Loco Boys
Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz
Text: Jan Zdiarský
Cat. No.: 932013
The Mustang (s/n 43-25054) of the 20th Fighter Group, based at Kings Cliffe, saw extensive service during its combat deployment in Europe, where it was flown by several pilots and its name and livery were changed several times.
Piotr Forkasiewicz’s illustration depicts the aircraft in autumn 1944. At that time, the 20th FG had just emerged from a very hectic period. The unit had been rearming from P-38Js to P-51s that summer.
Units of the VIII Fighter Command of the 8th Air Force, which were transitioning from Lightnings to Mustangs, were usually given Series D Mustangs straight away. However, this was not the case with the 20th FG, which operated a significant number of P-51B and C Mustangs. Unless lost in combat missions or crashes, most of these aircraft were gradually replaced by Series D Mustangs and transferred to non-combat duty as 'War Weary' aircraft. However, the Mustang in question remained in combat service with its unit until the end of the war — a feat attributable not only to the skill and luck of its pilots, but also to the ground crew led by Crew Chief Sgt. E. 'Tex' Schrader. During its service, this Mustang was given various names, including “Hells Belle”, “Beaverhead Filly”, “Shoot You’re Faded” and “Bertie's Bet”, which were painted on its nose.
The aircraft “054” was among the first batch of Mustangs to arrive at the 20th FG. As early as the summer, the unit participated in escort missions for heavy bombers at the height of the 'Battle of Fuel', as well as in Operation Frantic VI from 11–13 September 1944. During this operation, the unit escorted B-17s from the 45th Combat Wing from their target in Chemnitz to Ukrainian airfields in Mirgorod and Poltava. The B-17s then continued on to targets in Hungary and Italy before returning home.
The 20th FG's next major effort in late September 1944 was to provide air cover for Operation Market Garden, supporting Allied paratroopers in the Netherlands. Once the operation had stalled, the 20th FG's fighters returned to their primary role of escorting strategic bombers and conducting attacks on ground targets, primarily transportation infrastructure.
Piotr Forkasiewicz’s illustration focuses on this period. Lt. Robert M. Scott of the 79th FS flew “054”, nicknamed “Shoot You’re Faded” at the time. Destroying locomotives throughout the railway networks of Western and Central Europe was par for the course for Allied fighter pilots. It was no easy task: attacks often took place in difficult terrain with many low-lying obstacles, and there was usually very little time to lock onto a target. Light anti-aircraft fire, which protected many trains, stations and rail junctions, also played its part. The well-known vulnerability of the P-51’s cooling system resulted in many losses during such missions. During low-altitude attacks on locomotives, a single hit from anti-aircraft fire, or even a machine gun, was enough to cause damage — a shrapnel fragment from an exploding boiler, or flying debris from the cargo, could pierce the radiator. Within minutes, the coolant would leak out and the engine would seize up. Due to these low-level strafing runs, the 20th FG lost a number of experienced pilots in the final months of the war, who were either killed or taken prisoner.
The 20th FG earned the nickname 'Loco Group', or more commonly 'Loco Busters' or 'Loco Boys', as early as during its operations with the P-38. For a mission on 8 April 1944, in which the group destroyed a large number of aircraft on the ground and locomotives, the group received the Distinguished Unit Citation. The later Mustangs were in no way outdone in this regard. In November 1944, the unit further bolstered its reputation for destroying railway infrastructure just beyond the Siegfried Line and deep in the heart of the Third Reich. By the end of the war, the 20th FG's pilots had destroyed around 400 locomotives.
The pilots also continued in escorting bombers. On 2 November 1944, during one of the Luftwaffe’s final major counterattacks against waves of American bombers, pilots from the 20th Fighter Group claimed a total of 33 aerial victories. On that day, the Reich’s air defence deployed around 250 fighters against over a thousand American heavy bombers. This was the maximum force that Luftflotte Reich could muster following the debacles of September, which had cost it many valuable pilots and aircraft. On that day, the fighters of the VIII. Fighter Command shot down half of the German aircraft deployed against them. Many of those victories were accounted for by the 20th Fighter Group.
During the Battle of the Bulge, from late December 1944 to January 1945, the unit's role was typically to escort bombers in support of the Allied offensive. This was followed by missions in support of ground operations leading up to the crossing of the Rhine, as well as further escort missions involving strafing on the return journey.
The final month of the war saw the 20th FG pilots engage with German jet aircraft for the first time. This was followed by the final collapse of the Luftwaffe and the Third Reich as a whole.
The battered but still powerful Mustang '054' witnessed this several-month-long journey. The aircraft's long service came to an end on 21 August 1945 — more than three months after the war had ended — when Lt. Donald M. Barnard was flying it to the American occupation zone in Germany. The aircraft sustained Category 3 damage upon landing in Neubiberg, near Munich in southern Germany, and was subsequently written off.