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some resistance since it would have broken the estab-
lished rules according to which the new units arriving
in ETO had the priority to convert to P-51. Blakeslee’s
eort did not bring fruits even after he was promoted
to command the whole 4th FG on January 1, 1944. The
VIII. Fighter Command was afraid of the interruption of
the operational ying which the conversion to the new
type would have caused. Don Blakeslee’s negotiations
with VIII. FC commander nally resulted in authorizing
P-51 deliveries to the 4th FG under the condition that
the pilots had to convert to them within 24 hour i.e.
without the interruption in ying the combat missions.
Lt. Col. Blakeslee approached this unusual condition in
a way contradicting the standard procedures-he told
his pilots that they could familiarize themselves with
the new type during the actual combat mission! This
took place on February 28, 1944. Some pilots in the
units in fact did not log more than one hour on P-51.
Barely a week later Don Blakeslee, already a Colonel,
became the rst American aviator who reached Ber-
lin area while leading the escort of the „Big Brotheres“
over „Big B“.
He also led larger formations in the consequent op-
erations. The most crucial was commanding the ghter
escort on the mission Frantic I.- longhaul ight of the
8th USAAF bombers and ghter to Soviet Union, fur-
ther to Italy and back to the Great Britain during June
21-May 7, 1944. During this mission Col. Blakeslee also
scored his last aerial victory when on July 2, 1944 he
shot down a Bf 109 in Budapest area. His nal score
was 14.5/3/11.
After a leave in the USA during September and October
1944, having spent three and half years away, Blakeslee
returned to the combat ying. Oddly it was stopped
by the loss of another outstanding pilot, Hub Zemke,
56th FG leader on October 30, 1944. Gen. Kepner, VIII.
FC commanding ocer decided to „ground“ Blakeslee
reasoning that the Air Force cannot aord to loose an-
other commander of such caliber. On November 4, 1944
Col. Blakeslee handed over the command of the 4th FG
and several days later set on his journey back to the
United States. His incredible career spanned the past
four years starting with bumpy entry into RCAF, ser-
vice in the RAF and all the way up to the post of one of
the most respected ghter commanders the USAAF in
Europe ever had. He logged 500 combat missions and
more than 1000 ight hours. It was said that he had his
administration ocers record some of his combat mis-
sions as training ights not to reach the combat tour
quota too soon. He spent the rest of the war „tucked
away“ as a commander of Page Field base in Florida.
He remained in the Air Force after the war and for ex-
ample commanded the 31st FG and 27th Fighter Escort
Wing ying P-82 Twin Mustan in the Pacic. After that
he served two tours witha the occupational forces in
Germany and one in Korea where he served at the Tac-
tical Air Command headquarters. He served in various
commanding posts, primarily 17th Air Force until April
30, 1965 when he retired.
Col. Donald J. Blakeslee in cockpit
of his early P-51B, 43-6337.
Col. Donald J. Blakeslee received the DFC from Gener-
al Eisenhower. On Blakeslee’s right shoulder is one of
his successful ghter pilots, Capt. Dominic S. Gentile.
The same Mustang with Col. Blakeslee in cockpit just
after return from the Group’s trip over Berlin on
March 3, 1944. This very rst presence of US Fight-
ers over the German capital was without bombers,
who must scrub the mission due to weather.
INFO Eduard40
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