P-51s of 352nd Fighter Group Escort B-24Js of 458th Bomb Group

Image size: 1600 x 1257 pixel. 128 KB
Date: Saturday, 1 July 1944
Place: Over North Sea, Normandy, France
Photographer: Unknown

Lt. Bob "Punchy" Powell, in P-51B "PE-P" 42-106914 named "The West 'by Gawd' Virginian" leads P-51Ds of the 8th Air Force, 1st Bombardment Division, 67th Fighter Wing, 352nd Fighter Group, 328th Fighter Squadron, (Bodney Airfield, Norfolk), in escorting Consolidated B-24J-150-CO Liberators of the 8th Air Force, 2nd Bombardment Division, 96th Combat Bombardment Wing, 458th Bombardment Group, (Horsham St. Faith Airfield, Norfolk, England) on a mission to France. The photo was taken during the Normandy Campaign between June 7, 1944 and July 17, 1944. Powell crashed his P-51B on takeoff, July 18, 1944. The B-24Js with "J4" on their fuselages are from the 753rd Bombardment Squadron, and ones with "Z5" are from the 754th. The 753rd's aircraft are from the Azon Project, which used standard 1000-pound (453 kilogram) bombs fitted with radio-controlled fins. The theory was that the plane's bombardier could steer the bomb into the target. However, clear weather was required, often not something found in Northern Europe, even during the summer. The ten missions of Azon Project were ineffective, but the bomb's principle's were sound and it was the basis of many other guided weapons. Azon bombs were also used in the Pacific. 

Source:

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii1067

P-51 fighter planes being prepared for test flight at the field of the North American Aviation

Image size: 1600 x 1229 pixel. 488 KB
Date: October 1942
Place: Inglewood, California, USA
Photographer: Alfred T. Palmer from Office of War Information

North American NA-91 Mustang fighters being serviced at North American Aviation at Inglewood, California (USA), in October 1942. After passing of the lend-lease act in March 1941, the USAAF ordered 150 NA-93 Mustang Mk IA fighters on 25 September 1941 for delivery to the United Kingdom. The RAF serial numbers assigned were FD418-FD567 (FD553 is visible on the left). For contractual purposes, these aircraft were assigned the U.S. designation of P-51 (USAAF serials 41-37320 to 41-37469). The Mustang IA differed from earlier versions in having the machine guns replaced by four 20 mm wing-mounted Hispano cannon. After December 1941 serials FD418-FD437, FD450-FD464, FD466-FD469, and FD510-FD527 were reposessed by the USAAF (and briefly named A-36A Apache). These Mustangs will later be fitted with their designed armament of 4 x 20mm cannon. The British designated this model Mustang Mk IA To the USAAF is was the P-51 (Exactly that, no sub-type suffix letter or production block number.) Note that the machine at left has an RAF serial number and fin flash but a US star on the fuselage. That aircraft and the one at right appear to be in RAF camo whereas the other two seem to be in Olive Drab indicating that they are destined for the USAAF. North America's development and production of their NA-73 design for the UK was approved after 2 examples were supplied to the USAAC as XP-51, but before that the US army had already contracted for the procurement of 150 additional aircraft for supply to the UK under lend-lease, designating these P-51 and they differed from the initial eight gun armament by having four wing mounted 20mm canon (as pictured). From this batch 93 went to the UK becoming Mustang IA 55 went to the USAAF as F-6A's and the remaining 2 were also taken on by the USAAF and re-engined as XP-51B's. Not the first models to enter combat for the US, those were A-36A's in August 1943 (P-51 with dive brakes, bomb racks and six 0.50in) which saw service in the Middle East and in the invasion of Sicily

Source:

Library of Congress LC-USW361-495 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:P-51_%28mustang%29.jpg

Ground Crew of 301st Fighter Squadron Affix Fuel Tank to P-51C Mustang

Image size: 1600 x 1174 pixel. 459 KB
Date: Friday, 1 September 1944
Place: Ramitelli, Campobosso, Italy
Photographer: Toni Frisell

