Strana 45
P-51B/C, Lt. Joshua D. Sanford, 75
th
FS, 23
rd
FG, China, 1944
P-51C-10-NT, 44-11102, Capt. Raymond A. Crowell, 118
th
TRS, 23
rd
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 75
th
Fighter Squadron, 23
rd
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.
Born in Massachusetts on May 24, 1921,
Raymond Ashley Crowell was assigned to the
118
th
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 118
th
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, 2
nd
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.
KITS 09/2026
INFO Eduard
45
September 2026