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Not really. The first P-51B-1-NA was completed save Packard 1650-3 which didn't arrive until end (snip)
Simply not enough to go around and the 23rd FG was first in CBI to get a few - not enough to equip the Group until July-August 1944
So then the numbers for the P-40 in the CBI wouldn't include victories scored by IJA pilots flying the P-40s of the 2 Hiko Chutai (in Rangoon)
The F6F also appeared in the ETO and was operated in support of the D-Day landings and follow-up support. Hellcats of VF-74, from the USS Kasaan Bay (CVE-69) and VOF-1 from the USS Tulagi (CVE-72) covered the landing zones as well as flying support missions well inland. On 21 August, it was mainly Hellcats from Tulagi that caught and annhilated a long retreat column of German ground forces near Remoulins.
They encountered and downed several Luftwaffe types except for the Fw190 to the best of my knowledge.
So even the limited use the US made of the Spitfire saw it get more victories than the P-39.Before anyone gets their pee-thing in a knot, the above numbers are only for American flown aircraft, thus the reason for the low Spitfire numbers
The famous "Flak Tower" photo was actually mis-captioned by the war department. It was actually a water tower and was strafed for a couple reasons: one, enemy infrastructure and secondly, it was a high-point that could be used for artillery spotting and/or a sniper position.
The attacking aircraft was actually a P-47 of the 376th/361st FG flown by Capt. Franks and the gun camera footage is from Capt. Frank's wingman, Lt. Laxton.
View attachment 497012
I don't have a link to the footage at the moment, but some digging around should turn it up.Neat, wow it really looked like a hellcat I guess because dark. Do you have a link to the video clip?
I don't have a link to the footage at the moment, but some digging around should turn it up.
I've always wondered about that picture ever since I first saw it as a teenager. What's a Hellcat doing in France, and doesn't that look more like Thunderbolt?The famous "Flak Tower" photo was actually mis-captioned by the war department. It was actually a water tower and was strafed for a couple reasons: one, enemy infrastructure and secondly, it was a high-point that could be used for artillery spotting and/or a sniper position.
The attacking aircraft was actually a P-47 of the 376th/361st FG flown by Capt. Franks and the gun camera footage is from Capt. Frank's wingman, Lt. Laxton.
ThanksView attachment 497012
I want to know why valuable time and resources were wasted putting Merlins into Spitfires and Hurricanes, a sad lack of foreward thinkingI have just had the feeling in the past several pages of this thread that the suggestion is about to be made that the P-40 should have received the V-1650-3, not the P-51....
I have just had the feeling in the past several pages of this thread that the suggestion is about to be made that the P-40 should have received the V-1650-3, not the P-51....
I want to know why valuable time and resources were wasted putting Merlins into Spitfires and Hurricanes, a sad lack of foreward thinking