Markings for Sharks and Stallions 1/48
COL A
P-51B/C, Lt. Joshua D. Sanford, 75th FS, 23rd FG, China, 1944
The only native American serving in the ranks of the Flying Tigers was Joshua “Chief” Decorah Sanford, who was born on January 19, 1919, near Friendship, Wisconsin. His mother was of the Winnebago nation and his father of the Seneca nation. Joshua grew up in the Wisconsin communities of Hillsboro and Reedsburg. Enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1941, he joined the 75th Fighter Squadron, 23rd Fighter Group (the Flying Tigers) operating in the China-Burma-India Theatre. There he flew 102 combat missions between 1942 and 1945 in the cockpit of P-40s and P-51s. He was shot down or ditched 12 times (!) and was wounded twice. On the other hand, he accumulated 7 aerial victories and damaged several more enemy aircraft. The serial number of this Mustang is unknown, it was one of several Sanford was flying. The colors of the Indian head are unknown, so the appearance is our interpretation of B&W photos. Following the war, Sanford studied electronics and returned to Hillsboro, Wisconsin, to establish his own successful business. He passed away on October 21, 1962 at the age of 43 due to complications of his wartime wounds.
COL B
P-51C-10-NT, 44-11102, Capt. Raymond A. Crowell, 118th TRS, 23rd FG, China, 1944
Born in Massachusetts on May 24, 1921, Raymond Ashley Crowell was assigned to the 118th TRS in China in late June or early July 1944 following his flight training in the U.S. He joined combat operations at the end of July 1944 and moved with his unit as the front lines shifted. The unit initially operated from the Suichan base and, after being forced to abandon it due to a Japanese offensive in early 1945, it withdrew to the Chengkung base. The aircraft shown here lacked the yellow border on the black lightning bolt (the 118th TRS was nicknamed the “Black Lightnings”) and had a symbol indicating one aerial kill taped beneath the cockpit, even though Crowell has no officially confirmed kills. The lowercase letter “G” in the center of the pennant could stand for “Ground,” meaning an aircraft destroyed on the ground. Crowell had a number of ground targets to his credit, particularly trucks and military vehicles. In aerial combat, he usually provided cover for the squadron commander, Maj. (and later Lt. Col.) Edward O. McComas (14 victories). After Crowell returned home, 2nd Lt. Fred Poats took over this aircraft and renamed it, the “Duchess” inscription was painted over and replaced with “Lady Marion” in red. A Vargas illustration of a girl from the Esquire calendar was affixed to the sides of the fuselage and to the left landing gear cover. The illustration on the port side of the nose peeled off later, leaving only a silhouette from the adhesive. After the war, Raymond Crowell worked as a manager at the paper company Eastern Fine Papers. He died on December 26, 2014, at the age of 93.
COL C
P-51C, 42-103903, Lt. Lester L. Arasmith, 530th FS, 311th FG, China, 1944
Lester Leroy Arasmith was born on June 9, 1924 in St. Joseph, Missouri. Just two months after his 18th birthday, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve on August 5, 1942 and entered the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Army Air Forces on February 4, 1943. He graduated and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on December 5, 1943. He then underwent advanced fighter training in the Curtiss P-40 before transitioning to the North American P-51. In August 1944, he arrived in the CBI Theater and joined the 530th Fighter Squadron, part of the 311th Fighter Group. He began operations out of bases in Burma before the unit moved forward into China. Arasmith flew grueling dive-bombing, escort, and air defense missions and was credited with six aerial victories, the first one achieved on November 17, 1944 and the last one on March 24, 1945. He was one of only two pilots of 311th FG to achieve the Ace status while assigned to 14th AF. After WWII, Arasmith returned to active duty to serve as a fighter pilot in the Korean War (flying F-51 Mustangs and F-80 Shooting Stars) and later deployed as a Group Commander during the Vietnam War. Colonel Arasmith retired from the military in 1969 and passed away in 2019 at the age of 95. This Mustang was named "Penny" and was adorned with cutouts of Vargas girls from the famous Esquire calendar. Arasmith later named another Mustang as "Princess".
COL D
P-51B, 43-7058, Capt. Burton N. Rodier Jr., 26th FS, 51st FG, China 1944
Burton N. Rodier Jr. was born on September 8, 1920, in Los Angeles, California. A gifted student, he was accepted to the prestigious University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he decided to volunteer for military service. He enlisted in the USAAF, passed the rigorous military selection process, and successfully completed full pilot training. Thanks to his abilities and leadership potential, he was quickly promoted to the rank of Captain. He was deployed to the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater of operations, where he became a member of the 26th FS, which was part of the 51st FG of the 14th AF of the USAAF. This group was responsible for protecting key supply routes, conducting attacks on ground targets, and defending Chinese cities and Allied bases against Japanese air raids. Rodier named his Mustang, Army serial number 43-7058, “JEANNE III.” On September 5, 1944, Capt. Rodier was returning to his home airfield, Kunming Airdrome, in southern China. The area was experiencing adverse weather conditions with low cloud cover. The pilot likely lost his sense of direction in the thick clouds and crashed his Mustang at full speed into the Wai Chen Shan mountain range. He died three days before his 24th birthday. After the war, his remains were exhumed and returned to his homeland. Today, he is buried at the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, California. In China, his sacrifice is permanently commemorated at the official Memorial in Nanjing, which honors foreign pilots who fell defending the country.
