Strana 89
BUILT
1/Lt. Arthur A Bridge, 45th FS, 15th FG, Makin Atoll, Gilbert Islands, December 1943
The traditional home of the 15th FG was the
Hawaiian Islands, where it was activated on
December 1, 1940, and served as part of the
Hawaiian Islands defense system. During the
war, however, it sent its individual squadrons
to various locations in the central and southern
Pacific. The Warhawks of the 45th FS took off
for combat missions from Makin Atoll, which
the unit reached via a detour. The squadron
was first sent to Baker Island, where it
operated until October 1943, then moved to
Abemama Island. At the repeated request of
the commander, first a detachment and then
the entire unit was transferred to Makin Atoll,
where the 46th and 72nd FS Airacobras had
been operating for several weeks already.
Because the standard paint scheme was
not effective on the coral atolls, technical
personnel on Canton Atoll mixed a sand color
that was suitable for the local conditions.
In black-and-white photos, the paint sometimes
appears as if the undersides were also painted
sand color, but upon closer inspection, the
color border is visible on the aircraft, and the
undersides were most likely repainted with
a light blue color mixed by ground personnel
from insignia blue and white. The stencils on the
upper surfaces were masked during repainting
and therefore have an Olive Drab background.
The Warhawk named Miss Cappy was assigned
to Art Bridge, but it was used by several pilots
for combat flights, and the number of bombs
painted under the fuselage represents all the
missions in which Miss Cappy participated.
Lt. Art Bridge flew 20 combat missions during
his deployment to Makin Atoll, the most of any
pilot. In the spring of 1945, he participated in
several VLR missions from Iwo Jima in the
cockpit of a Mustang.
INFO Eduard
89
October 2025