Strana 10
56th FG
Zemke‘s Wolfpack
The 56th FG was established as the 56th Pursuit Group even
before the US entered the war, on November 20, 1940, making
it the oldest part of the 65th FW. A little more than six months
before its transfer to the European theater of war at the turn
of 1942/43, it replaced the original P-39 and P-40 with the P-47.
With these, it entered combat in April 1943 and very quickly
gained a great reputation. We mentioned that the previous unit,
the 4th FG, was the most successful unit of the 8th AF in terms
of the total number of enemy aircraft destroyed – both in the
air and on the ground. However, if we were to apply such sta-
tistics only to aerial victories, the 56th FG would take the lead.
This fact is all the more remarkable given that all these victories
were achieved exclusively with the P-47. Despite its many qual-
ities, the P-47 did not have the characteristics that would make
it the best American ghter aircraft on the battleeld. It was
therefore not the aircraft that won air superiority for the Allies
over continental Europe. That aircraft was, of course, the P-51
Mustang.
The 56th FG moved between several bases in England (Kings
Clie, Horsham St Faith, Halesworth) before settling permanent-
ly in Boxted in April 1944.
The distinguishing feature of the 56th FG’s Thunderbolts
was the red color of the front part of the engine cowling, which
replaced the original white color. With its red nose, the unit
matched the color scheme of the 4th FG’s Mustangs from the
same ghter wing. In this case, however, given the character-
istics of both aircraft types, there was no danger of misidenti-
cation.
The color scheme of the rudders from the end of 1944 also
aected the 56th FG. Its 61st FS received red, the 62nd FS yellow,
and the 63rd FS received blue rudders.
This P-47, nicknamed “In The Mood,” illustrates the
original appearance of the 56th FG‘s Thunderbolts.
Capt. Hubert Zemke in the cockpit of a P-40 at Michel Field, NY.
In September 1942, he became the commander and driving force
behind the 56th FG, one of the most successful American ghter
units of World War II. Zemke remained at the command of the unit
until August 12, 1944, when he took command of the 479th FG.
When he was forced to bail out of his aircraft on October 30, 1944,
due to structural damage, and was taken prisoner, he had 17.75
conrmed kills to his credit.
HISTORY
INFO Eduard10
April 2026