Transition to P-51s

During the latter part of September, North American P-51D Mustangs arrived at Raydon, and the three squadrons began converting to this type of fighter airplane.

Generally, the Mustang was warmly welcomed for its greater range and maneuverability, but there were pilots who were none too happy to be losing the trusty Thunderbolt, which could take more damage than any other fighter in the war and still return home. Such skepticism had a basis, but other values were of great importance as has been pointed out by Colonel Bailey:

“Although all were aware of the vulnerabilities of the P-51’s coolant system, the maneuverability and range of the aircraft were the determining factor (for its acceptance). It was said that it took a very experienced P-47 pilot to hold his own with an Me 109 in a personal dog fight with even a mediocre German pilot, but even the most inexperienced pilot in a P-51 could do well against any Me 109. In short, with the P-51 our pilots had more confidence in air to air combat and actually became more aggressive.”

The first 353rd Mustang mission was an escort to B-17s on October 2. Major Junttila led 42 P-47s into the air and Col. Rimerman led 16 P-51s, 12 from the 350th and 4 from the 352nd Squadron. This was the only mixed mission flown by the Group, as all future missions would be flown by just one type.

The first all-Mustang mission came on October 3rd with Col. Rimerman leading 34 P-51s into the air to escort B-17s to the Nuremberg area. The same day also saw a P-47 mission, 24 planes led by Maj. LeFebre, escorting B-17s to Mayen.

(Further P-47 missions were flown by small numbers of Thunderbolts from all three squadrons and were missions number 313, 315 and 317 as B Group escorting heavies, and special missions number 329, 330, 332, 336 and 340.

The last P-47 mission, number 340, was led by Capt. Jordan with 9 planes taking off and two aborting. This was an escort to one B-17 and one B-24 on a test mission to the vicinity of Aachen.

The mission was flown uneventfully, and at 1845 on November 10th, 1944, the last Thunderbolts to fly a mission in 353rd black and yellow checkered cowls returned to Raydon.)

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