Mustangs and Unicorns - a history of the 359th FG

Author Jack Smith and Pictorial Histories Publishing Company produced this excellent, well-illustrated history of the 359th FG in 1997. One of the 8th AF's lesser-known groups, the 359th FG was also one of the last Mighty Eighth groups to enter combat. First flying combat in mid-December 1943, they destroyed 351 e/a in the air and on the ground. They also were prolific train busters. Their efforts earned the Group a DUC. The wartime history of the 359th and that of its postwar successors are comprehensively covered in this well-done volume. Initially equipped with P-47 Thunderbolts, the 359th later re-equipped with P-51 Mustangs. They soon earned a reputation for close escort, their original commander, COL. A. P. Tacon, demanding that Group pilots stay with the bombers rather than chase off after Luftwaffe aircraft. The 359th was the first to use Mustangs in dive-bombing, were the first to down an Me 163 and also were involved in a 'friendly fire' mission wherein Group pilots downed nine Russian Yak fighters! Group aces included John Murphy, George Doersch and Ray Wetmore. Postwar reincarnations of the Group flew P-51s, F-86s, F-84s, F-4s and C-130s. Smith does a workmanlike job of relating the Group's birth and combat history, relating events using a day-by-day format. Though he doesn't use first-person reminiscences or combat reports, he nicely summarizes the air battles and strafing missions flown by the Group and the subsequent postwar activities. A big plus for the book are the hundreds of well-reproduced b&w and color photographs, many of them previously unseen, that run throughout the book. Fighter buffs will undoubtedly enjoy all the shots of pilots, aircraft, air combat scenes, crashes, etc. Unless something better comes along, MUSTANGS and UNICORNS, A HISTORY OF THE 359TH FG will stand as the definitive history of this little-known 8th AF fighter group. 256 page soft cover published 1998

This is recommended aviation book #31 on this blog. You can view the entire list via the label link below

Aeronavale Crusaders Landivisiau 1979

Line up of 10 FN F-8 E(FN) Crusaders at Landivisiau in June 1979 with  Belgian Mirage at the far end of the line-up..

Reposted via Robert Robinson on FB who comments, ".. poor picture quality due to having a Zenit-E as a first camera. They are famous for inconsistent exposure across a frame, hence nearly all mine were brighter on the left hand side. Still, 10 F-8s were always going to make a nice picture I think...I made an effort in the 70's and 80's to do French Open Days as they often had good base flight launches. In this case all the F-8's flew, amazing!"

Armée de l'air en Indochine - latest Icares - the fall of Dien Bien Phu, May 1954

..our cousins across the Channel messed up in Vietnam a bit before our other cousins messed up there; combat sorties in Junkers 52s and Fieseler Storks over Dien Bien Phu anyone !?... two recent Icares of a planned 3-vol series on the Armée de l'air in Vietnam. Icare is large format glossy softback mostly featuring personal accounts and at 18 euros is very good value for money if you read French. These volumes feature accounts of operations in, out and over North Vietnam along with some great pics, both 186 pages ...via ebay.fr

It is quite amazing to think that there is barely ten years between the fall of Dien Bien Phu in May 1954 and French Junkers Ju 52 and Stork/Criquet ops in North Vietnam and the arrival of US F-4s. The French initially were operating Ki-43 Oscar fighters that had been abandoned by the Japanese! Most of them had actually been abandoned in Burma rather than Indochina, and at least one was test-flown in Australia during the war. They only operated in French colours for around two months before the RAF delivered some Spitfires. There were quite a few other ex-Japanese types used as well, including a 'Zero' floatplane that crashed on its first flight!

Potez 63 of the Bordschützenschule 1 - air gunners training school 1 - daily Ebay photo find #42

Potez 63 "CB+YT" of the BSS 1 or Bordschützenschule 1 - the air gunners training school 1 - in Rahmel 19 December 1941. In front Gefr. Walter Bräunlich and in the Potez Fw. Althuser

XR 770 Lightning F6 5 Squadron, RAF Binbrook, Waddington, Manston

Lightning F.6 XR770 arrived last year at my local aviation history museum located on the former RAF Manston airfield and must surely be one of the more famous Lightnings if only because of that paint scheme. First flown in 1966, she appeared at that year's Farnborough SBAC display in Saudi markings with a wide array of weaponry prior to entering service with 74 Squadron in September 1966 and finishing her career with 5 Squadron at RAF Binbrook. Lee Scargill photo

 In March 2015 XR 770 moved from her then location at Waddington to the Manston History Museum outside Ramsgate in East Kent and by July they had completed her re-assembly. At least she is now available for public viewing - something that would no longer have been possible at Waddington with the ceasing of the annual airshow.

