Strana 39
Although with 14.5 conrmed kills Donald Blakeslee
does not rank among the top American ghter aces of
the the WWII he was a remarkable pilot and respect-
ed commander. Love for the airplanes accompanied
his life since the childhood. In his desire to learn how
to y in the end of 30s, together with his friend he
bought Piper J-3 Cub which he leased to the local avi-
ation club in exchange for the pilot training. After the
crash of his Cub in 1940 Blakeslee sought other oppor-
tunities to continue ying. The only nancially feasibly
option seemed to be to enlist into the Air Corps. How-
ever, there was an obstacle on the path of the young
pilot. Since he did not meet the eduacational require-
ments he was denied the access to the cadet course
in the USA so he was able to join RCAF instead. After
the training in Canada he was dispatched to the Great
Britain where he arrived in the middle of May 1941.
He ew his rst combat mission as a member of the 401
Squadron RCAF and enjoyed his rst combat success on
November 18, 1941 when he damaged a Bf 109 in the
Tourqueet area. After a short stint with 121 Squadron
he left for the squadron numbered 133 where all the
American volunteers gathered and where he became
a ight leader. On September 29, 1942 he left the RAF
service and with the rank of Captain joined the USAAF
where his home squadron became a part of the newly
formed 4th Fighter Group.
This move also meant exchanging the trusty Spit-
res Mk. V for P-47s. From the end of November 1942
till the middle of May 1943 Don Blakeslee acted as the
335th FS commander and later became the Operations
Ocer of the whole ghter group. In the course of his
service he was gradually promoted up to the rank of
Lt.Colonel (July 7, 1943) and increased both his person-
al score (in 1943 it stood at 5 conrmed kills, 2 prob-
ables and 7 enemy aircraft damaged) and his leader-
ship experience above all. At this stage of his career
he also accomplished one of his extraordinary feats-he
became the rst P-47 pilot in the world to shoot down
an enemy aircraft. In December 1943 he was posted
to 354th FG in order to facilitate their accomodation
in the ETO (European Theater of Operation). The unit
ew new P-51B and Blakeslee immediately fell in love
with it. After returning to 4th FG he started to lobby for
its re-equippment with Mustangs. His eort met quite
Col. Donald J. M. Blakeslee
The rst Mustang that Lt. Col. Donald J. M. Blakeslee
used to lead his men across the continent was an ear-
ly B-5 in olive drab with no personal markings, a fea-
ture also found on Blakeslee’s later aircraft. As the
4th Fighter Group’s distinctive red nose identication
markings had not yet been applied, the aircraft bears
only a white nose and a white stripe on the engine
cowling. These were initially used as a quick identi-
cation marking for Mustangs in the European Theatre
of Operations. Blakeslee began his combat career in
1941 with the RAF’s Eagle Squadrons, before transition-
ing to the 4th FG. He nally commanded the 4th FG
from January to November 1944. He ew Spitres, P-47
Thunderbolts and, eventually, P-51s, completing over
400 combat missions — an extraordinary achievement
on the European battleeld. He was ocially credit-
ed with 14.5 aerial victories (some sources cite 15.5).
Thanks to his aggressive yet prudent tactics and lead-
ership, the 4th Fighter Group became one of the most
renowned of the 8th Air Force.
P-51B-5-NA, s/n 43-6437, Lt.Col. Donald J. M. Blakeslee, CO 4th FG, 8th AF, Debden, March 1944
INFO Eduard
39
Srpen 2026