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Commanding officers of Fighter Groups of the 8th Air Force, 1944.
Printed caption on reverse: 'FORMAL PORTRAIT: They are, left to right, front row:
Hub Zemke, 479th Grp,
Roy Caviness, 361st Grp,
Dave Schilling, 56th Grp,
Everett Stewart, 355th Grp,
Ben Rimerman, 353rd Grp,
John Henry, 339th Grp,
Tod Crowell, 55th Grp.

REAR:
James Mayden, 352nd Grp,
WH Swanson, Unk,
Joe McManus, 364th Grp,
Claiborne Kinnard, 4th Grp,
Philip Tukey, 356th Grp.
Fred Gray, 78th Grp,
Don Graham, 357th Grp.
Date is unknown but it has to be from late August 1944 no later than 30 oct when Hub [Zemke] became a POW. On 12 Aug, Hub went to 479th and Dave Schilling took over 56th. Don Graham gave up 357th on 10 Oct, so it has to be before that. Missing are COs from 20th (Col Harold Rau, and 359th, Colonels Jacon or Randolph.) Now, one would guess that they were not available and maybe their deputy comdr sat in for them, whic would mean Swanson or Crowell. However, neither man is on the 30th Grp rosters (I have complete one) and I cannot find either name anywhere in the records. So that will remains a mystery for now. I have not used any ranks, but all would be Lt Col or Colonel. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do trying to solve these 50 plus year old mysteries!! PS Forgot to mention, I do not know location. I have a note that it might have been Bottisham, but I don't know where I got that.'

Handwritten caption on reverse: 'Bushey Hall Library.'

IWM catalogue record

This contains information written on the back of the original print and some of it may be inaccurate.

Commanding officers of Fighter Groups of the 8th Air Force, 1944. Printed caption on reverse: 'FORMAL PORTRAIT: They are, left to right, front row: Hub Zemke, 479th Grp, Roy Caviness, 361st Grp, Dave Schilling, 56th Grp, Everett Stewart, 355th Grp, Ben Rimermann, 353rd Grp, John Henry, 339th Grp, GT Crowell, Unk. REAR: James Maydon, 352nd Grp, WH Swanson, Unk, Joe McManus, 364th Grp, Calirborn Kinnard, 4th Grp, Philip Tukey, 356th Grp. Fred Gray, 78th Grp, Don Graham, 357th Grp. Date is unknown but it has to be from late August 1944 no later than 30 oct when Hub [Zemke] became a POW. On 12 Aug, Hub went to 479th and Dave Schilling took over 56th. Don Graham gave up 357th on 10 Oct, so it has to be before that. Missing are COs from 20th (Col Harold Rau, and 359th, Colonels Jacon or Randolph.) Now, one would guess that they were not available and maybe their deputy comdr sat in for them, whic would mean Swanson or Crowell. However, neither man is on the 30th Grp roseters (I have complete one) and I cannot find either name anywhere in the records. So that will remains a mystery for now. I have not used any ranks, but all would be Lt Col or Colonel. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do trying to solve these 50 plus year old mysteries!! PS Forgot to mention, I do not know location. I have a note that it might have been Bottisham, but I don't know where I got that.' Handwritten caption on reverseL 'Bushey Hall Library.'

Connections

Units

  • 8th Air Force

    8th Air Force


    Eighth Air Force Bomber Command became the Eighth Air Force on February 1944, it oversaw bombardment of strategic targets in Europe until 1945. ...

  • 55th Fighter Group

    55th Fighter Group

    Group
    The 55th Fighter Group were the first P-38 Lightning Group to go fully operational from England. The pilots flew long-range escort missions for bombers flying over occupied Europe and racked up 'kills' of their own by destroying enemy aircraft in...

People

  • Roy Caviness

    Military | Colonel | Pilot - Group Commanding Officer
    Assigned to 376FS, 361FG, 8AF USAAF. Re-assigned to HQ Sqn, 361FG, 8AF USAAF. Ended Tour Duty (ETD). Transferred to HQ Sqn, 78FG, 8AF USAAF. Credited 14 x kills. Awards: WWII Victory, EAME, UN and Korean medals.

  • George Crowell

    Military | Colonel | Fighter pilot
    Assigned to HQ Sqn, 55FG, 8AF USAAF. Ended Tour Duty (ETD). Awards: DFC, AM (4OLC), WWII Victory, EAME.

  • Donald Graham

    Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Fighter Pilot; Group Commander
    Don Graham served as a pilot with the 357th Fighter Group.

  • Frederic Gray

    Military | Brigadier General | Commanding Officer
    Frederic C. Gray was born in 1911 near Palestine, Texas. He attended Rising Star High School and graduated in 1931 from Abilene Christian College with a bachelor of arts degree. ...

  • John Henry

    Military | Colonel | Fighter Pilot
    John B Henry served as a pilot with the 339th Fighter Group. He flew P-51 'San Antone Rose'. Completed tour of duty April 11, 1945. ...

  • Claiborne Kinnard

    Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Commanding Officer, Pilot
    Colonel Kinnard, already a much decorated fighter pilot, came to the 4th Fighter Group in September 1944 from his former position as Group Commander of the 355th Fighter Group. He was appointed Deputy Group Commander, reporting to Lt. James Clark,...

  • James Mayden

    Military | Colonel | Fighter Pilot
    James Mayden served as a pilot with the 352nd Fighter Group. Victories: 2 air/4 ground

  • Joseph McManus

    Military | Colonel | Deputy Commanding Officer
    Joseph McManus served as a pilot with the 364th Fighter Group. On 15 July 1942, his P-38 came down on ice cap on eastern side of Greenland while ferrying between BW8 and Iceland. Incident occured with 6 P-38s. McManus was the only pilot to land with...

  • Benjamin Rimerman

    Military | Colonel | Fighter pilot, Commanding Officer
    Colonel Ben Rimerman fought a long war with the 353rd Fighter Group. He commanded the 350th FS from October '42 until November '43 and was CO of the 353rd FG from 7 July '44 until 22 April '45. In the air he scored 4.5 confirmed and one unconfirmed...

  • David Schilling

    Military | Colonel | Pilot; Commanding Officer; Assistant Director Intelligence
    Schilling flew P-47 Thunderbolts and was one of the leading aces of the war. He was Commanding Officer of the 56th Fighter Group between August 1944 and January 1945, taking over from Colonel Hubert A Zemke. ...

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Locations

  • Bushey Hall

    Military site : non-airfield
    Requisitioned in 1942 and handed over to the Eighth Air Force later that year; USAAF used it as the Headquarters VIIIth Fighter Command due to its proximity to RAF Fighter Command headquarters at Bentley Priory. After the Berlin Airlift (1948-49) it...

Edit entry 

Collection name
Roger Freeman Collection
Object number
FRE 10014

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
29 July 2018 22:38:50 shabbyabbey Changes to unit associations
Sources

55th FG Records
Date Contributor Update
29 July 2018 22:37:46 shabbyabbey Changes to caption
Sources

55th FG Records
Date Contributor Update
24 June 2015 18:34:07 Lucy May Changes to caption, person associations and place associations
Sources

Associated airmen from information in the image caption.
Date Contributor Update
02 February 2015 10:00:22 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

IWM, Roger Freeman Collection

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