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Fallen Comrades by Stan Stokes. Fallen Comrades by Stan Stokes is a tribute to all the young men of the 357th Fighter Group, Yoxford Boys, who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country in training for and during WWII combat. The 357th scored an impressive 595 aerial victories in only 15 months of combat. The group also downed 18.5 Me-262s, the highest of any fighter group during the War. Bud Anderson and Bill Overstreet, the two co-signers of this limited edition, wanted to especially remember two of their friends and fallen squadronmates from the 363rd Fighter Squadron, Jim Browning and Eddie Simpson. Jim Browning was born in Syracuse, Kansas in 1917. In joined the 363rd FS while in training in Tonopah, Nevada in 1943. Browning was officially credited with 7 aerial victories. His regular aircraft was named Gentleman Jim. Jim completed his first tour of duty and was only two missions shy of completing his second when he was reported missing while flying Glen Zarnkes P-5 1, Junior Miss on February 9, 1945. Brownings remains were not recovered and he was listed as Missing in Action despite the best efforts of the Army to resolve its investigation. Merle Olmsted, Historian for the 357th pursued this mystery for fifty years, finally piecing together what apparently happened to Browning on his last mission. During a bomber escort mission the 363rd squadron engaged nine Me-262 jets. Browing and his wingman Captain Bochkay chased a pair of the 262s. At 24,000 feet Bochkay informed Browning that he was cutting him off to pursue the last of the 262s, Browning told Bochkay to keep going as he had him covered. Brownings P-51 collided with one of the 262s piloted by a high-ranking German officer, Oberstleutanant Freiherr Von Riedesel. Baron Von Riedesel was commander of KG(J) 54 a former bomber Gruppe that had been re-equipped with the Me-262 and re-designated as a fighter unit. Edward K. Simpson was from East Orange, New Jersey. Eddies second P-51 was purchased with war bonds sold by the students of East Orange High School and was named The Flying Panther. Simpson joined the 363d squadron at Tonopah, Nevada in the spring of 1943. Eddie was officially credited with 4 1/4 aerial victories. Eddie was a very likable person and a superb pilot and team member. He became a Flight Leader, and on August 10, 1944 Simpson was involved in a inidair collision with his squadron mate Lt. Don Ferron near Sens, France. Ferron was killed, but Eddie survived the collision. He evaded capture by the Germans and was found by the Marquis (French freedom fighters) and taken to their forest camp. Four days later, during a funeral, a German patrol located the Marquis base. Fearing an assault by the Germans the 200-300 freedom fighters boarded a convoy of captured German vehicles to make a run for the approaching Allied forces. They were spotted and pursued by a German column of trucks and armored cars. Simpson and five Marquis jumped out of the last vehicle, set up a machine gun emplacement, and took out the lead German vehicle in the pursuing column. This blocked the road, thereby buying time for the Marquis to escape. All six were killed by the Germans. Eddies bravery is commemorated by a monument in the French village of Ouzouer-sur-Loire. |
Mustang The ubiquitous North American P-51 Mustang, which many consider to be the best all-around fighter of WW II, owes its origins to the British Air Ministry. Following Britains entry into WW II in 1939, the RAF was interested in purchasing additional fighter aircraft from American sources, particularly the Curtiss P-40. Curtiss, which was busy, was unable to guarantee timely delivery so the British approached North American Aviation as a possible second source for the P-40. North American chose to propose its own fighter design which would use the same Allison engine as the P-40. Utilizing new laminar flow wings, the North American fighter was expected to have performance better than the P-40. Developed in record time the new aircraft was designated as a Mustang I by the Brits, whereas the USAAF ordered two for evaluation which were designated XP-51 Apaches. Intrigued with the possibility of using this aircraft also as a dive bomber, North American proposed this to the USAAF which decided to order 500 of the P-51 aircraft to be modified for dive bombing use. Designated as the A-36 Invader, this version of the Mustang utilized dive flaps, and bomb racks under each wing. Some reinforcing of the structural members was also required because of the G-forces to be encountered in dive bombing. A-36s entered combat service with the USAAF prior to any P-51s. In early 1943 the 86th and 27th Fighter Bomber Groups of the 12th Air Force began flying A-36s out of Northern Africa. Despite some early problems with instability caused by the dive flaps, the A-36 was effective in light bombing and strafing roles. It was not, however, capable of dog fighting with German fighters, especially at higher altitudes. Despite these drawbacks one USAAF pilot, Captain Michael T. Russo, who served with the 16th Bomb Squadron of the 27th Fighter Bomber Group, was credited with five confirmed aerial victories in the A-36, thereby becoming the first mustang ace. |
| Top Aces for : Mustang | |
| A list of all Aces from our database who are known to have flown this aircraft. | |
| Name | Victories |
| Bob Doe | 15.00 |
| James Lindsay | 7.00 |
| Werner Christie | 11.00 |
| Eugeniusz Horbaczewski | 16.50 |
| Walker Mahurin | 20.75 |
| Charles Older | 18.50 |
| Leonard Carson | 18.50 |
| Herschel Green | 18.00 |
| Robert Foy | 17.00 |
| Clarence Anderson | 16.25 |
| Richard Peterson | 15.50 |
| James Goodson | 15.00 |
| Donald Bochkay | 14.83 |
| John Landers | 14.50 |
| Arthur Jeffrey | 14.00 |
| Robert Curtis | 14.00 |
| Donald Strait | 13.50 |
| Donald Bryan | 13.33 |
| James Brooks | 13.00 |
| Robin Olds | 13.00 |
| Clyde East | 12.00 |
| Charles Yeager | 11.50 |
| Robert Goebel | 11.00 |
| George Ceuleers | 10.50 |
| Raymond Littge | 10.50 |
| Robert Anderson | 10.00 |
| Spiros Pisanos | 10.00 |
| Wayne Blickenstaff | 10.00 |
| Ernest Fiebelkorn | 9.50 |
| Robert Smith | 8.67 |
| Thomas Hayes | 8.50 |
| Arthur Fiedler | 8.00 |
| Charles Weaver | 8.00 |
| Dale Karger | 7.50 |
| Donald Cummings | 6.50 |
| Arval Roberson | 6.00 |
| Clayton Gross | 6.00 |
| Fred Ohr | 6.00 |
| Robert Karr | 6.00 |
| Robert Schimanski | 6.00 |
| Urban Drew | 6.00 |
| Wilbur Scheible | 6.00 |
| William Dillard | 6.00 |
| Clinton Burdick | 5.50 |
| Dudley Amoss | 5.50 |
| Gordon Compton | 5.50 |
| Maurice Long | 5.50 |
| Robert Winks | 5.50 |
| William OBrien | 5.50 |
| Duerr Schuh | 5.00 |
| Gerald Brown | 5.00 |
| Harrison Tordoff | 5.00 |
| James Empey | 5.00 |
| Niven Cranfill | 5.00 |
| Robert Barkey | 5.00 |
| Robert Abernathy | 5.00 |
| Royce Priest | 5.00 |
| William Daniel | 5.00 |
| William Allen | 5.00 |
| Agorastos Plagis | 16.00 |
| Tom Neil | 14.00 |
| Paul Farnes | 8.00 |
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