Author Topic: Fighter group CO meeting, 1945  (Read 1028 times)

Offline jeffdn

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Fighter group CO meeting, 1945
« on: July 22, 2013, 07:53:34 PM »


Look at those sweet birds!  :O

p.s. those fighter hangars look awfully familiar!  :D

Offline Widewing

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Re: Fighter group CO meeting, 1945
« Reply #1 on: July 23, 2013, 02:31:38 PM »


Look at those sweet birds!  :O

p.s. those fighter hangars look awfully familiar!  :D

The photo dates to August 19, 1944.

The 20th FG CO Harold Rau's P-51D "Gentle Annie" is closest. The next P-51D belongs to the 352nd FG, 328th FG. I'm sure that Meyer flew with the 487th FS in August of '44. He may have borrowed this Mustang... Behind the two P-51s is Shilling's P-47D-25-RE. Note that Shilling's Jug has triple mount bazooka tubes installed. In the upper right hand corner we see Fred Gray's P-47D-25 (78th FG) and the P-38J of Hub Zemke. Zemke had been asked to take over the 479th FG after it's CO was shot down on August 10. Zemke took command on August 12. Just a week later he flew his P-38 (in which he had just 14 hours of flight time) to the meeting of VIII AF Fighter commanders. Zemke lobbied for the P-51, stating the the P-38 was just "too damn complicated for pilots new to combat". The 479th had some notable alumni members, including Robbin Olds.
« Last Edit: July 23, 2013, 02:35:09 PM by Widewing »
My regards,

Widewing

YGBSM. Retired Member of Aces High Trainer Corps, Past President of the DFC, retired from flying as Tredlite.

Offline jeffdn

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Re: Fighter group CO meeting, 1945
« Reply #2 on: July 23, 2013, 02:40:28 PM »
The photo dates to August 19, 1944.

The 20th FG CO Harold Rau's P-51D "Gentle Annie" is closest. The next P-51D belongs to the 352nd FG, 328th FG. I'm sure that Meyer flew with the 487th FS in August of '44. He may have borrowed this Mustang... Behind the two P-51s is Shilling's P-47D-25-RE. Note that Shilling's Jug has triple mount bazooka tubes installed. In the upper right hand corner we see Fred Gray's P-47D-25 (78th FG) and the P-38J of Hub Zemke. Zemke had been asked to take over the 479th FG after it's CO was shot down on August 10. Zemke took command on August 12. Just a week later he flew his P-38 (in which he had just 14 hours of flight time) to the meeting of VIII AF Fighter commanders. Zemke lobbied for the P-51, stating the the P-38 was just "too damn complicated for pilots new to combat". The 479th had some notable alumni members, including Robbin Olds.
Thank you for the correction on the date! Double thank you for identifying the planes and their pilots. I knew that someone here would be able to! Y'all are the best. :salute

Offline TonyJoey

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Re: Fighter group CO meeting, 1945
« Reply #3 on: July 23, 2013, 03:53:19 PM »
Great picture jeff, and as a side note, I'm reading Robin Olds' book currently, great read so far, highly recommended.  :aok

Offline Wiley

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Re: Fighter group CO meeting, 1945
« Reply #4 on: July 23, 2013, 04:54:42 PM »
The photo dates to August 19, 1944.

The 20th FG CO Harold Rau's P-51D "Gentle Annie" is closest. The next P-51D belongs to the 352nd FG, 328th FG. I'm sure that Meyer flew with the 487th FS in August of '44. He may have borrowed this Mustang... Behind the two P-51s is Shilling's P-47D-25-RE. Note that Shilling's Jug has triple mount bazooka tubes installed. In the upper right hand corner we see Fred Gray's P-47D-25 (78th FG) and the P-38J of Hub Zemke. Zemke had been asked to take over the 479th FG after it's CO was shot down on August 10. Zemke took command on August 12. Just a week later he flew his P-38 (in which he had just 14 hours of flight time) to the meeting of VIII AF Fighter commanders. Zemke lobbied for the P-51, stating the the P-38 was just "too damn complicated for pilots new to combat". The 479th had some notable alumni members, including Robbin Olds.

Oh yeah?  What did they eat for breakfast that morning? :)

Seriously it really boggles my mind how much info some of the people in here have absorbed in here.  Literally probably having forgotten more than most of us will ever know about the subject.

Wiley.
If you think you are having a 1v1 in the Main Arena, your SA has failed you.

JG11

Offline Brooke

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Re: Fighter group CO meeting, 1945
« Reply #5 on: July 24, 2013, 03:43:31 PM »
Great picture jeff, and as a side note, I'm reading Robin Olds' book currently, great read so far, highly recommended.  :aok

It's a good one.

Offline aztec

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Re: Fighter group CO meeting, 1945
« Reply #6 on: July 25, 2013, 05:08:32 PM »
Thx for sharing this incredible picture Jeff :aok :cheers:

Offline Paladin3

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Re: Fighter group CO meeting, 1945
« Reply #7 on: July 26, 2013, 05:07:31 PM »
That is a wonderful piece of history! Thank you for sharing.

Offline jeffdn

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Re: Fighter group CO meeting, 1945
« Reply #8 on: July 27, 2013, 11:20:27 AM »
You're most welcome! :salute  :cheers:

Offline Zoney

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Re: Fighter group CO meeting, 1945
« Reply #9 on: July 27, 2013, 11:29:30 AM »
Oh yeah?  What did they eat for breakfast that morning? :)

Seriously it really boggles my mind how much info some of the people in here have absorbed in here.  Literally probably having forgotten more than most of us will ever know about the subject.

Wiley.

=1 on that.  I'm lucky if I can find my underwear.
Wag more, bark less.