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P-51D-15, 44-15041,
flown by Lt Col. John
C. Meyer, 352nd FG,
8th AF, Y-29 Asch,
Belgium, December
1944
Brooklyn native John Charles Meyer
finished flight training on July 26th,
1940 at the age of 21, after which
he was assigned to the 33rd PS on
Iceland, a unit that was tasked with
convoy escort duties, flying the P-40.
After his return to the States, he was
named the CO of the newly formed
487th FS, which had undergone
conversion training onto the P-47 and
in June 1943 was transferred to United
Kingdom, from where they performed
escort missions for four engined heavy
bombers over continental Europe.
In April of 1944, the unit was rearmed
with the Mustang, and the number of
kills attributed to Major Meyer began
to rise. In November 1944, he was
named Deputy Commander of the
352nd FG, to which his own 487th FS
was subordinate. Under his command,
the 352nd FG was relocated to the
forward base at Asch in Belgium. On
January 1st, the Luftwaffe conducted
a raid on this base, and Meyer was
able to get his unit in the air to counter
the raid, claiming a pair of Fw 190s in
the process. These would be the last
two kills that he would achieve during
the war, because on January 4th, he
suffered a major fracture of his left
leg, the treatment of which required
his return to the United States. After
the war, John Mayer remained in
the military, and took part in combat
in Korea, and in Vietnam he led the
Linebacker II campaign. Over the
course of the Second World War, he
shot down 24 enemy aircraft, and he
added another two during the Korean
War. He retired a General as the head
of the Strategic Air Command. He
passed away as the result of a heart
attack on December 2nd, 1975.
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P-51D Mustang
built by Paolo Portuesi
#82102
MARKING C
BUILT
INFO Eduard116
July 2024