At the beginning of 1944 the character of 7th PG missions changed.
The shuttle flights between British bases and bases in Italy were
implemented. The first shuttle mission was flown by Maj. Norris
Hartwell on January 29, 1944 in F-5 Lightning. As the invasion date
was approaching the combat activity intensified and number of sorties increased dramatically. Reconnaissance missions were flown
along the whole Atlantic coast from the Spanish border all the way
up to Norway. To confuse the German Command the most activity
was conducted in the Pas de Calais area. One of the most famous
reconnaissance flights was performed by Capt. Walter Weitner after
the first USAAF large scale raid on Berlin on March 6, 1944. Weitner’s Mk. XI „High Lady“ landed from the mission with only a few
drops of fuel left in the tanks. On March 8, after the second USAAF
raid on Berlin, this mission was repeated by Lt. Charles Parker. He
however ran out of fuel earlier and had to land at RAF base Bradwell Bay on the England’s east coast. Both pilots cruised at the
altitude of 41 000 feet.
In order to provide high quality aerial reconnaissance before and
during the Invasion in February 1944 the supreme commander of
the Allied Expeditionary Corps General Eisenhower established the
8th Reconnaissance Wing (Provisional) and 7th PG was integrated
into it. 8th RW command was given to Col. Elliot Roosewelt, one
of four sons of the president Franklin D. Roosewelt. Col. Roosewelt
pioneered the aircraft transportation from the US to Europe by air.
He also commanded 3rd PG and later in the Mediterranean the
Mediterranean Allied Photographic Reconnaissance Command. In
the beginning of March 1944 the 8th RW was transferred under 9th
AF command and redesigned as 325th RW, still commanded by Col.
Roosewelt.
Even after the Invasion 7th PG provided the strategic reconnaissance for all important Allied operations. During the war the unit
flew 4 251 missions and took more than 3 million photographs. It
was disbanded on November 21, 1945. Spitfires Mk. XI remained in
7th PG service until the end of war. The sported the camouflage in
PRU Blue on all surfaces. Later in 1945 part of the Spitfire flew in
natural metal finish.
Fighter Airplane Range Extension Program
One of the most important tasks of the Allied technicians and designers during the WWII was to develop an escort fighter aircraft
with sufficient range to escort the heavy bombers on their whole
flight route to the target and back. Until January 1944 the USAAF relied on P-38 Lightning. The winner of the USAAF Fighter Airplane Range Extension Program was unexpectedly P-51B Mustang.
Before that however General Arnold had requested the evaluation
of Spitfire Mk. IX range extention. Since 1942 RAF operated the
high altitude photo-reconnaissance Spitfire Mk. XI with amazing
range of 2 200 km but was not interested in the development of
the long-range escort fighter version. USAAF technicians at Wright
Field base in Dayton, Ohio modified two Spitfires Mk.IX by install-
ing the fuel tanks in all available airframe spaces and added two
underwing drop tanks. The result was 2 560 km range. General Arnold wanted to demonstrate the Spitfire’s range potential to the
RAF and therefore, in May 1943 dispatched these two airplanes
across the Atlantic, from Dayton, Ohio to Boscombe Down in England. The flight was routed through Goose Bay in Labrador, Bluie
West 8 in Greenland, Keflavik in Iceland and Prestwick in Scottland.
B-25 Mitchell was to navigate and escort the formation. One of the
Spitfires suffered the engine malfunction right after the take off
and was forced to return. The pilot of the second Spitfire MK210,
Lt.Col. Gustav Lundquist and the crew of the escorting Mitchell
therefore waited for this aircraft at Bluie West 8 base in Greenland.
Lundquist and his mechanic Peta were killing the time by painting
the large nose art on MK210 in the form of naked lady making the
phone call, supposedly to RAF Headquarters to await the arrival
of those long range Spitfires. The lady was named Tolly which was
Lundquist wife’s name. What Mrs. Lundquist had to say about this
remains unknown but at any rate these two airmen created one of
the most attractive and colorful Spitfire nose arts of all times. And
as it was said earlier, the winner finally became rather underestimated Mustang launching its unstoppable career, forever recorded
in the world‘s aviation history.
Before the conclusion US NAVY one more time
Tolly Lundquist could have concluded our story about American
Spitfires if only US NAVY had not flown one Seafire LF Mk. IIc for
comparison tests with new Grumman F8F Bearcat. The tests were
conducted at US NAVY Naval Air Test Station Patuxent River in 1944
and Bearcat surpassed Seafire in all tested parameters. And that is
really the end of our story.
SOURCES:
HOLMES T.: American Eagles, Volume 1: American Volunteer Fighter Pilots in the RAF, 1937-43
LUDWIG P., LAIRD M.: American Spitfire camouflage and markings Part 1 & 2
McAULAY L.: Spitfire Ace 1941-45: The Flying Career of Squadron Leader Tony Gaze DFC. Amazon Kindle edition
OLYNYK F.: STARS AND BARS: A tribute to the American Fighter Ace 1920-1973
PRIEN J.: Geschichte des Jagdgeschwaders 77, Teil 3
SHORES C., WILLIAMS C.: ACES HIGH
SHORES C., MASSIMELLO G., GUEST R., OLYNYK F., BOCK W.: A History of the Mediterranean Air
War, 1940–1945: Tunisia and the End in Africa, November 1942–1943
THOMAS A.: American Spitfire Aces of World War 2
WILSSON S.: Almost Unknown - The Story of Squadron Leader Tony Gaze OAM DFC
OLYNYK F.: STARS AND BARS: A tribute to the American Fighter Ace 1920-1973
SHORES Christopher, WILLIAMS Clive: Aces High
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_campaign_of_World_War_II
acesofww2.com/USA/aces/gentile/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton_Knight_Committee
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schweinfurt%E2%80%93Regensburg_mission
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Schweinfurt_raid
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_Bomber_Offensive
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointblank_directive
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton_Knight
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Berlin_(RAF_campaign)
veterantributes.org/
www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jan/08/obituary-colonel-don-blakeslee
valor.militarytimes.com/hero/6028
Spitfire Mk.IX, MK210,
Lt. Col. Gustav E. Lundquist,
Blue West 8, Greenland, May 1943
INFO Eduard - August 2021
eduard
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