hapless captors were blown off like leaves. Without the time to taxi to a runway, Ilfrey takes off straight ahead. He then navigates to Gibraltar by compass alone. The diplomatic flap caused by Jack's bold escape results in the State Department demanding that he be sent back! General Jimmy Doolittle would have none of that. He needed men with Ilfrey's genius and unflappable nerve. Jack Ilfrey would go on to be America's first fighter pilot to gain ace status against the Luftwaffe.
The title, Happy Jack's Go Buggy, comes directly from the name of his P-38 and P-51 fighters. The unusual name bestowed on his fighters reveals a unique type of pilot. Indeed, Jack could be considered the archtypical model of the crazy-ass, wild-eyed American fighter jockey to appear in later American war films.
Of the many combat pilot memiors that I have read, Jack's stands out as the most entertaining and one of the most inspiring of the lot. There can be no doubt that Ilfrey was a tried and true American hero. He was also one of America's greatest characters to emerge from the war. If you enjoy reading about fighter pilots, run, do not walk, to you nearest bookstore and get this wonderful book."
Happy hunting Jack!
My regards,
Widewing
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I'm gonna get the book now. DAMN I wished I'd met him in person and shook his hand.
The STATE DEPARTMENT insisted that he BE RETURNED? Seems pretty stupid for the day. I could believe it a decade or more later.
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Originally posted by Arlo
Is that an Ike jacket or a British one?
Jack.
If I remember correctly, the caption for that pic says it is a British jacket.
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I just got an email from Roy Russell, who graduated in the same class as Jack, and flew from the same fields with the 1st FG, he was in a different squadron. I'm trying hard to get Roy to get in touch with Syd, in order to get Roy's story on that site.
As a sad side note, I have a bunch of P-38 pilots on my email list, and over the past 3 years, at least a dozen have passed.
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sad news. :(
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Damn widewing just sold me a book.. :)
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Originally posted by vorticon
blast my shoddy memory. sorry.
just read what i posted, sounded a bit harsh! oops, didnt mean it to :D
anyway i missed this on first post : Jack Ilfrey