media-376954.jpg FRE 60 Pilots of the 79th Fighter Squadron, 20th Fighter Group, stand around a map at Kings Cliffe air base before mission over northern France, October 1943. L to R: First Lieutenant Merle B. Nichols, Seattle, Wash.; Major Nathaniel H. Blanton, Earlsboro, Oklahoma and First Lieutenant Richard P. Gatterdam, Columbus, Ohio. Censor has drawn lines across the map. Each of these pilots went on to command one of the squadrons of the 20th Fighter Group. Gatterdam commanded the 55th Fighter Squadron, Nichols the 77th and Blanton the 79th. Printed caption attached to print: 'Lightnings Attack Northern France. Versatile P-38 Lightnings, flashing their power across the English Channel for the first time in a combat role, bring new serial phase into the European Theatre of Operations. Well-trained pilots - some of them already experienced in the other theatres of war - and ground crews swear by their ships. From briefing room to flying line, from runways to skyways and contest with the enemy, each mission represents expert planning by Operations and Intelligence and the brains and sweat of every man who prepares an order or tightens a screw on a prop. Photo shows:- 1st Lt. Merle B. Nichols, Seattle, Wash.; Major Nathaniel H. Blanton, Earlsboro, Oklahoma and 1st Lt. Richard P. Gatterdam, Columbus, Ohio. U.S. Pool/SG/H. Keystone 81.' Roger Freeman Collection

IWM, Roger Freeman Collection