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79th Fighter Squadron

Squadron

  • 20th Fighter Group Unit History, complete copy Resembling a college yearbook, unit histories were an unofficial – and often tongue-in-cheek – record of the unit’s time based in the UK. They include photo montages showing different aspects of base life. Often the servicemen in the photos are unnamed. The American Air Museum hopes that by adding unit histories to the website as individual pages, the men in the photos will be identified and associated to their person entries. Many included lists of personnel and a mailing address, providing a means for servicemen to keep in contact with each other after the war. These lists are now incredibly useful records of where US airmen in England in 1945 called their home.

    20th Fighter Group Unit History, complete copy Resembling a college yearbook, unit histories were an unofficial – and often tongue-in-cheek – record of the unit’s time based in the UK. They include photo montages showing different aspects of base life. Often the servicemen in the photos are unnamed. The American Air Museum hopes that by adding unit histories to the website as individual pages, the men in the photos will be identified and associated to their person entries. Many included lists of personnel and a mailing address, providing a means for servicemen to keep in contact with each other after the war. These lists are now incredibly useful records of where US airmen in England in 1945 called their home.

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  • P-51D-5-NA #44-13660

    P-51D-5-NA #44-13660 "Panty Waste" Code: MC-B 20th FG - 79th FS Pilot - Kenneth A. Skinner on the right

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  • 1st Lt Lynn P Bishop 79FS, 20FG, 8AF. Photo shows him as an aviation cadet.

    1st Lt Lynn P Bishop 79FS, 20FG, 8AF. Photo shows him as an aviation cadet.

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  • Lt. Colonel Robert J Meyer, pilot, and ground crew of the North American P-51D Mustang

    Lt. Colonel Robert J Meyer, pilot, and ground crew of the North American P-51D Mustang "Bob Cat V" of the 20th Fighter Group in England. NARA Ref 342-FH-3A12261-B66809AC.

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  • Lt Harold O 'Hal' Binkley 79th FS P-51D 44-13855 MC-J

    Lt Harold O 'Hal' Binkley 79th FS P-51D 44-13855 MC-J "O'sage Chief" and ground crew.

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  • Lt. Harold O Binkley, pilot and ground crew of the North American P-51 Mustang 'Osage Chief' of the 20th Fighter Group in England. NARA Ref 342-FH-3A12271-66813AC.

    Lt. Harold O Binkley, pilot and ground crew of the North American P-51 Mustang 'Osage Chief' of the 20th Fighter Group in England. NARA Ref 342-FH-3A12271-66813AC.

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  • Lt Col Harold J Rau, commander of the 20th Fighter Group with his P-51D 44-14337

    Lt Col Harold J Rau, commander of the 20th Fighter Group with his P-51D 44-14337 "Gentle Annie" (coded MC-R). Also his dog and mascot Honey. NARA Ref 342-FH-3A45742-55929AC.

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  • Lt Arthur Heiden, pilot, T/Sgt Max Pyles, Sgt Clyde Birdwell And Sgt Isadore Jaffe, ground crew members, beside the Lockheed P-38 'Lucky Lady' of the 20th Fighter Group In England. NARA Ref 342-FH-3A12282-A66816AC.

    Lt Arthur Heiden, pilot, T/Sgt Max Pyles, Sgt Clyde Birdwell And Sgt Isadore Jaffe, ground crew members, beside the Lockheed P-38 'Lucky Lady' of the 20th Fighter Group In England. NARA Ref 342-FH-3A12282-A66816AC.

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  • Lt. Arthur W Heiden [ Burton, NE ] 79th Fighter Squadron. P-38J 42-104086 MC-H

    Lt. Arthur W Heiden [ Burton, NE ] 79th Fighter Squadron. P-38J 42-104086 MC-H "Lucky Lady". Art seen shaking hands with crew chief T/Sgt. Max Pyles. Other crew members are Sgt John Cavalier (rad), S/Sgt Clyde Birdwell (a.c.c.) and Sgt Charles Fink (arm).

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  • Major Rufus 'R C' Franklin, pilot, and ground crew members beside the Lockheed P-38J Lightning

    Major Rufus 'R C' Franklin, pilot, and ground crew members beside the Lockheed P-38J Lightning "Strictly Stellas' Baby" of the 20th Fighter Group In England. (L to R:) Jim Cavalier, Isadore Jaffe, R C Franklin, Max Pyles (Crew Chief,) Charles Fink.

