Page 37
P-51D-5, 44-13316, Maj. Leonard K. Carson, 362nd FS, 357th FG, USAAF Station 373 Leiston, Suffolk,
Great Britain, June 1944
P-51D-15, 44-15152, Maj. Donald J. Strait, 361st FS, 365th FG, United Kingdom,
February 1945
The second top scoring Fighter Group of the 8th
USAAF and the top scoring FG equipped with
P-51D Mustangs was 357th FG, credited with
609 German aircraft destroyed in the air and
106 on the ground, with their own losses of 128
aircraft. Altogether 35 aces served with the
unit. The most successful of them was Major
Leonard Kyle “Kit” Carson with 18 aerial victories.
He became 362nd FS CO on April 8, 1945. The key
to the success of the unit was its fighting academy,
called Clobber College, where the experienced
pilots taught the newcomers the fighting tactics.
The 362nd FS received their P-51Ds just
a few days before D-day. Most of the unit’s early
Mustangs had upper surfaces camouflaged Dark
Green with Neutral Grey bottom surfaces, or Dark
Green upper surfaces over the aluminum/natural
metal bottom surfaces with border between
green and NMF surfaces high on fuselage sides.
The colors were probably RAF paints from RAF
stock. The “Nooky Booky II” wore full D-day
stripes, as the aircraft was delivered to the unit
probably around June 6, 1944. The previous name
of this plane was “Mildred”.
Donald Jackson Strait was born on April 28, 1918,
in East Orange, new Jersey. He was a baseball
player during high school studies, but also was
interested in aviation. He took the bother to ride
his bicycle eight miles (13 km) to observe flying
aircraft and speak to pilots at the Caldwell Wright
Airport. He enlisted with the New Jersey National
Guard in 1940 and flew observation planes as
member of the 119th Observer Squadron prior
to entering US Army’s aviation cadet program
in 1942. He completed his training in March 1943
as a pilot of P-47 Thunderbolt and was assigned
to combat duty in England. He became member
of the 356th FG and flew his first operational
missions in October 1943 with P-47 he named
“Jersey Jerk”. He later gave the same rather
unflattering name to his Mustangs. From October
1944 he led 361st Squadron and continued in that
role for the rest of the war. Altogether he flew
122 missions and achieved 13,5 aerial victories.
Later after the war, in 1968, he was hired by
Fairchild- Republic company as an expert for the
development of A-10 Thunderbolt II. He passed
away on March 30, 2015.
KITS 08/2024
INFO Eduard
37
August 2024