John Leroy Armstrong

Military
media-22827.jpeg UPL 22827 Major John Leroy Anthony 79FS, 20FG, 8AF. Post war, killed when his North American Aviation F-86H-1-NA Sabre, 52-1998 which he had flown to a record speed two days before, flew apart with him on a subsequent record chasing flight 5th Sept 1954,

Object Number - UPL 22827 - Major John Leroy Anthony 79FS, 20FG, 8AF. Post war, killed when his North American Aviation F-86H-1-NA Sabre, 52-1998 which he had flown to a record...

Assigned to 79FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF. Credited 1 x Fw190 destroyed. Failed to Return (FTR) strafing mission to Bad Kreuznach, left formation in P-51D 'Guardian Angel' 44-13791 trailing white smoke and baled out. 28-Aug-44. Pilot 1st Lt John L Armstrong POW. MACR 8303.



Awards: AM (5 OLC), DFC, POW, WWII Victory, EAME.



Post War: Remained in USAF. At the Dayton Air Show 3-Sep-54, being held at the James M Cox Municipal Airport, he flew his North American Aviation F-86H-1-NA Sabre, 52-1998, to a World Speed Record over a 500 kilometer course, averaging 649.461 miles per hour. He died two days later when his plane broke apart in flight while attempting to set another record.

Connections

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Units served with

Aircraft

The burning wreck of a P-38 Lightning (serial number 42-67490) of the 496th Fighter Training Group.
  • Aircraft Type: P-38 Lightning
  • Unit: 20th Fighter Group 495th Fighter Training Group 496th Fighter Training Group 552nd Fighter Squadron 554th Fighter Training Squadron 79th Fighter Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
  • Nicknames: Okie Bloke IV Guardian Angel
  • Unit: 20th Fighter Group 79th Fighter Squadron

Places

Prisoners of war, including Colonel Hubert Zemke of the 479th Fighter Group at Stalag Luft I.
  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Stalag Luft I, Barth, Germany

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Orange County, CA, USA 19 July 1922 Son of Milton Williams and Olive M [Meyer] Armstrong.

Other

Crashed

North Killingholme, Immingham DN40, UK 13 March 1944 Crashed Belly Landing out of fuel North Willingholme Cat 3 damage, pilot Lt John L Armstrong, 13-Mar-44. 554FTS 496FTG 8AF.

Other

Assigned

King's Cliffe, Peterborough PE8, UK 26 March 1944 - 28 August 1944 Assigned to 79FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF.

Other

Promotion

King's Cliffe, Peterborough PE8, UK 26 June 1944 Promoted to 1st Lieutenant.

Other

Baled Out POW

55758 Bruchweiler, Germany 28 August 1944 Failed to Return (FTR) strafing mission to Bad Kreuznach, left formation trailing white smoke and baled out. 28-Aug-44. Pilot 1st Lt John L Armstrong POW. MACR 8303.

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

Barth, Germany 28 August 1944 Prisoner of War (POW). Held at Stalag Luft I.

Other

Crashed

Victorville, CA, USA 28 February 1946 Ground Loop Victorville AAF CA Cat 3 damage, pilot Lt John L Armstrong, 28-Feb-46, AT-6D 42-84338 4196AAFBU

Other

Crashed

Clinton County Port Authority, 1113 Airport Rd, Wilmington, OH 45177, USA 4 April 1949 Landing Accident Clinton Country Airport, OH Cat 3 damage, pilot Lt John L Armstrong, 4-Apr-49. TF-80C 48-919 27AW

Other

Crashed

Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, USA 21 May 1953 Weather related Accident 55 miles NE of Wright-Patterson AFB, OH Cat 2 damage, pilot Lt John L Armstrong, 21-May-53. 530521 EF-86D 50-477 Ftr Mx Section Flt Ops Branch Wright-Patterson AFB, OH ARDC

Other

Crashed

Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, USA 25 November 1953 Explosion 20 miles SW of Wright-Patterson AFB, OH Cat 3 damage, pilot Lt John L Armstrong, 25-Nov-53. EF-89C 51-5761 Ftr Maint Sec Flt Ops Branch

Died

Tipp City, OH, USA 5 September 1954 Died when his plane F-86H-1-NA Sabre, 52-1998 broke apart in attempt at record flight. Crashed 1 mile East Tipp City, Ohio.
Los Angeles, California

Buried

Fullerton, CA, USA Loma Vista Memorial Park Fullerton Orange County California, USA.

Revisions

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 8303 / MACR 8303, King's Cliffe Memorial Edition / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list

John Leroy Armstrong: Gallery (1 items)