Military
First Lieutenant James O Patton Jr of the 78th Fighter Group, being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross at Duxford c. June 1944.
RAF Issue Type C flying helmet worn by First Lieutenant James Orin Patton Jr of the 78th Fighter Group, 1944
Type A-14 Oxygen Mask worn by First Lieutenant James Orin Patton Jr of the 78th Fighter Group, 1944
James 'Jimmy' Patton Jr was born in 1922 in Birmingham Alabama. He was attending Birmingham Southern College and working for the Continental Gin Company when he enlisted in the US Army Air Forces in June 1942. After completing his flight training at Spencer Army airfield in Georgia, Patton was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and assigned to the 84th Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group, based at Duxford on 26 January 1944. From 7 May to 10 June 1944 Patton undertook a temporary assignment with the 5th Emergency Rescue Squadron at Boxted, and received a promotion to First Lieutenant upon his return to Duxford. Patton was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 13 May 1944, and received an oak leaf cluster on 26 August 1944, he also received the Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters during his service. Patton ended his tour of duty on 1 September 1944, upon his return to the US he married Dorothy Garrett on 28 October 1944. Following the war, Patton obtained an electrical engineering degree from the University of Alabama and served in the US Air Force Reserve, he was closely associated with his local scout troop and taught Sunday school at Bluff Park United Methodist Church. Patton retired as Chief Engineer from the American Cast Iron Pipe Company (ACIPO) in 1987, he died on 14 February 2006.
Group
The 78th Fighter Group was initially based at Goxhill but moved to Duxford in April 1943 and stayed there until October 1945. The 78th FG flew each of the three US built principal fighters of the AAF in the ETO. In their Thundetbolts, the 78th FG ...
Squadron
Squadron
Military site : airfield
Boxted was built for heavy bombers and became operational from May 1943. In the few months B-26 Marauders of the 386th Bomb Group were stationed there, there were two night attacks by the Luftwaffe. On 17 August 1943, one man was killed when bombs...
Military site : airfield
RAF Duxford, now a museum and still a working airfield, was operated by the USAAF from 1943 to 1945. The base was briefly the home of the 350th Fighter Group in late 1942, but it was not until April 1943 that it became a fully American station when the...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Bimingham, Alabama | 14 June 1922 |
| Enlisted | 1942 | |
| Assigned to 78th Fighter Group | Duxford | 26 January 1944 – 7 May 1944 |
| Assigned to 5th Emergency Rescue Squadron | Boxted | 7 May 1944 – 10 June 1944 |
| Assigned to 78th Fighter Group | Duxford | 10 June 1944 – 1 September 1944 |
| Died | 14 February 2006 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 26 November 2021 09:13:26 | Emily | Changes to surname, middlename, suffix, role, biography, awards, events and place associations |
| Sources | ||
Marriage notice in the Birmingham News, 22 October 1944, via newspapers.com, Draft Registration Card via Ancestry, and Obituary |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 16 August 2017 10:21:17 | general ira snapsorter | Changes to suffix and events |
| Sources | ||
Merged with duplicate entry to include details from: |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:14:48 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list |
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