Strana 31
P-51B-5-NA, s/n 43-6819, Capt. Duane W. Beeson, 334
th
FS, 4
th
FG, 8
th
AF, Debden,
United Kingdom, March–April 1944
P-51B-10-NA, s/n 42-106448, Capt. Henry W. Brown, 354
th
FS, 355
th
FG, 8
th
AF,
Steeple Morden, United Kingdom, June 1944
Duane Willard Beeson was one of only ten pilots
to achieve fighter ace status within the USAAF
with two different types of aircraft. In his case,
these were the P-47 and the P-51. He scored
a total of 17.3 kills, 12 of which were achieved
with the P-47C/D and 5.3 with the P-51B. The
Idaho native, like many others, did not meet
the Air Force requirement of at least two years
of college, so he enlisted in the Canadian Air
Force, which accepted him into its ranks on
January 23, 1941. After moving to England, he
retrained as a Hurricane and was assigned to
No. 71 Squadron at Debden on September 5, 1942.
After the formation of the 4
th
FG with the Eagle
Squadrons as a base, Beeson flew with the
334
th
FS and achieved his first kill on May 18,
1943. After flying 80 missions, he became B
Flight Commander and was assigned his first
P-51B, which he named Bee, on February 28,
1944. On April 5, he first achieved one third of
the Ju 88 shoot-down near Brandenburg but
then was hit by flak and captured. Shortly after
the war he was diagnosed with a brain tumor
and died prior to a surgery aged 25.
“Baby” Brown was a fighter ace with 14.2 kills,
damaging three other aircraft. On the ground
he destroyed 14.5 and damaged 10. He achieved
four wins with the Thunderbolt, the others on
the Mustang. He became the 355
th
FG’s fifth ace
fighter on April 24, 1944, and by May 13, he even
held the status of the most successful fighter of
the entire group. Returning from leave, he then
became the most successful fighter of the entire
8
th
Air Force in late August after destroying
eight aircraft on the ground and seven in the
air in a 30-day period. Further increases in his
score were halted by a German flak hit that
forced Brown to make an emergency landing on
enemy soil on 3 October 1944. His commander,
Maj. Chuck Lenfest (5.5 kills), landed nearby to
rescue him, but his Mustang bogged down in the
mud and both pilots eventually fell into captivity.
He remained in the service after the war and
led the F-111 development program at Nellis
AFB. Later he was commander of the 48
th
TFW
and deputy commander of operations for the
7
th
AF during the Vietnam War. He retired in 1974
and died on 19 February 2008 at the age of 85.
KITS 08/2026
INFO Eduard
31
August 2026