Strana 45
P-51B-7-NA, s/n 43-6964, 1st. Lt. James H. Clark, 382nd FS, 363rd FG, 9th AF,
Maupertus, France, July 1944
P-51B-1-NA, s/n 43-12434, Capt. Richard Turner, CO 356th FS, 354th FG,
9th AF, Lashenden, Great Britain, May 1944
The very colorful Mustang that was flown by
James Clark had probably its wings replaced.
The new ones came from another P-51 and
did not carry camouflage paint. Where it was
planned to apply invasion stripes prior to D-
-Day, a base camouflage paint in the shade Olive
Drab / Neutral Grey was applied to the wing and
the invasion stripes were subsequently painted.
Lt. James Clark flew 70 missions during the war,
including escorting gliders on the D
-
Day Nor-
mandy landings. He achieved a total of five kills.
He married a girl named Marjorie, and it was her
nickname, Midge, that he painted on the nose of
his Mustang.
The Mustang named Short-Fuse-Sallee was as-
signed to Dick Turner in December 1943. Turner
scored eight aerial victories with it between
January 5 and April 11, 1944, plus 1.5 aircraft de-
stroyed on the ground. This made him one of the
most successful pilots in the 356th FS. In March
1944, Turner’s Mustang was one of the first in
the 356th FS to receive a new cockpit canopy
called the Malcom Hood. In late May 1944, to
the chagrin of Turner himself, Short-Fuse-
-Sallee was turned over to the 369th FS, which
at the time was changing to P-51 Mustangs
from the P-47 Thunderbolts. Here the aircraft
was assigned to Charles Stanley and renamed
Dunquerque. Stanley flew 74 missions (300
hours) with it, but unlike Richard Turner, failed
to achieve any confirmed kills, although he was
credited with damaging ten enemy aircraft du-
ring escort missions. Upon Stanley’s return to
the US in August 1944, the Mustang was handed
over to Thomas Burr, who flew it until he rece-
ived a P-51D.
KITS 03/2025
INFO Eduard
45
March 2025