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Press Photo 1943 USAAF 379th Bomb Group Crew Celebrate 25th Mission Kimbolton | eBay

Original Press Photo from 1943 shows crew members of B-17 "Lakanuki" after the completion of their 25th bombing mission on their return to their Airfield at Kimbolton in Cambridgeshire UK. The B-17 they flew in was part of the 526th Bomb Squadron which in turn was part of the 379th Bomb Group based at Kimbolton from 1943 through to 1945.

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42-5827 | American Air Museum in Britain Delivered Long Beach 1/3/43; Sioux City 16/3/43; Kearney 9/4/43; Dow Fd 21/4/43; Assigned 524BS/379BG Kimbolton 20/5/43; 526BS [LF-Y]; on mission to Le Bourget 16/8/43 Navigator: Harry Bailey Killed in Action when he fell out of ship after escape hatch dropped out; Missing in Action 5/1/44 with Allen Grissom, Co-pilot: John Phillips, Navigator: John Beach, Bombardier: Holger Eklund, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Jim Prochazka, Radio Operator: Hugo Havet, Ball turret gunner: Byron Green, Waist gunner: Delmar Sowers, Waist gunner: E. Bailey, Tail gunner: Bob Hall (10 INT); flak caused battle damage and pilot headed to safety, crash landed Skegrie, near Trelleborg, Sweden and used for spares for other B-17s. Missing Air Crew Report 1942. LAKANUKI.
 
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Ufer, Helmut KIA 13-07-1942 Monday in aerial combat with a Spitfire of RAF No. 616 Sq.. He crashed his A-1 SW of Abbeville. Buried Bourdon Fr., 32/10/370 (A. Rosseels). One known victory, his 1st, a Spitfire at Wirre Effroy, northeast of Boulogne on 13 March, 1942. His 2nd, a Spitfire southeast of Calais on 4 April, 1942. His 3rd, a Spitfire at St. Valery-sur-Somme on 30 April, 1942. Kracker Luftwaffe Archive

FW190 wrknr 10036 white 5

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foto luftwaffe jagdflieger jg26 helmut Ufer fw190 | eBay
 
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ME 163 Komet losses on 2nd November 1944 - Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum Battle description according by William N. Hess.

After a brief absence, JG 400 was back in the thick of things on November 2, 1944. At least eleven Me 163s rose from their base at Brandis to oppose bombers striking oil targets in central Germany. Captain Fred W. Glover was leading the 4th Fighter Group when he sighted a contrail climbing rapidly toward the bomber stream. The German craft pulled up level with the bombers at 25,000 feet and turned back toward the bomber stream in a slight dive- Glover dropped his auxiliary tanks and headed for the 163 on a convergence course. As the rocket-powered craft crossed in front of his P-51, Glover made a quick ninety-degree turn and fell in behind the Me 163. He quickly opened fire and registered strikes all over the tail, wings and cockpit of the craft from 400 yards, and the belly of the aircraft exploded. Glover overshot, and as he looked back, he could see that the tail was all but shot off the craft and its canopy was badly damaged. Glover pulled up to look for another target as the Me 163 went plunging down. One of his flight called to report that the pilot, Oberfeldwcbel Gunther Andreas, had bailed out.
German Gunther Andreas 2/JG-400 Test Pilot. Pictured in a 1953 reunion photo of jet pilots. Jager Blatt 6/2004. Deceased 10 September, 2008 Kracker Luftwaffe Archive







*PHOTO* P-51 Ace & Silver Star winner Frederick Glover 8th Air Force ~ Excellent | eBay
 
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*PHOTO* Col. (later General) Avelin Tacon, Jr. - C.O. 359th FG ~ Excellent | eBay

Avelin P. Tacon, Jr, P-51 pilot, CO, 359th Fighter Group

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It is impossible to attack ground targets without having to pull up as the nose of the Mustang rides pretty well down at high speed. If the nose isn't far enough down, you can use 10 degrees of flaps, which is permissible up to 400 mph. This will bring your guns down on the ground right in front of you.

