359th Fighter Group and Squadron Insignia

The 359th Fighter Group Insignia: The unicorn, symbolic of dauntless courage, in white to indicate purity of purpose: reared in a regal manner in pride of performance, against a background of the red blood of courage, severed by a gold band of honor. The whole crested with three white stars against a background of midnight blue. The star points are consecutively 3, 5, and 9 to portray the Group numerical designation. The inscription "Cum Leone" is prophetic of the Group's baptism of fire. (The Royal Seal of Great Britain bears the unicorn emblazoned on the left and the Lion on the right.) The Group winged its way into combat from its base in Great Britain in companionship with the combined operations of the USAAF and the RAF, against enemy forces over Europe.

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The 368th Fighter Squadron Insignia. Over and through a yellow disc, the squadron color designation, the white unicorn holds a red thunderbolt firmly between his teeth. The unicorn, symbolic of dauntless courage, portrays the squadron's speed and evasiveness. Its one horn indicates that the squadron flies single engine planes.

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The 369th Fighter Squadron Insignia. Over and through a red disc, the squadron color designation, intersected by a thunderbolt, the white unicorn appears in full pursuit, as per record drawings. The unicorn, symbolic of dauntless courage, portrays the squadron's speed and evasiveness and the position indicates its aggressiveness. Its one horn indicates that the squadron flies single engine planes.

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The 370th Fighter Squadron Insignia. Over and through a dark blue disc, the squadron color designation, intersected by a red thunderbolt, the white unicorn appears prepared to attack. The unicorn, symbolic of dauntless courage, portrays the squadron's speed and evasiveness and the position indicates its determination. Its one horn indicates that the squadron flies single engine planes.

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Lt. Elby J. Beal: Forced Landing on the Normandy Coast

Excerpt from the 368th Fighter Squadron (359th Fighter Group) History for August 1944:

On August 1st (1944) we furnished ramrod support for heavy bombers of the 3rd Air Task Force who were carrying out provisions of the Buick plan #12, which was to drop supplies by parachute to Free French Forces in Southern France. The mission was uneventful from a combat standpoint. Lt. Elby J. Beal was forced to land on a landing strip on the Normandy Coast because of trouble with his airplane. An account of his experience while on the Normandy beach head, written by Lt. Beal, is as follows:

“I was on a mission near the Swiss border. We were escorting B-17s that were dropping supplies to the Maquis. As we were leaving the target area my prop ran away. I was flying at 11,000 at the time. I lost 2,000 feet altitude trying to stall the prop into high pitch. Started on to Sweepstakes running the engine from 3800 to 3500 RPM, and eighteen inches to 23 inches manifold pressure all the way. Crossed the lines at 4,500 feet. Had radio contact and a steer from Sweepstakes by then. The engine was extremely hot and smoking bad. Gas was low too. I was looking for an open field to land in when I saw a landing strip off to the right. I turned over that way and was nearly there when the engine started quitting. Was going to make a belly landing then decided to lower wheels which made me almost undershoot the strip. I landed on one end, and a shot up B-24 landed on the other. I turned off soon as possible. They sent a Jeep out after me and I reported to flying control then to operations. They had no facilities for repairing P-51s at this base as the P-47s, which the organization used that was stationed at this base did not use the same type prop as the P-51. However the engineering officer said he thought he could get a crew and engine from a strip near there. By that time it was late. I had met a Doctor who invited me to spend the night with his unit. They had a nice hospital set up in an apple orchard near there. They gave me a good meal and a cot. About that time German planes started coming over and I spent most of the night in a fox hole. They had been digging them deeper every day. The most danger seemed to come from our ack ack, which seemed to shoot in every direction. The Jerry planes came over real low and dropped bombs several times, some of which hit pretty close. Next morning I reported to the operations tent, and told them that my plane would be repaired and I was going to fly it home. They had made arrangements for me to go to London with the B-24 crew and said I would have to report to 9th Air Force Headquarters. Orders had been cut sending us back. We were sent up in a truck. Asked the driver to wait until I found out if I could go back with him. I finally got permission to go on back, and went outside and found my flying equipment, but the truck had left. I started hitch-hiking back to where the plane was and got there about 3:00 PM. The crew had just started working on the plane. They were a mobile repair unit. They pulled the plane out under a tree and by 3:30 PM the next day had changed the engine and prop governor. I then ground checked the engine and went to flying control to get a clearance and took off. I was treated very nicely while at this base. The crew that changed the engine did a good job in the shortest possible time. They were very efficient.”

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Archived by Char Baldridge, Historian, 359th Fighter Group Association, from records at HQ USAF Research Center, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.

Air Power History Review

“In October 1943, budding artist and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt pilot, Howard Fogg, went to war. Assigned to the 368th Fighter Squadron of the 359th Fighter Group, Fogg deployed to England in support of Eighth Air Force’s bombing campaign against German-occupied Europe…

“…The group underwent its strongest test immediately before and after the Allied invasion of France in June 1944. During this period, the 359th primarily focused on low-level attacks against lines of communication and airfields. The Mustang’s vulnerability to ground fire was increasingly obvious. Higher headquarters concluded that P-51 equipped units in the future would focus on higher-altitude counterair operations…

“…Fogg’s uncensored insights into the day-to-day routine of a typical fighter pilot offer an informative perspective. To provide some historical context for the layperson, the Foggs briefly interject significant events elsewhere in the world. The historical summaries and morale reports provide a point of view on a grander scale.

“…While Fogg’s accounts will be of interest to students of World War II fighter operations, railroad enthusiasts should be especially pleased. After the war, Fogg emerged as one of the nation’s premier railroad artists...”

~ Lt. Col. Steve Ellis, USAFR (Ret.), Docent, Museum of Flight, Seattle, Washington. Air Power History, the Journal of the Air Force Historical Foundation.

The Lady and the Pennsy by Margot Fogg

We thought you might be interested to learn more about Howard's wife, Margot Dethier Fogg, and in December 1982, Trains Magazine published this article in which Margot describes how, in 1942, she became the first female Pennsylvania Railroad ticket seller in New York City.

Seaboard Coast Line Diesels

Seaboard Coast Line diesels,

part of the Family Line System of railroads.

Painting by Howard Fogg.

Image from the photo archives of Howard Fogg.



"Warbonnet"

Santa Fe Railroad passenger train in the famous “Warbonnet” livery,

climbing Glorieta Pass near Santa Fe, New Mexico in the late ‘40s.

Painting by Howard Fogg.  Image courtesy of Leanin’ Tree, Inc.



Why did we write Fogg in the Cockpit?

Fogg In The Cockpit began, and ended, as a labor of love, but the focus of that love changed as the work unfolded. Howard Fogg's legacy was already firmly established thanks to his success as a railroad artist, but what son or daughter-in-law could resist the opportunity to build on that legacy when presented with a document as fascinating as a wartime diary? The format is compelling: no facts lost or colored by time, the trivial and the significant presented with equal clarity, terms, conditions, and events offered up not through the veil of nostalgia but simply as fact. This, then, was the basis, and the inspiration, for Fogg In The Cockpit.

And then the unexpected. The secondary players, men whose names would never appear on an internet search engine, took on a life of their own. Men who helped win the war and then came home to lead quiet lives. Men who, far too often, did not come home. The book was not just about Captain Fogg anymore, it was about the 359th Fighter Group; its pilots, officers, and support personnel. The supporting cast became stars, and the love of Howard Fogg, with whom we shared a lifetime, became a love of the men of the 359th, men we would never have had the privilege and honor of knowing if not for Fogg In The Cockpit.