 See more at Damien Burke's 'Thunder and Lightnings' site here

Coltishall Lightnings

Taken from the AHB Twitter feed where the caption read " Formation Friday - Three Lightnings of 226 OCU (a T5, T4 and F1A) at Coltishall pictured January 1973

No. 22 Squadron RNZAF Chance Vought Corsair, Bougainville, 1945

No. 22 Squadron RNZAF pilots admiring the Katipo spider emblem on a Chance Vought Corsair, Bougainville, 1945. PR6949, ©RNZAF Official.

The Squadron was nicknamed the ‘Katipo Squadron’, after the rare New Zealand native Katipo spider, a less venomous cousin of the American Black Widow and Australian Red Back spiders. With a Squadron motto of “Patu o Kia Mate” (“Strike to Kill”), a suitably fearsome creature as a symbol was definitely in order. These pictures were published in the New Zealand press in July 1945 to promote the important work of the Squadron in support of Australian troops during the fierce ground fighting on Bougainville.

Katipo spider artwork on the side of a 22 Squadron Chance Vought Corsair on Bougainville, 1945. PR6950, ©RNZAF Official.

Via The FB page of the NZ Air Force Museum https://www.facebook.com/AirForceMuseumofNewZealand/

Gloster Gladiator at Sidi Barrani, Egypt -Squadron Leader P H "Paddy" Dunn, CO of 80 Squadron RAF IWM collection

IWM photos available for publication on non-commercial web sites;

"Squadron Leader P H "Paddy" Dunn, the Commanding Officer of No. 80 Squadron RAF, sitting in the cockpit of his Gloster Gladiator at Sidi Barrani, Egypt, a few days after leading 'B' and 'C' Flights in a major engagement with Italian fighters over Bir el Gobi, Libya, on 8 August 1940, in which they claimed nine Fiat CR.42s shot down for the loss of two Gladiators. Dunn himself was credited with two CR.42s shot down within a few minutes of the start of the fight." Source: IWM (CM 42)
The Italian biplanes were from IX and X Groups, 4° Stormo CT, commanded by Maj Romagnoli, the real losses were 4 shot down, 4 force landed and later recovered, 1 pilot killed.

Below;
Pilot Office S Linnard of No. 80 Squadron RAF, views the artwork on his Gloster Gladiator from the cockpit. at Sidi Barrani, Egypt, a few days after taking part in the same engagement.

ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA, 1939-1943.© IWM (CM 43)

Buccaneers and Sea Vixens Farnborough 1968

Simon's Sircus and Phoenix Five. 892 and 809 squadrons at Farnborough 1968. Click to view large (Frank Croom photo)

"Ritter vonTutschek" black Fokker Dr.1, Pflaz Doppeldecker D.III 1370/17 - daily Ebay photo find #41

Currently on offer via Manuel Rauh's Ebay sales - from the family of  Adolf  Ritter von Tutschek - the so-caled schwarzer Kampflieger of the JAGDSTAFFEL "BOELCKE" - JASTA 2

Vichy D.520s of GC III/6 en route to Syria May 1941 - daily Ebay photo find #40

Nice selection of Vichy machines en route to the Middle East in May 1941 seen on a stop-over on the island of Sicily. The fighter force sent to Syria with the agreement of the Germans comprised the yellow-tailed Dewoitine D.520s of GC III/6, the aircraft transiting via Italy and Greece to arrive at Rayak on 27 May 1941 after a 3,800 km journey from North Africa. GC III/6 was commanded by Cdt Geille while the pilot roster included ace S/Lt Pierre Le Gloan, who had already achieved notoriety with five claims in one sortie against the Italians on 15 June 1940. He would return seven air combat victories against the Allies in Syria. The British launched Operation Exporter on 8 June 1941, the D.520 fighters of GC III/6 coming under attack from Tomahawks of No 3 Squadron RAAF. Five D.520s were damaged and one set alight in their first 'action' of this campaign.

Below;  D.520 coded '33' seen in an official Bundesarchiv PK propaganda reporter photo in North Africa prior to the unit's transfer to Syria - note the outlined fuselage cocarde

For their journey to the Middle East the D.520s of GC III/6 were accompanied by four Potez 650 and one Farman 223 of GT II/15. The French force was held up in Athens for two days while en route to Syria due to the intense aerial activity resulting from operations against the island of Crete.

Below; Potez 650  no.15 " Adj-chef Renouard "of GT II/15 seen en route to Syria, May 1941. This particular machine was damaged in a strafing attack by Tomahawks on 26 June at Homs.

Images currently on offer here