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44-13317, Capt. Donald R. Emerson, 336th FS, 4th FG, 8th AF, USAAF Station 356 Debden,
Essex, Great Britain, September 1944
44-13597, Lt. William E. Fowler, 487th FS, 352nd FG, 8th AF, USAAF Station 141 Bodney,
Norfolk, Great Britain, September 1944
The 4th FG was nicknamed Debden Eagles thanks
to its home base and origins, as it was formed
from RAF Eagle squadron (71st, 121st and 133rd
squadrons). After the incorporation into 8th AF
the squadrons were re-named to 334th FS, 335th
FS and 336th FS. As of April 1, 1943, their Spitfires
were replaced by P-47s and in February 1944
these were changed for P-51s. Donald Emerson
joined the ranks of 4th Fighter Group on March 9,
1944 and during the following eight months of duty
he flew 89 sorties during which he was credited
with 4½ enemy aircraft shot down. On December
25, 1944, he perished returning from the bomber
escort mission when he spotted six Bf 109s.
During the ensuing combat he descended close
to the terrain and was hit by the anti-aircraft fire
over the front. Pilot was probably killed, and his
aircraft crashed nearby the town of Sittard in The
Netherlands. However, he had managed to shoot
down two of his opponents. Capt. Emerson had the
port side of his Mustang decorated with boxing
Donald Duck in resemblance to his first name.
There were seven kill markings painted under
the windshield. From the beginning of September,
the invasion stripes on the upper wings and
fuselage sides surfaces of the allied aircraft
were deleted and left on the lower surfaces only.
Lt. Col. John C. Meyer, acting CO of the 487th FS
and the ace credited with 37½ destroyed enemy
aircraft, claimed four of his 24 aerial victories
in cockpit of this aircraft on September 11, 1944.
Stardust was originally a personal aircraft of Lt.
William E. Fowler, nicknamed “Flaps”, who ended
his combat tour just three days before Meyer’s
four-victory raid. The Stardust was then assigned
to Lt. Jack “Moose” Landrum, who renamed
it “Moose”. He was shot down and killed on
October 24, 1944, while strafing near to Hannover.
The 352nd Fighter Group, based at USAAF Station
Bodney, was fourth most successful FG of the 8th
USAAF with 519 enemy planes destroyed in the
air and 287 on the ground with 119 losses of their
own. All three squadrons painted noses of their
Mustangs with blue color. In September 1944,
the paint of the noses was changed from Medium
Blue to the Dark Blue, which remained the
Group’s color until end of the War. Note the light
area over the fuselage national insignia of the
Stardust, which is clear natural metal surface
after the invasion stripes on the upper surfaces
were washed off.
INFO Eduard64
January 2024