AIRCRAFT OF THE BATTLE OF NORMANDY
“The Bottisham Four” four P-51B and D Mustangs of the 361st Fighter Group in August 1944 - one of the most iconic photos of the Eighth Air Force
Last month there were several requests posted by readers to see some of the models I make. Since there weren’t any photos illustrating the Battle of Normandy post, I am posting some photos of models of the airplanes flown by pilots of both sides mentioned in the article.
This is posted for everyone, hoping some free subscribers will consider upgrading their status so they can read the articles.
The 357th Group’s Captain Bud Anderson flew P-51B Mustang “Old Crow” (named for the whiskey).
The Fourth Fighter Group’s Lieutenant Ralph Hofer flew P-51B Mustang “Salem Representative”
The 357th’s Lt Colonel Tommy Hayes flew P-51D “Frenesi,” named for the song
The 352nd’sMajor George Preddy flew P-51D “Cripes A’Mighty 3rd” (his favorite exclamation)
“Snafu” A “razorback” P-47D Thunderbolt from the 78th Fighter Group
Lt Colonel Ben Mayo, CO of the 78th group’s 83rd squadron, flew “bubbletop” P-47D “No Guts - No Glory!”
353rd Fighter Group XO Lt Colonel Bill Bailey flew “bubbletop” P-47D “Butch II”
Lt Colonel Francis Gabreski, CO of the 56th Group’s 61st Fighter Squadron, flew this un-named P-47D
JG 26 Kommodore Josef “Pips” Priller flew this Fw-190A-8 on his famous “Longest Day” mission.
The models are all 1/48 scale. At this period of the war, P-47s and P-51s were being delivered from the factories unpainted. The groups adopted their own camouflage, which was almost a group identification marking as were the noses in group markings.
As a paid subscriber, you can read the complete 1944 series that is available only to paid subscribers - iot’
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Comments are for paid subscribers.
How interesting that even the painting of these planes identified the different groups. As a child during WW2 I learned to identify the various fighter and bomber planes of Canada and many of the US too, I could also identify all the fleet ships sailing up the St. Lawrence River to the Atlantic to join the war. Funny because today I can't even identify the makes and models of cars
Nice to see some more of your great models - of course I have been following you on Modeling Madness since Harrison Ford was young..... :-) Good show - some day I may do Tom Christian's P-51D in its rainbow array, a very interesting kluge of a couple of painting orders according to Dana Bell.....