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Structure

Part of
  • 20th Fighter Group

    20th Fighter Group

    Group
    In August 1943, the 20th Fighter Group arrived in Clyde, Scotland, before travelling to Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire, which was to be their base for the rest of the war. The Group flew 312 missions before their last mission on 25 April 1945. The...

Encompassing
Not yet known
Previously was
Not yet known
Became
Not yet known

Stations

Station Location Date
Based Kings Cliffe

Connections

People

  • James Adams

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Ground Crew | 20th Fighter Group

  • Brooks Allen

    Military | First Lieutenant | Fighter Pilot | 20th Fighter Group
    Assigned to 79FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF. End of war.

  • John Allen

    Military | First Lieutenant | Fighter Pilot | 20th Fighter Group
    Assigned to 61st FS, 56th FG on 1 November 1944 and transferred to 79th FS, 20th FG on 28th September 1945.

  • DeLynn Anderson

    Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Fighter Pilot 1055 single engine/Squadron Commander | 20th Fighter Group
    Commanding Officer 79th FS 20th FG March 6, 1943 - Sept 27, 1944 ...

  • Earl Anderson

    Military | Colonel | Fighter Pilot | 20th Fighter Group
    Assigned to 79FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF. End of War. ...

  • Wayne Anderson

    Military | Private First Class | Parachute Technician | 20th Fighter Group

  • William Anderson

    Military | Captain | Fighter Pilot-1055 single engine | 20th Fighter Group
    William Yngve Anderson (June 28, 1921 – May 9, 2011) was a Swedish American fighter ace of World War II with seven official victories in Europe, flying P-51 Mustang fighters in the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF). He was born in Kramfors, Sweden. ...

  • Neal Archer

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Fighter Pilot | 20th Fighter Group
    Assigned to 79FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF. On his third mission he was attacked and shot down by seven Me109's on bomber escort mission to Northern France in P-38 42-67760 14-Jan-44. Crashed near Louviers. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 1855. Awards: PH.

  • John Armstrong

    Military | Major | Fighter Pilot | 20th Fighter Group
    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...

  • James Baine

    Military | Corporal | Motor Pool | 20th Fighter Group

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Aircraft

  • 42-104086 'Strictly Stella's Baby' ' Lucky Lady'

    P-38 Lightning
    Assigned to 79FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF. Personal aircraft of Major Rufus C Franklin. Re-assigned to Lt Arthur W Heiden when 'R C' was moved to HQ. Transferred to 402FS, 370FG, 9AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) armed recce to Malmedy, hit by flak whilst...

  • 42-104289

    P-38 Lightning

  • 42-104308 'Bob Cat III'

    P-38 Lightning
    Assigned to 79FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) France in with 2Lt Emery K Ryan, crashed near Marcelcave, France 17-Jun-44 Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 6244 / MACR 6608

  • 42-67039

    P-38 Lightning
    P-38H-5-LO 42-67039 was assigned to 20FG/79FS at Kings Cliffe, UK. On 7-Nov-43 the aircraft, piloted by CPT Herbert W. Cumming, was flown to Nuthampstead to join with other P-38s from 55FG on a mission to escort B-26 bombers of 9th Air Force in an...

  • 42-67187

    P-38 Lightning

  • 42-67251

    P-38 Lightning

  • 42-67306

    P-38 Lightning

  • 42-67515 Wilda

    P-38 Lightning

  • 42-67516

    P-38 Lightning

  • 42-67646 'Kentucky Kernel'

    P-38 Lightning
    Assigned to 79FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF. Personal aircraft of Major DeLynn Anderson. Failed to Return (FTR) bomber escort to Brunswick. Shot down Devanter, Holland Lt Mack D Fall baled out POW. 30-Jan-44. MACR 2102.

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Citations

None

Air Force
8th
Type
Combat
Type category
Fighter
Nicknames
Not yet known
Motto
Not yet known
Insignia
Not yet known

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
13 March 2015 16:53:19 rossingtonj Changes to type
Sources

Type added.
Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:42:51 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / Units in the UK from ETOUSA Station List, as transcribed by Lt. Col. Philip Grinton (US Army, Retired) and extracted by IWM; air division data from L.D. Underwood, based on the 8th Air Force Strength Report of 6th August 1944, as published in 'The 8th Air Force Yearbook' by Lt. Col. John H Woolnough (1980)

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