The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bomber in the ground-attack role. Its primary armament was eight .50-caliber machine guns, and it could carry 5-inch rockets or a bomb load of 2,500 lb (1,100 kg). When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to 8 tons, making it one of the heaviest fighters of the war.
The 4th Fighter Group was an American element of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Eighth Air Force during World War II. The group was known as the Debden Eagles because it was created from the three Eagle Squadrons of the Royal Air Force: No. 71, No. 121 Squadron RAF, and No. 133 Squadron RAF. These squadrons became the 334th, 335th, and 336th Fighter Squadrons of the 4th Fighter Group based at RAF Debden. The group was the first fighter group to fly combat missions over German airspace, the first to escort bombers over Berlin, and the first selected to escort bombers on shuttle bombing runs landing in Russia. The group was credited with shooting down 1,016 German planes.
The 355th Fighter Squadron, nicknamed the Fightin' Falcons, is a United States Air Force unit stationed at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. It is an active-duty unit assigned to the 354th Fighter Wing and operates the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II. The squadron is tasked with the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses. Between 2015 and 2019, the unit's assignment was that of a subordinate unit of the 495th Fighter Group based at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth in Texas, flying the General Dynamics F-16C/D Fighting Falcon.
Royal Air Force Steeple Morden or more simply RAF Steeple Morden is a former Royal Air Force station located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of Royston, Hertfordshire, England.
The 355th Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command's Fifteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, where it operates the A-10 Thunderbolt II. The wing's mission is to provide close air support (CAS), air interdiction (AI), forward air control (FAC), combat search and rescue (CSAR), ground-based tactical air control, and airbase operations.
The 354th Fighter Squadron is part of the 355th Fighter Wing at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. It operates A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft conducting close air support missions.
Red Tails is a 2012 American war film directed by Anthony Hemingway in his feature directorial debut, and starring Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr. The film is about the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) servicemen during World War II. The characters in the film are fictional, although based on real individuals. The film was produced by Lucasfilm Ltd. and released by 20th Century Fox, and would be the last film Lucasfilm released before being purchased by The Walt Disney Company nine months later. This was Cuba Gooding Jr.'s first theatrically released film in five years since his starring role in 2007's Daddy Day Camp.
The 354th Operations Group is a component of the 354th Fighter Wing, assigned to the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces. The group is stationed at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska.
The 350th Fighter Group was an air combat unit of the United States Army Air Force formed in 1942 and inactivated in 1945. The fighter group consisted of 345th, 346th and 347th Fighter Squadron. The group was formed in England in 1942 flying Bell P-39 Airacobras and participated in the Mediterranean and North African Campaigns of World War II. 350th Fighter Group was based in North Africa, in Algeria and Morocco from January to July 1943. They then moved on to the Mediterranean islands of Sardinia and Corsica in November 1943 and February 1944 and were based in Italy from September 1944 to July 1945. After the group was inactivated on 7 November 1945 at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base following the end of the war. It was redesignated the 112th Fighter Group and placed under the control of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard in 1946.
The Scouting Forces were several fighter flights formed by Eighth Air Force during World War II with a mission to check for Anti-Aircraft (flak) sites; weather conditions, and for Luftwaffe interceptor airfields and units in advance of heavy bomber missions over Occupied Europe and Nazi Germany.
The 352nd Fighter Group was a unit of the Eighth Air Force that was located in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. The unit served as bomber escort, counter-air patrols, and attacking ground targets. It initially flew P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft before converting to P-51 Mustang in April 1944. The group was located at RAF Bodney in England for the majority of its service and were nicknamed the Blue-nosed Bastards of Bodney due to the distinctive blue of the nose and upper cowl of the P-51 Mustangs of the group.
William J. "Bill" Cullerton Sr. was an American World War II flying ace, entrepreneur, radio show host, and outdoorsman. Cullerton destroyed twenty-one Axis planes during the war, including sixteen destroyed in low-altitude attacks on the ground, ranking him as the second highest strafing ace in the 355th Fighter Group. He was the last surviving ace of the 355th Fighter Group, which flew missions out of Steeple Morden, England, during World War II.
Attacks on parachutists, as defined by the law of war, occur when pilots, aircrew, and passengers are attacked while descending by parachute from disabled aircraft during wartime. Such parachutists are considered hors de combat and it is made a war crime to attack them in an interstate armed conflict under Additional Protocol I to the 1949 Geneva Conventions. However, firing on airborne forces who are descending by parachute is not prohibited.
The 1942 Ruislip Wellington accident occurred on 18 October 1942 when a Vickers Wellington 1C medium bomber of No. 311 Squadron RAF crashed near South Ruislip station, Middlesex, on approach to RAF Northolt. The crash killed all 15 people aboard the aircraft, and six civilians on the ground including four children.
Gerald Richard Johnson was a World War II flying ace who flew for the United States Army Air Forces. Johnson commanded the 9th Fighter Squadron and 49th Fighter Group, and became the fourth ranking fighter ace in the Pacific during World War II. He ended his war career with 22 kills.
Urban Leonard Drew, known as Ben Drew, was a fighter pilot in the United States Army Air Forces and a flying ace of World War II. He was the first and the only Allied pilot to shoot down two Luftwaffe jet-powered Me 262 aircraft in a single mission while flying a propeller-driven North American P-51 Mustang. He received the Air Force Cross for the mission in 1983.
Henry William Brown was a United States Army Air Force fighter ace who was credited with shooting down fourteen aircraft and destroying another fourteen on the ground during World War II. He retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 1974. He was the highest scoring ace of the 355th Fighter Group.
Lawrence Dickson † was an American pilot and a member of the famed group of the World War II-era Tuskegee Airmen. Dickson flew 68 mission in World War II before he was forced to eject from his aircraft over Austria in 1944. Dickson was declared missing in action. On July 27, 2018, Dickson's remains were identified by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
Fred Russ Haviland Jr. was an American flying ace in the 355th Fighter Group during World War II, who was credited with 6 aerial victories.
United States 