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P-51B-5-NA, s/n 43-6425, Maj. Jack T. Bradley, CO 353rd FS, 354th FG,
9th AF, A.2 Criqueville, France, June 1944
P-51B-10-NA, s/n 42-106647, Capt. John R. Brown Jr., 382nd FS, 363rd FG,
9th AF, Staplehurst, Great Britain, June 1944
Jack Bradley became an Army pilot with the rank
of 2ndLt on August 27, 1942, and was assigned
to the 384th FG/353rd FS on January 18 the
following year. After moving to England, he
achieved his first kill out of 15 confirmed (plus
three probable and 12.66 damaged) on December
20. With “Margie Maru” carrying code FT B, he
achieved his first success on December 30, when
he contributed a third of the damage to Do 217.
Bradley was promoted to Captain in mid-January
and took command of the 353rd FS at the end
of the month. He kept the position until June 30,
when he left for the USA for leave and took the
post again on his return. He subsequently served
as deputy CO of the 354th FG and at the end of
the war, already at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel,
became the CO. After the war he stayed with the
Air Force, retiring from the Reserves in December
1962. His Margie Maru is shown in a state where it
bore the symbols of 15 kills, the invasion stripes
on the fuselage were painted very carelessly.
The aircraft was subsequently given the
designation FT W and the name “Edgewood’s
Entry”.
Prior to the combat, John Brown had managed to
destroy four aircraft and damage one in various
accidents, so he claimed himself to be only three-
fifths of an aircraft away from becoming a Luftwaffe
ace. He flew successively in the 356 FG and 362 FG,
both with P-47s, then briefly became commander
of the 382nd FS/363 FG, flying the P-51B. He was
shot down with his “Big Mac” on August 8, 1944,
while leading a formation of eight P-51s in an
attack on ships in Bedonet Harbor. It was his 99th
mission. He made an emergency landing near
Quimper after being hit by flak from a destroyer
but managed to escape capture and slip back to
the Allies within a week. He subsequently became
commander of the 437th FS/414 FG, with which he
moved to Guam, where he flew P-47Ns. After the
war, he became an air attaché in Afghanistan and
Pakistan, and completed a secret mission in the
USSR. During his wartime career, he scored one
aerial kill, destroyed four enemy aircraft on the
ground, and damaged eight.
KITS 05/2024
INFO Eduard50
May 2024