Strana 44
P51B-10-NA, s/n 42-106462, Capt. John B. England, 362nd FS, 357th FG, 8th AF,
Leiston, Great Britain, June 1944
P51B-15-NA, s/n 43-24823, Lt. William B. Overstreet, 363rd FS, 357th FG, 8th AF,
Leiston, Great Britain, July 1944
The Mustang named U’ve Had It was assigned
to the 357th FG at the end of the first week
of March 1944 and became the personal aircraft
of Capt. John England. It was one of several
P-51Bs that received a hasty “half” camouf-
lage paint job on the upper fuselage and wings
in anticipation of operations from continen-
tal forward field airfields which ultimately did
not occur due to the Mustangs’ extraordinary
range and endurance. England flew the U’ve Had
It until June 1944, scoring three kills out of eight
achieved in P-51B cockpits. In July, he received
a new type, the P-51D. In all, England scored 19
kills during his wartime career, three of them in
cooperation. The Mustang U’ve Had It remained
with the 357th FG and was taken over by Eric
Wooley. Its fate was fulfilled on October 4, 1944,
when the tail section separated during a high-
-speed dive training flight and 2nd Lt. Richard
Potter had to bail out with great difficulty.
P-51B Mustang s/n 43-24283 was origina-
lly assigned to Bud Anderson as the third and
last P-51B he flew in combat. Like his previous
P-51s, this one was also named Old Crow. When
Anderson completed his tour with the 363rd
FS in July 1944, the aircraft was assigned to Lt.
William Overstreet. Overstreet had the name
Berlin Express painted on the left side of the
engine cowling and a drawing of a winged Mus-
tang horse in a circle on the right side of the
cowling. The identification letter was changed
from S to O. Bill Overstreet became particu-
larly famous for his story of chasing a German
Bf 109 through the arches of the Eiffel Tower.
The duel was supposed to have taken place
sometime in the spring of 1944, but it is ques-
tionable whether the passage through the Ei-
ffel Tower actually happened, nor is the exact
date of the duel known, there is no mention
in German records of such a strange event as
a fighter plane crashing into the streets of Paris.
Nevertheless, Overstreet was an aggressive and
capable pilot and, for example, on September 3,
1944, he took part in a top-secret mission in
which a remote-controlled four-engine bomber
attacked a heavily defended German submarine
base protected by cliffs. He subsequently flew
other secret missions in support of the French
Resistance, often landing behind enemy lines.
KITS 03/2025
INFO Eduard44
March 2025