Transition from P-47s to P-51s

April of 1944 was the last full month in which the 359th Fighter Group flew the Thunderbolts in which it trained for combat. Replacement of the P-47s, long delayed, was achieved with a rush at the end of the month, when ferry pilots flew glistening new silver Mustangs into the field at East Wretham by the dozen.

April essentially was a month of waiting: waiting for the arrival of the P-51s, waiting for the Luftwaffe to give battle, waiting for the day when strafers would find an airfield loaded with enemy aircraft, and, most of all waiting for the invasion of Festung Europa.

This was the month when the US Strategic Air Forces in Europe cascaded more than 40,000 tons of bombs upon the enemy and his installations: a larger tonnage of explosives than was achieved by the RAF Bomber Command in that magnificent organization’s systematic destruction by fire and bomb of the German and his cities, factories, and railroads.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Upper photo: March 27, 1944 photo of one of the first P-51Ds to arrive at East Wretham. Courtesy of Anthony C. Chardella: Archived by Char Baldridge, Historian, 359th Fighter Group Association.

Middle photo: On May 2, 1944, S/Sgt Marshall L. Binder (on wing) gives paperwork regarding the changeover from P-47s to P-51s, to Harold L. Hollis (standing) of the 370th Fighter Squadron, 359th Fighter Group. Archived by Char Baldridge, Historian, 359th Fighter Group Association, from records at HQ USAF Research Center, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.

Lower photo: Two bombs per Mustang. Courtesy of Elsie Palicka, wife of Ed Palicka, 370th Fighter Squadron Photographer: Archived by Char Baldridge, Historian, 359th Fighter Group Association.

This text excerpt, included in Fogg in the Cockpit, is from the April 1944 original monthly narrative History of the 359th Fighter Group, dated 4 May 1944, archived at HQ USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. The complete documents were transcribed and provided courtesy of Char Baldridge, Historian, 359th Fighter Group Association, from reports filed by Maurice F. X. Donohue, 359th Fighter Group historian and combat intelligence officer.

Briefing Room

The original Briefing Room (or War Room) at East Wretham Airfield. 

Archived by Char Baldridge, Historian, 359th Fighter Group Association, 

from records at HQ USAF Research Center, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.

Detail of chalkboard from photo of the original Briefing Room, 

believed to be from the December, 30, 1943 mission. 

Photo archived by Char Baldridge, Historian, 359th Fighter Group Association, 

from records at HQ USAF Research Center, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.

An Officer and a Gentleman

Howard Fogg: The officer…

The gentleman…


The pilot…

Summary of Action:

Captain Howard Fogg flew 76 missions and completed his combat tour with the Army Air Corp in September 1944. He was discharged from the Army in August 1945. Along with the ribbons he earned while with the 359th Fighter Group, Howard was awarded the Air Medal with three clusters and the Distinguished Flying Cross with one cluster.

Well respected for his leadership skills and his focused demeanor whether flying escort or strafing trains, Howard was also tasked with teaching young pilots how to fly, both in England and upon his return to the United States. During his combat tour his commanding officers relied on him to accurately and swiftly plot numerous missions. Many inquired whether he would take up a career flying commercial aircraft following the war, but that was not where his heart led him. Instead, he pursued his art, and decades later was regularly acknowledged as the world’s foremost railroad artist.

At the height of his artistic career, when the waiting list for one of his paintings was measured in years, Howard casually mentioned to his son Richard how honored he was to have been selected to fly at President Roosevelt’s interment. He had never spoken of this before and in his typical modest fashion, Howard said, “you could tell which plane was mine, it was the one slightly out of formation.”


But Howard rarely flew out of formation, either in his plane on that long-ago day in 1945, or throughout his life. He married the woman he loved. He and Margot raised three fine sons and sustained numerous life-long friendships. And Howard succeeded beyond his wildest dreams in the artistic career he first envisioned in 1938.

Vintage P-51D photos compared to "Betty Jane"

On July 9, 2011, we attended the Wings of Freedom Tour, presented by the Collings Foundation, at the Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport. The Collings Foundation travels the country with several WWII bombers and a dual control P-51C Mustang, “Betty Jane,” a razorback “C” model (as opposed to the bubble-canopy “D” model that came out later in the war).

Several “C” models were modified to carry a passenger in a second cockpit behind the pilot. One of the most famous of these two seat fighters, “The Stars Look Down,” was used by Dwight Eisenhower, and he rode in the back seat of that Mustang over the beaches of Normandy to direct the D-Day invasion.

While looking at our pictures of “Betty Jane,” we realized that we had shots of her similar to several photos from the 359th Fighter Group’s archives, so we thought a side-by-side comparison of those photos might be interesting - a "D" that served the 359th Fighter Group versus a currently flying, dual-control "C."

“Caroline," Lt. Thomas P. Smith's P-51D CS-E 44-13893, versus “Betty Jane.” Left image of "Caroline" courtesy of Thomas P. Smith: Archived by Char Baldridge, Historian, 359th Fighter Group Association.



“CisCo” P-51D CS-Q 44-15277 is one of the last P-51s assigned to the 359th Fighter Group during their final weeks in the ETO, versus "Betty Jane." Left image of "CisCo" courtesy of Thomas P. Smith: Archived by Char Baldridge, Historian, 359th Fighter Group Association.



P-51 Instrument Panels: Left image courtesy of Robert J. Guggemos: Archived by Char Baldridge, Historian, 359th Fighter Group Association.



And here’s one last photo of “Betty Jane” – we had no similar 359th Fighter Group archived photo to compare.