Technical Sergeant Charles Kemper Haynes of Saint Louis, Missouri (June 14, 1910-April 3, 1995), Staff Sergeant James A. Sheppard of New York, New York (September 20, 1924- ) and Master Sergeant Frank Bradley of Los Angeles, California (1915-????) affix a 75-gallon drop tank "babies" (auxiliary fuel supply) to the bomb shackle on the wing of a North American P-51C Mustang "Yvonne" of the 301st Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group, 306th Fighter Wing, 15th Air Force. Contrary to some other captions for this photo, the tanks were mounted empty and then filled. A pint of fuel would be removed before flight, which usually collected the water and contaminants from the tank. Note wear on leading edge of the wing! Sheppard graduated from Haaren High School in New York City as a qualified aviation mechanic in June 1942 and can remember Navy recruiters refusing to meet with the black students after Pearl Harbor. He was immediately sent to Tuskegee when he entered service on October 14, promised pilot training. However, upon arrival he was assigned as a mechanic because he was already certified. Haynes and Bradley completed ground school at either Lincoln, Nebraska or Chicago, Illinois. Soon Sheppard joined the 100th squadron and was sent to Italy, where he remained for the duration of the war. He received a three-week course in the Packard-built Merlin V-16-50 engine, which was used in the P-51. Sheppard remembers that the day of the photo, a United States Army Signal Corps photo unit was shooting film and the other two men came over to help with the fuel tank on camera, which normally was affixed by only one man! If there was no damage to the aircraft, a plane could be readied for its next mission in six hours; oil or ethylene glycol leaks took eight to twelve hours to fix, while a coolant leak took two days, as the entire engine had to be stripped and checked. Often the ground crews would work by floodlight to ready the aircraft for the next day's mission. Contrary to popular myth, beer was not stowed in the fuel tanks for chiling at high altitude; the chance of blocking the fuel line was too great. Sheppard and other crew chiefs complained about the red tail order from General Nathan F. Twining, who wanted his fighters to be easily identifiable in the air, so all groups were assigned tail colors in early 1944. This P-51's red tail can be seen in the upper left of the photo. The ground crews protested this added work, which required constant touch-ups. When Twining sent the order, some of the 332nd fighter group's men wondered if the red color was picked to make the African-American pilots easier targets for the Axis! After the war, Sheppard became a pilot and safety inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration, as well as remaining in the Air Force Reserves as a flight engineer, retiring as a Master Sergeant in 1961. 

Source:

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) 208-AA-49E-1-3 

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0020

PFC John T. Fields Checks Ammunition on P-51B Mustang of 100th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group

Image size: 1600 x 1086 pixel. 465 KB
Date: Friday, 1 September 1944
Place: Ramitelli, Campobosso, Italy
Photographer: Toni Frisell

Original caption: "An armorer of the 15th U.S. Air Force checks ammunition belts of the .50 caliber machine guns in the wings of a P-51 Mustang fighter plane before it leaves an Italian base for a mission against German military targets. The 15th Air Force was organized for long range assault missions and its fighters and bombers range over enemy targets in occupied and satellite nations, as well as Germany itself." This picture shows Private First Class John T. Fields, aircraft armorer of the 100th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group, 15th Air Force, checks the magazine feeds of the Browning .50 caliber machine guns on a North American P-51B Mustang. Note the angled guns for optimum armament entry! During the period this photo was taken, the 332nd was engaged in frequent ground strafing of Axis airfields in Hungary, Austria and Italy. Behind Fields is the P-51B Mustang "Stinky II." Before each flight, the plane's armorer would seal the machine guns with tape to prevent moisture from forming ice in the guns at high altitude, which would cause them to jam. Since most of the 332nd's fighters were hand-me-downs from other groups, they were often war-weary aircraft and had frequent malfunctions. The P-51B had four machine guns; the later D-model had six. The 332nd Fighter Group was composed of Afro-American pilots and ground support personnel trained at Tuskegee, Alabama (USA), and the members of the group became collectively known as the "Tuskegee Airmen".

Source:

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) 208-MO-18H-32984 

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0019

Captain Andrew D. Turner, 100th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group

Image size: 1600 x 1201 pixel. 457 KB
Date: Friday, 1 September 1944
Place: Ramitelli, Campobosso, Italy
Photographer: Toni Frisell

Captain (later Major) Andrew D. "Jug" Turner (January 6, 1920-September 14, 1947) commander of the 100th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group, 15th Air Force, waves from the cockpit of his North American P-51C-10-NT Mustang (#42-103960) "Skipper's Darlin' III." This was probably a staged photo, although some captions indicate he was taking off on a bomber escort mission. Turner graduated from Tuskegee class 42-I-SE and was inducted on October 9, 1942. When the 100th's commanding officer, Lieutenant Robert B. Tresville, failed to return from a mission in June 1944, Turner took command. On July 18, 1944, Turner was credited with a probable Me-109, which he was seen to damage heavily but a crash was not witnessed. A resident of Deanwood, Washington D.C., he flew 69 missions with the 100th. Electing to stay in the Air Force, he was killed at Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio, when his Republic P-47N Thunderbolt collided with another pilot. Both Turner and the other pilot were killed. Corporal Hugh Beguesse (1917- ) his plane's armament crew, was a Caribbean native who moved to Chicago, Illinois; he was not yet a citizen when he was drafted. "Skipper's Darlin' III" was sold for scrap on September 30, 1945. 

Source:
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) 208-MO-18K-32981
http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0018