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MUSTANGS IN THE BATTLE OF NORMANDY

Once SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) assumed operational control of all air forces in England at the beginning of April 1944, Air Chief Marshal Tedder, second in command of the invasion force to General Eisenhower, placed himself in overall command of air operations. He directed Eighth Air Force to concentrate its missions against the rail transportation system in Germany, Holland, Belgium and France in the weeks leading up to D-Day.

Adapted from “Clean Sweep: VIII Fighter Adapted from “Clean Sweep: VIII Fighter
Command Against the Luftwaffe - 1942-45"Command Against the Luftwaffe - 1942-45"
Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
P-51Bs and P-51Ds of the 361st Fighter Group ready
for takeoff on D
-
Day, June 6, 1944. (USAF Official)
MUSTANGS
IN THE BATTLE
OF NORMANDY
Once SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) assumed
operational control of all air forces in England at the beginning of April 1944,
Air Chief Marshal Tedder, second in command of the invasion force to General
Eisenhower, placed himself in overall command of air operations. He directed
Eighth Air Force to concentrate its missions against the rail transportation system
in Germany, Holland, Belgium and France in the weeks leading up to D
-
Day.
April also saw Eighth Air Force commander
General Doolittle's decision to standardize VIII
Fighter Command on the Mustang, re-equipping
the groups equipped with P-47s and P-38s as
P-51s were delivered and became available.
Priority was given to re-equipping the Lightning
groups, due to the airplane’s poor record in the
command.
On April 8, when the Fourth Fighter Group’s
score was 296, Don Blakeslee set a goal of 500
destroyed by May 1, a good indication of how
fast the air war was now moving, since the
Fourth only had a score of 100 over 18 months of
combat at the end of January. The Eagles outdid
their leader’s challenge, with credits for 207
destroyed in the air and on the ground by April 30,
for a total score of 503, passing their long-time
rivals the Wolfpack to become to top-scoring
fighter group in the Eighth Air Force.
Following an epic party on the base the night
of April 30, the Fourth was still able to provide
escort on May 1 to Saarbrucken. John Godfrey,
now promoted to flight leader in his own right
and no longer in Gentile’s shadow, led his flight
after a gaggle of 12 Bf 109s he spotted below.
He chased one to low altitude where he hit the
engine solidly and the pilot bailed out to give him
his 14th aerial victory. Ralph Hofer scored his
tenth victory when his enemy pilot bailed out so
close ahead of him that
“I could see his uniform
and his black boots in the sun.”
Two other pilots
also scored off this group of enemy fighters.
The Fourth didn’t score again for a week.
HISTORY
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