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P-39Q-5, 42-19896, Lt. William W. Gambill, 363rd FS, 357th FG, 8th AF,
Oroville CA, USA, autumn 1943
P-39Q-5, 42-20043, 70th FS, 347th FG, 13th AF, Torokina airfield, Bougainville,
Solomon Islands, autumn 1943
The 363rd FS was established in December
1942 at Hamilton Field, California. The aircraft
on which the unit’s pilots trained were factory-
fresh P-39Q Airacobras. In the fall of 1943, the
357th Fighter Group, of which the 363rd Fighter
Squadron was a part, moved to the United
Kingdom, where it was the first Fighter Group to
be armed with P-51 Mustangs, versions B and C.
These were used by the 8th AF to fly escort flights
for the Bomber Command over occupied Europe.
In a raid on Berlin on March 8, 1944, Gambill’s
Mustang was shot down by Messerschmitts
Bf 109 near Mehringen. Lt. Gambill was killed
during the British night raid on Frankfurt on the
night of March 22 to 23, 1944, when the Dulag
Luft (Durchgangslager der Luftwaffe; Luftwaffe
transit camp) was also hit. The standard
Airacobra camouflage in the Olive Drab / Neutral
Grey color combination was supplemented with
red tail surfaces and a red stripe on the nose
during training for the 363rd FS. The unit emblem
was painted on the cockpit door.
The 70th FS was formed on December 14, 1940, and
was ordered to Philippines on December 5, 1941.
Due to the fall of Philippines the unit deployment
did not take place and the unit got shortly stuck
in Hawaii. Another stopover before the combat
deployment was Fiji where the unit transferred in
the end of January 1942 equipped with Bells P-39
Airacobra. Since November 1942 until the spring
of 1944 when the combat activities ceased, the
70th FS operated in Solomon Islands area within
347th FG and was credited with over 50 enemy
aircraft destroyed in the air-to-air combat.
The unit’s equipment changed from the most
popular P-38 Lightnings in the first half of 1943
to P-39s and P-40s for the rest of the deployment
period. Since the end of 1943, the 70th FS operated
from Torokina airfield and kept Bell P-39 in its
inventory until April 1944. The missions flown
were bomber escorts, defense of the home
base and most frequently the ground attacks.
Airacobra “SNAFU” was delivered to the combat
zone in the end of summer 1943. The original
marking was in the form of the large numeral
6 on both fuselage sides in front of the cockpit
door. Later the marking was relocated to the
aircraft nose and changed to numeral 106.
49238 P-39Q/N (PE
-
Set)
FE919 P-39 seatbelts STEEL (PE
-
Set)
FE1158 P-39Q Weekend (PE
-
Set)
644098 P-39Q LööK (Brassin)
644110 P-39Q LööKplus (Brassin)
648203 P-39 wheels late (Brassin)
648957 P-39 seat PRINT (Brassin)
648958 P-39 exhaust stacks fishtail PRINT (Brassin)
648959 P-39 exhaust stacks rounded PRINT (Brassin)
3DL48012 P-39Q SPACE (3D Decal Set)
D48068 P-39 stencils (Decal Set)
Recommended:
for P-39Q 1/48
#644098
#648957
#648958
KITS 09/2024
INFO Eduard
63
September 2024