posted 04-01- 05:09 AM               

I'm confused, the code letters 'FT' are listed in my sources as the as the 353rd FS, 354th FG 9th AAF. However I can find nothing that links the 354th FG to P-47s, by all accounts they flew exclusively P-51Bs and Ds. I have another picture that shows this aircraft with invasion stripes, hence it has to be either 8th or 9th AAF - but it is definitely not 8th (I know my 8th history). The kill markings on both pictures I have show crosses, therefore it must be a European based plane (unless it was the aircraft of a pilot who had previously flow in Europe).

Does anyone have any info on it. The pilot was an ace (either air or ground kills) but my searches have drawn a blank.

posted 04-01- 07:32 AM               

That is the 354th Fighter Group thunderbolt of Maj.(Lt.Col.) Glenn Eagleston with 18.5 kills.

Here's more:
Activated at Hamilton Field in California on Nov. 15, 1942, the 354th Fighter Group trained in P-39 aircraft there and other Army airfields for nearly a year. In October 1943, the 354th moved to Greenham Common, England. The first group to use the new P-51Mustang, the 354th commenced combat action in December. From then through the end of the war, the Pioneer Mustang Group wreaked havoc on the German Luftwaffe; altogether, pilots of the 354th scored 599.25 combat victories. Lt. Col. Glenn Eagleston was the leading ace, downing 18.5 aircraft.
For a four-month period in late 1944 and early 1945, the 354th flew P-47s and switched its focus from escort and air superiority to fighter-bomber missions, strafing and dive-bombing enemy targets in Belgium, France and Holland. Its efforts during the war earned the 354th two Distinguished Unit Citations and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm. After V-E Day, the group served with the army of occupation; in February 1946 it was transferred back to the United States and inactivated.

The photo I have doesn't show the fuselage code letters so I can't vouch for that, and I don't have my 9thAF book to check.

dauntless851

posted 04-01- 07:32 AM            

Here's the catch. This is taken from Squadron/Signal Thunderbolt in the ETO Book.

"The 354th was the pioneering Mustang group. BUT, the Mustangs were replaced by the Thunderbolt from Nov 1944 through February 1945. The conversion came just in time for the Battle of the Bulge."

I picked this skin for one of the release skins for the contest. It just looked too cool, and aparently has some good history behind it.

Codes are correct: FT 353, GQ 355, AJ 356.