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P-51B-5-NA, 43-6461, 1/Lt Wilson K. Baker Jr, 370th FS, 359th FG, 8th AF, East Waltham,
United Kingdom, August 1944
P-51B-10-NA, 42-106501, Col. Charles McCorckle, CO of 31st FG, 15th AF, San Severo,
Italy, July 1944
The Mustang with the red “Hot Pants” inscription
was one of three P-51Bs that landed in
Sweden on August 4, 1944, while escorting
a B-24 against Peenemünde. This was due to
a cooling system failure on Division Commander
Raymond Lancaster’s aircraft on the return flight,
forcing him to fly towards Sweden, where he
subsequently made an emergency landing. Along
the way, two other Mustangs followed to protect
him and ensure he made it to Sweden without
incident. When escort pilots saw that Lancaster
had reached the Swedish coast, they made their
way to England. Over Denmark, however, they
encountered a German Messerschmitt Bf 110G,
which was radar-guided towards the Mustangs,
believing it to be an American bomber, not two
fighters in close formation. The German aircraft
was therefore attacked and shot down by
2/Lt Wilson Kirby Baker, Jr. flying a P-51B called
“Hot Pants”. After the dogfight, both pilots realized
that they had used so much fuel that they would
have difficulty reaching England soil. Wilson
Baker and Richard Rabb were interned at Mullsjö
and sent back to England on November 1, 1944.
On April 9, 1945, “Hot Pants” was sold to the
Swedish Royal Air Force and was assigned the
registration number 26002. However, it is almost
certain that the aircraft was never painted in
Swedish colors and was never flown. Instead,
it served as a spare parts stock for other
Mustangs and was scrapped on June 16, 1947.
As a fighter pilot in World War II, Charles “Sandy”
McCorkle commanded fighter groups in two
theaters of war. He was one of only seventeen
American pilots to achieve ace status flying the
British Spitfire. In 1942, at age 27, he became the
youngest colonel in the Army Air Corps. Charles
McCorkle was born in Newton, North Carolina
in 1915. He was accepted to the U.S. Military
Academy in 1932 and graduated in June 1936.
A year later he graduated from the Advanced
Flying School at Kelly Field, Texas, and was
assigned as a fighter pilot to the 24th Pursuit
Squadron. At the beginning of World War II,
he was transferred to the 54th Fighter Group
(P-39) at Harding Field and Alaska. He assumed
command of the 54th Fighter Group on June 3,
1942. In July 1943, McCorkle assumed command
of the 31st Fighter Group (flying Spitfires and later
P-51s) in Sicily. He participated in the air actions
during the landings at Salerno and Anzio, fighter
support of air attacks in Italy and Central Europe,
and other typical missions assigned to fighter
units during this period. When he returned to the
United States and received a new assignment as
Chief of Staff of First Fighter Command at Mitchel
Field, he was credited with eleven victories, five
of them were achieved with Mk. VIII Spitfires and
six with P-51Bs.
KITS 08/2024
INFO Eduard44
August 2024