Markings for P-51B/C Mustang Malcolm Hood canopy 1/32
COL A
P-51B-5-NA, 43-6315, Lt. Col. James Howard, CO of 354th FG, 9th AF, Lashenden, The United Kingdom, April 1944
The nickname Ding Hao was a Chinese expression for good luck that Jim Howard brought to Europe from his service in the Far East, where he flew with the AVG. The number of kill marks on his aircraft is misleading, as Howard did not actually down six Japanese aircraft during his service with the Flying Tigers in 1941-1942. The official number of kills with the AVG was two plus one shared, to which he added four enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground. On January 11, 1944, he single-handedly faced a group of about 30 Luftwaffe fighters while protecting a group of bombers. During the action, he shot down four aircraft and damaged several others and in the following days he added two more victories. Due to the pressure from the USAAF propaganda department, he had allowed S/Sgt Marcus Hanson to paint six “rising suns” on his aircraft in addition to six swastikas, even though this did not correspond to his combat achievements with the AVG. Howard’s Mustang later became one of the first aircraft of this type in the 354th FG to be equipped with a Malcolm Hood canopy, which was highly valued by P-51B pilots.
COL B
P-51B-15-NA, 43-24769, Capt. Willard W. Millikan, 336th FS, 4th FG, 8th AF, Debden, The United Kingdom, May 1944
Willard Wesley “Millie” Millikan enlisted as an aviation cadet in the United States Army Air Corps on August 16, 1941. After failing his flight test, he went to England and joined the Royal Air Force, where he served as an F/Sgt with No. 133 Eagle Squadron flying Hurricane and Spitfire aircraft. After the United States entered the war, Millikan was transferred to the U.S. Army Air Forces and, with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, served with the 336th Fighter Squadron, which he later commanded. He flew Republic P-47C Thunderbolt and P-51B Mustang aircraft named Missouri Mauler. On May 22, 1944, he scored his final, 13th aerial victory in the Mustang shown here. A few days later, on May 30, 1944, he had to bail out of his Missouri Mauler near Wittenberg, Germany, after colliding with the Mustang of his wingman, Lt. Sam Young, who was evading anti-aircraft fire. Millikan was captured by the Germans and held as a prisoner of war until April 1945, when, just before Victory in Europe Day in May 1945, he escaped back to his own lines. During World War II, he flew over 200 combat missions, during which he shot down 13 enemy aircraft in aerial combat and destroyed two more on the ground while strafing enemy airfields.
COL C
P-51B-15-NA, 43-24823, Capt. Clerence Anderson, 362nd FS, 357th FG, 8th AF, Leiston, The United Kingdom, June 1944
The P-51B Mustang serial number 43-24283 was assigned to Clarence “Bud” Anderson as his third and final wartime P-51B. Like his previous P-51s, this one was named Old Crow; this time, the name was painted above the exhausts in large white letters outlined in black. The aircraft was camouflaged in the British colors Dark Green and Medium Sea Grey. Anderson scored nine of his seventeen confirmed kills with this Mustang, and when he completed his tour of duty with the 363rd FS in July 1944, the aircraft was assigned to Lt. William Overstreet. Overstreet had the new name Berlin Express painted on the left side of the engine cowling and a drawing of a winged Mustang in a circular crest on the right side of the cowling. The identification letter was changed from S to O.
COL D
P-51B-10-NA, 42-106451, Maj. George E. Preddy, 487th FS, 352nd FG, 8th AF, Bodney, The United Kingdom, June 1944
Preddy’s first personal Mustang was a natural metal finish aircraft with blue nose adorned with the yellow inscription Cripes A’Mighty. The application of invasion stripes overlapped the HO-P fuselage code which was partially showing through under the white paint. So, an individual letter P was added to the tail surfaces as it was obscured by the invasion stripes on the fuselage. At the time of the invasion, Preddy’s Mustang already had a new type Malcolm Hood cockpit canopy installed. The nose of Preddy’s Mustang was decorated with 12 German crosses as symbols of his victories. Preddy made his last flight in a P-51B on June 12, 1944, six days after the invasion of France, when he claimed another destroyed Bf 109. He then took over the brand new P-51D-5 Cripes A’Mighty 3rd. In August 1944, Major Preddy was sent to the United States for retirement, and upon his return in October he assumed command of one of the subordinate squadrons of the 352nd FG, 328th FS. On December 25, in the early hours of the morning, while chasing an Fw 190 over the front, Preddy’s aircraft was accidentally hit by American anti-aircraft fire. He still attempted an emergency landing near an anti-aircraft battery but, as he was fatally wounded, he crashed. In total George Earl Predddy achieved 25 victories and four shared, 22+4 when flying Mustangs (including 5+2 victories in P-51Bs).
COL E
P-51C-10-NT, 43-25054, 1Lt. Willard H. Lewis Jr., 79th FS, 20th FG, 8th AF, Kings Cliffe, The United Kingdom, August 1944
The Mustang with Four Faces—that’s how one might describe the history of the paint scheme on this P-51C, serial number 43-25054. After the 20th FS transitioned from P-38s to the new P-51 Mustangs, Lt. Willard “Joe” Lewis flew this aircraft from February to September 1944. At that time, the aircraft’s upper surfaces were camouflaged in Olive Drab, and just like Lewis’s previous P-38 Lightning, his new Mustang bore the inscription Hell’s Belle and a devil emblem on the nose. With this aircraft, Lewis scored two Bf 109 kills and achieved numerous successes against ground targets during the 287 operational hours he flew during World War II. In the fall of 1944, after the addition of a dorsal fin fillet and the subsequent partial removal of the Olive Drab camouflage—primarily on the fuselage—the aircraft received black-and-white vertical stripes on the nose, and the inscription Beaverhead Filly was newly painted on the left side. Lt. Keith C. Price flew this Mustang, achieving his only aerial victory in it. Lt. Robert M. Scott was the next pilot to take over this aircraft, and he had the inscription Shoot You’re Faded painted on the left side of the engine cowling, which he later supplemented with Berties Bet. Throughout its wartime career, this Mustang was maintained by the same mechanics and armament specialists, Sgt. E. Schrader and Sgt. A. Kublin. Under their care, it logged over 700 flight hours during the war and survived until its end. Eventually, after the war, it crashed near Munich.