Markings for Mustang Mk.III 1/48
FZ152, W/Cdr Stanisław Skalski, CO of No. 133 (Polish) Wing, Holmsley South, United Kingdom, June 1944
Stanislaw Skalski was the commander of No. 133 Wing in the period from April 4, 1944, to August 3, 1944. During this period, he used the Mustang serial number FZ152 as his personal aircraft. Originally, the P-51B s/n 43-6533 carried a camouflage scheme in an unusual B scheme, which had the camouflage colors swapped. On the fuselage of his Mustang, Skalski had his initials SS painted by ground personnel, and on the left side of the fuselage below the cockpit was the wing commander’s emblem, behind which there were 17 black crosses with white borders and four crosses without the borders painted. During the Allied landings in Normandy, Skalski’s aircraft was painted with black and white invasion stripes on the wing and fuselage. W/Cdr Skalski scored the last two confirmed victories of his wartime career with his Mustang on June 24, 1944, without opening fire on his victims. In fact, on approach to 150 yards, the enemy Bf 109s made contact with their wings during an evasive maneuver and both crashed. Stanislaw Skalski was the most successful Polish ace of World War II with a record of 23 confirmed kills, one probable kill and five damage to enemy aircraft. He was decorated three times by the British DFC and received numerous other awards.
FZ152, W/Cdr Stanisław Skalski, CO of No. 133 (Polish) Wing, Coolham, United Kingdom, April-May 1944
Stanislaw Skalski was born on November 27, 1915, in Lambushna near Kodymy (now in Ukraine). After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, he became one of the two most successful Polish fighters who took part in the battles against the German forces. He fled to the UK via France, joined the RAF in January 1940 and took part in the Battle of Britain with No. 501 Sqn. In early March 1942 he was transferred to No. 306 Sqn as Flight B Commander. In May 1942 he was promoted and took command of No. 317 Sqn. In early 1943 he led a special group called the Polish Flying Team operating as part of No. 145 Sqn on Mk.IXc Spitfires in North Africa. In July 1943 he became commander of the British No. 601 Sqn. Late in the year he returned to the UK, flying as commander of No. 131 Wing at Northolt, but in April 1944 he moved to No. 133 Wing, which was rearmed with Mk.III Mustangs. He remained there until mid-August 1944. After the war he served at the headquarters of the British Occupation Air Force in Germany. On his return to Poland in 1949 he was imprisoned by the Communists on charges of spying for the West. He spent six years in prison awaiting execution. In 1956 was Skalski released and rehabilitated. In 1957 he rejoined the Polish Air Force. Later he was active in sport aviation, becoming secretary general and vice-president of the Polish Aero Club. In October 1988 he was promoted to the rank of General (retired). He died on November 12, 2004.
FB387, PK-G, S/Ldr Eugeniusz Horbaczewski, CO of No. 315 Squadron, Brenzett, Kent, August 1944
Mustang Mk.III serial number FB387 was manufactured as P-51C-10-NT (NA-103) 42-103537 and spent some time in storage before being shipped to No. 315 Squadron on July 28, 1944. Here it was selected by S/Ldr Eugeniusz Horbaczewski as a replacement for his original personal FB382. Like the previous Mustang, his new FB387 was codenamed PK-G, with yellow bomb symbols representing attacks on ground targets and scores of German aircraft destroyed (black crosses) and V-1s shot down (swastikas with superimposed V-1 silhouettes). Eugeniusz Horbaczewski was born on September 28, 1917, in Kyiv, educated in Brest-Litovsk and joined the Polish Air Force in 1937. In September 1939 he fled to France via Romania and from there he went to Great Britain. After completing his training with the RAF, he was assigned to No. 303 Sqn in late 1940. In early 1943 he was selected for a special Polish Flying Team, formed by S. Skalski and operating as part of No. 145 Sqn on Mk.IXc Spitfires. Over Tunisia, Horbaczewski became the most successful pilot of this group with five victories in less than a month. After the disbandment of the Polish Flying Team, he was assigned to No. 601 Sqn operating in the Mediterranean area and in early July to No. 43 Sqn, which he led from August. On his return to the UK in February 1944 he took command of No. 315 Sqn, flying Mk.III Mustangs. On August 18, 1944, he was shot down in the Beauvais area and killed, having previously shot down three Fw 190s himself.