As for bombing, we much prefer dive bombing. Skip bombing is something we are not at all enthusiastic about, probably because we can't hit a damn thing that way. The only thing we consider a skip bomb target is a tunnel mouth. All of the bridges we have skip bombed have had low river banks and our bombs have just tumbled cross country for about a mile before exploding.

Dive bombing is something else. We've gotten pretty accurate with dive bombing since we'e had the Mustangs. By starting our dive from about 8,000 ft and releasing about 4,000 ft we can get pretty good results. Particularly on bridge approaches and marshalling yards. Flak doesn't bother us much dive bombing as we have plenty of speed. We like to dive bomb individually if there isn't any heavy flak bothering is.

As to the danger - everyone agrees that in strafing you're bound to get it in the end if you do enough of it, but that by being smart and taking every advantage, you can prolong it somewhat




 
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WW2 USAAF B-17F "LOCAL GIRL" 91 BG GEEFSWEER HOLLAND PRESS TYPE PHOTO U156 | eBay

B-17F-25-DL 42-3111 'Local Girl' aka 'The Brass Rail'

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On September 27, 1943, the aircraft, a Boeing B-17 F-25-DL Flying Fortress, took off from Bassingbourn Air Base in Cambridgeshire on a bombing flight to Emden. More than 300 B-17 Flying Fortresses participated in this attack, escorted by P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft. This B-17, with the name "Local Girl" on the fuselage nose, had just started its return journey when they discovered that the oxygen mask of Ball Turret Gunner Sgt Paul Ayala had frozen over. He was unconscious and they took him out and put him in the radio compartment and he came to. When the Germans found out that the belly turret was unmanned, they attacked. A volley of shells hit the hull and the No. 2 hit the engine which caught fire. The attack also destroyed the intercom. The B-17 was attacked by a Messerschmitt Bf 109. The B-17 caught fire, flew a complete circle above Geefsweer (Groningen), after which the left wing broke off and the aircraft exploded. 1Lt William G. Pegram is believed to have been thrown out into the path of a propeller. He was found in a ditch with his head down and missing both his legs. Belvin J. Peters got caught on the left elevator with his parachute and was dragged to the ground. Nothing is known about the fate of Gorden E. Noel. Five of the crew members ended up in the Ems by parachute, but two did not survive. Of the total crew of ten, four died that day. And one missing. The four deceased soldiers are all buried in the American cemetery in Margraten. In de oorlog neergestorte Amerikaanse Vliegend Fort in Geefsweer


Pilot William G.Pegram2/lt. KiA
Co-PilotWilliam L. Martin 2/lt. PoW
NavigatorRobert. S Cosgrove2/lt. KiA
BombardierNorman C. Katinger 2/lt. PoW
Enginier/Top GunnerVernon C.Larson T/sgt KiA
Radio OperatorOrlo G. NatvigT/Sgt.PoW
Ball Turret GunnerPaul R. AyalaSgt. PoW
Left Waist GunnerBelvin J. Peters S/Sgt.KiW
Right Waist GunnerFrederick E.Hutchinson S/Sgt.PoW
Tail Gunner Gorden E. Noel S/Sgt. Onbekend


 
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Mons, Rudolf Maj 10/2/1914 Vienna I/KG-40 (9/41), Kdr Ep.u.Lehr Stf He 177 (1/42), Kdr III/KG-40 (11/43) He 111H, Fw 200C & He 177A-3 Werk # 535670 "F8+DM" (lost 11/26/43)
KIA 26 November, 1943 in the Mediterranean theater. His He 177 fell victim to enemy fighters and crashed at sea, off Bougie, Algeria. Remaining crew (KIA): Uffz Karl Enz, Obs; Fw Heinrich van Oopen, R/O; Fw Walter Laib, Flt Engr; Ogefr Dieter Tschöpe, Gnr and Uffz Heinz Niele, Gnr.. Kracker Luftwaffe Archive

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portrait LW Oberleutnant Rudolf Mons, Kommandeur II/ Kampfgeschwade 40 | eBay
 
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