COL E
P-40N, Lt. Fred F. Burgett, 25th FS, 51st FG, Yunnanyi, China, 1944
Fred F. Burgett was born on May 1, 1919, in Pennsylvania. At the start of the war, he joined the USAAF and successfully completed pilot training on fighter aircraft. He was subsequently assigned to the 25th FS, which was activated in California and moved to India in 1942. In 1944, Burgett and his unit operated directly from forward Chinese bases, primarily from the strategic Yunnanyi airfield (Yunnan Province). As a Warhawk pilot, he flew extremely dangerous missions over the Himalayas (The Hump). During these missions, he escorted transport planes, attacked ground targets and supply routes, and protected Allied bases from Japanese air attacks. His Warhawk bore the unit’s distinctive emblem: the snout of a saber-toothed tiger. The inscription “Sing Pao” translates roughly as “Star News.” The context is that Chinese communities, professional associations, and the editorial offices of major newspapers in China and overseas organized fundraisers to purchase fighter planes for the Chinese Air Force (CAF). The “Sing Pao” inscription on Burgett’s aircraft paid tribute to them. After the war, Burgett settled in the Decatur, Illinois, area and devoted himself to farming, among other things. He died on June 9, 2001.
COL F
P-40N-15, Capt. Raymond L. Callaway, 8th FS, 3rd FG, Liangshan, China, August 1944
Raymond Leonard Callaway was born on April 12, 1916, in the town of Granite Falls, Minnesota, and had already decided to pursue a career as a military pilot before the United States entered the war. He enrolled in the Air Cadet training program on April 25, 1941, and five days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he successfully completed his training at Foster Field in Texas. He was subsequently assigned to duty, initially within the United States. From December 1941 to August 1942, he served with the 56th FG at Mitchell Field in New York State. Flying P-36 Hawks and P-38 Lightnings, he patrolled the U.S. East Coast. He then served until June 1943 as an instructor with the 326th FG at Westover Field, Massachusetts, where he trained new pilots on the new P-47Ds. In the second half of 1943, he was deployed to the CBI Theater. In India, he initially trained Chinese pilots under the 8th FS as part of the 3rd FG of the Sino-American Composite Wing (CACW). From January 1944, he began flying combat missions directly over Chinese territory. By December 1944, he had scored six confirmed kills, with another credited as probable, and had also two damaged aircraft to his credit. His aircraft bore his wife’s name and was the second he had named in this way. Nothing is known about the fate of the original “Shirley” aircraft. After returning to the United States, he served until September 1945 as commander of the 399th FS at Stuttgart AAF in Arkansas. Shortly after Japan's surrender, he left active duty but served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve throughout the Cold War. He retired from military service on February 1, 1967, with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He died on February 19, 2005, at the age of 88.
COL G
P-40N-5, 88th FS, 80th FG, India, 1944
The 88th Fighter Squadron was part of the 80th Fighter Group, known by the famous nickname “Burma Banshees.” The name was derived from Celtic mythology, in which a banshee is a female spirit or fairy who appears near houses where someone is about to die, emitting a terrifying, heart-rending wail or shriek. Some pilots even mounted air sirens on their aircraft, which emitted a wailing sound during attacks to terrify enemy infantry. The group was part of the 10th Air Force. Its aircraft were adorned with large skull designs on the noses of their P-40s. There was no standardized design, the drawings differed from one to another, and their style varied by squadron. The entire 80th FG ensured air superiority in the region and protected strategic supply flights by transport aircraft traveling over the Himalayas (known as “The Hump”) from India to China. In September 1943, the 88th FG moved to Kilibari Airfield in India, from where it began combat operations. Later, as Allied forces advanced, it operated directly from forward operating bases in the Burmese jungle (e.g., Myitkyina). We were unable to identify the specific pilot of the aircraft shown here, but it is interesting not only for its elaborate skull design but also for the symbol beneath the cockpit—a hand with a raised middle finger. At the turn of 1944 and 1945, the pilots of the 80th FG switched to Thunderbolts, on which skull paintings were no longer used.
COL H
P-40N, Maj. Armit W. Lewis, 7th FS, 3rd FG, China 1944
Armit William “Bill” Lewis was born on February 4, 1921, in Shelbyville, Indiana. Immediately after tensions escalated in Europe, he decided to pursue a military career and voluntarily enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1940. After completing fighter pilot training, he was deployed to the Far East theater, where he became a key member of the 7th FS. He fought in the ranks of the Chinese-American Composite Wing. There, he carried out dangerous deep-penetration raids against Japanese forces, attacking supply lines, shipping, and enemy airfields in occupied China. On October 27, 1944, his aircraft’s engine failed during an aerial battle over the Kingmen airfield. Lewis parachuted deep behind enemy lines and spent the next 43 days evading Japanese patrols. With the help of Chinese guerrillas, he covered hundreds of kilometers of rugged terrain on foot before making his way back to Allied territory. He remained in the Air Force even after Japan’s surrender and held a series of command and staff positions. He concluded his active military career after 31 long years of service, retiring with the rank of colonel. He died on August 9, 2010, in Colorado Springs. His P-40N was named “House Mouse” and bore symbols of destroyed ground targets on its port side, along with symbols indicating one and a half aerial victories.