Gerald Johnson Dix
Military
USAAF Photo
Object Number - UPL 53453 - 1st Lt Gerald Johnson Dix, 355FG.
Shot down 8-Jun-44 in P-51B 43-7164. Prisoner of War (POW). He entered the AAF in 1940. Flew over 60 x combat missions in New Guinea. He went on to fly 70 x missions in Europe including the longest combat flight ever made by a single engine fighter from England to Poland and back.
He was shot at on several occasions survived a bullet on D-Day, crash landed on one of his missions in Europe and became a Prisoner of War (POW) for 11 months.
Awards: SS, DFC (3OLC), AM (3OLC), BSM, PH, WWII Victory, EAME (3 x Battle Stars).
Post war: He became a full Colonel at the age of 27, was a Base Cmdr at Shaw AFB and later was an advisor to both the Royal Hellenic AF in Greece and to the Colorado Air National Guard in Denver.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Headquarters
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Unit: 355th Fighter Group 4th Fighter Group 335th Fighter Squadron 358th Fighter Squadron
Places
![P-51 Mustangs of the 355th Fighter Group break formation, ready for landing, over the ground support vehicles and control tower of Steeple Morden Airfield. Image signed on reverse with the approval of station censor. Handwritten caption on reverse: '355 FG Steeple Morden, Control Tower, read crew + P41 [sic] group peeling off for landing.'](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-377141.jpg.webp?itok=zxxvSLfB)
- Site type: Airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Sullivan County, IN, USA | 30 October 1917 | Son of Porter J and Roxie [Johnson] Dix. |
|
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Frankfurt, Germany | 8 June 1944 | Prisoner of War (POW). Aviliar Prison in Frankfurt, Germany. |
|
Other Shot down |
Bordeaux, France | 8 June 1944 | Shot down on rodeo to Bourdeux, France. After strafing a train, engine showed signs of failure, belly landed P-51B 43-7164. 8-June-44. Prisoner of War (POW). |
|
Died |
Sumter County, SC, USA | 20 March 2011 | |
|
Buried |
Evergreen Memorial Park Sumter Sumter County SC | 23 March 2011 | Evergreen Memorial Park Sumter Sumter County South Carolina, USA. |
|
Other Promotion |
Steeple Morden, Royston, Cambridgeshire SG8, UK | Promoted to Major. | |
|
Enlisted |
Indiana, USA | Indiana |
Revisions
Merged with duplicate entry to include details from:
- MACR 5750;
- Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
1996 355TH FG Assoc. Directory; Who's Who in the Eighth Air Force and/or Biographical Directory Command & Staff Officers Eighth Air Force 1942-45; MACR 5750 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list
