Strana 55
42-46205, 47
th
FS, 15
th
FG, Hawaiian Islands, 1943/45
th
FS, Baker Atoll, December 1943
FR350, F/Lt James F. Edwards, No. 260 Squadron RAF, Castel Benito, Libya, January 1943
After the Japanese Pearl Harbor attack, the
Hawaiian Air Force was redesignated 7
th
Air
Force on February 5, 1942, and its fighter units
were kept on the islands to defend the territory
against further possible threats. As these never
occurred, pilots were losing their fighting
spirit and, as the airfields were surrounded by
pineapple plantations, the group had started to
be called the Pineapple Air Force. Nevertheless,
squadrons and detachments were sent to the
combat areas from 1943. This aircraft of 47
th
FS
was one of 13 P-40K sent from Hawaii early on
December 1943 to reinforce 45
th
FS, fighting
already from atolls Baker, Canton, Apamama or
Makin. This aircraft had its distinguishing color
bands around the aft fuselage overpainted with
Olive Drab and its rudder was changed for one
also in Olive Drab. At the time of embarking on
USS Breton, the red outline of insignias was
overpainted with insignia blue color. This option
is included in decals. The P-40Ks were not in
good shape and so were not too popular with
the pilots of 45
th
FS, who preferred their more
powerful P-40Ns.
James Francis Edwards was born on June 5,
1921, in Nokomis, Saskatchewan, and after
graduating from St Thomas College in 1940, he
volunteered for the RCAF. As a Sergeant he was
posted to No. 94 Squadron RAF in January 1942,
where he was flying P-40s. Hez achieved his
first aerial victory during his first operational
flight on March 23. In May, he was posted to
No. 260 Squadron RAF and had six victories by
September, when he was promoted to the rank
of Flight Lieutenant. At the start of 1943, “Stocky”
Edwards was already a Flight Commander and at
the end of his tour of duty in May 1943 his score
counted 17 victories. One of Edwards’ victims
was the famous Luftwaffe ace Otto Schulz
(51 victories), who was shot down by “Stocky”
on June 17, 1942. In November 1943, Edwards
was posted to No. 417 Sqn RCAF and then to
No. 92 Sqn RAF, where he flew Spitfires Mk. VIII.
He added three Fw 190s and one Bf 109 to his
score, three of them on a single day. At the
beginning of March 1944, he was posted to
No. 274 Sqn RAF, where he got a taste of Hawker
Tempest at the end of his tour. During his third
tour, he became Wing Commander of No. 127
RCAF Wing in 1945. “Stocky” Edwards finished
the war with a total of 373 operational sorties
without being shot down, he was credited with
19 aerial victories, two shared, 6.5 probable,
17 damaged and 12 destroyed on the ground.
He stayed with RCAF after the war and flew
Vampires, Sabres and CF-100s. He died on May
14, 2022, at the age of 100.
KITS 08/2026
INFO Eduard
55
August 2026