FZ181, F/Sgt A. J. Fellows, No. 19 Squadron, Funtington, United Kingdom, April-May 1944
The Mk.III Mustangs of No. 19 Squadron, like all Mustangs operating in 2TAF, had the white identification markings adopted in February 1944 and applied shortly after entering service. A month later, and after Allied crews had become sufficiently familiar with the new type, the white identification stripe on the rudder was repainted with camouflage color. The serial number FZ181 Mustang was most often flown by F/Sgt. A. J. Fellows of No. 19 Squadron, who had “MITZIE I” painted under the cockpit.
FB260, G/Cpt Brian A. Eaton, CO of No. 329 Wing, Italy, Autumn 1944
Australian Brian Alexander Eaton enlisted in the RAAF in January 1936. He served as a flying instructor until the outbreak of war and in Australia until October 1942 when he sailed to North Africa and joined the Australians operating on that front. In early 1943 he was assigned to No. 3 Sqn in North Africa, where he flew P-40 Kittyhawks. Despite being shot down three times in ten days shortly after his arrival, Eaton quickly rose to become the unit’s commanding officer and by the end of the year was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). In August 1944 he returned to operational flying and assumed command of No. 239 Wing, replacing W/Cdr Larry Wilmot. He took over Wilmot’s Mustang serial number FB260, to which he subsequently applied his BE initials and Wing emblem. Eaton led No. 239 Wing until the end of the war. He was awarded the DFC and DSO plus Bar. After the war he stayed in the RAAF and commanded No. 81 Squadron in Japan and No. 78 Squadron in Malta. From 1957 to 1959 he commanded the RAAF base at Williamtown, after which he held a number of senior command positions. He retired from the RAAF in December 1973 and became Managing Director of Rolls-Royce in Canberra. He died in 1992 at the age of 75.
HB900, F/Lt Reginald A. Wild DFC, No. 112 Squadron, Creti LG, Italy, July 1944
Reginald Albert Wild was born on June 16, 1922, in Laura, South Australia and worked as a plumber before joining the RAAF. On February 1, 1941, he was posted to the Middle East where he completed two tours with No. 112 Squadron. F/Lt Reginald Wild joined his second tour of duty on June 1, 1944, with No. 112 Sqn as Flight A leader. The Squadron was freshly armed with new Mk.III Mustangs. Wild chose the serial number HB900 (s/n 42-103869) as his personal Mustang and flew it regularly until the end of his tour on October 14, 1944. In addition to the shark’s mouth, the traditional identifying feature of all No. 112 Squadron aircraft, his Mustang featured a caricature of the character Wimpy painted on the left side of the nose, as well as the unusual “?” code marking previously worn by Kittyhawks of S/Ldr Billy Drake. Following S/Ldr Drake’s departure from No. 112 Squadron, F/Lt Wild also took a liking to the question mark code and used it on his Kittyhawks. During World War II he achieved three confirmed kills, one probable kill and damaged one aircraft, for which he was awarded the DFC on July 23, 1943. All of his achievements were in Kittyhawks. After the war he joined the Royal Australian Navy and flew with No. 808 Squadron from HMAS Sydney in 1951-52 aboard Hawker Sea Fury aircraft during the Korean War. He commanded this unit from mid-1953 until its disbandment in 1954.
FB254, W/O J. S. Duncan, No. 260 Squadron, Cutella LG, Italy, April-May 1944
Mustang serial number FB254 (s/n 42-103148) was part of the first delivery of Series III Mustangs shipped to Italy. He was assigned to No. 260 Squadron with the codes HS-J, with which he carried the nickname Jovial Judge. Subsequently, FB254 was transferred to No. 112 Squadron, where it flew with code letters GA-Y until January 11, 1945, when it was damaged by flak and Canadian pilot W/O J. S. Duncan was forced to make an emergency landing with the burning Mustang. Severely burned, Duncan was rescued by an old Italian peasant and taken to a hospital in Ravenna.