Joseph Bradley McManus

Military
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 media-456986.jpg FRE 10014 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.' Roger Freeman Collection

55th FG Records

Object Number - FRE 10014 - Commanding officers of Fighter Groups of the 8th Air Force, 1944. Printed caption on reverse: 'FORMAL PORTRAIT: They are, left to right, front row:...

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 wheels down.



DFC/ AM w/ 3 Oak Leaf Cluster



2 ground, 1 probable air

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Units served with

Places

Aerial photography of Honington airfield looking south, the technical site with four C-type hangars and bomb dump are at the top, 21 June 1946. Photograph taken by No. 540 Squadron, sortie number RAF/106G/UK/1589. English Heritage (RAF Photography).
  • Site type: Airfield
  • Known as: RAF Honington

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 3 May 1918
Drexel Hill, Upper Darby, PA, USA Exact dates not yet known

Revisions

Date
ContributorLucy May
Changes
Sources

Combined two entries for Joseph McManus into a single entry. This entry now includes information from the following source:
Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Who's Who in the Eighth Air Force and/or Biographical Directory Command & Staff Officers Eighth Air Force 1942-45, Losees of the 8th and 9th AF by Bishop and Hey p. 20

Joseph Bradley McManus: Gallery (1 items)