BIG book 355TH FIGHTER GROUP UNIT HISTORY 8TH AIR FORCE P-51 P-47 COLOR PROFILES

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BIG book 355TH FIGHTER GROUP UNIT HISTORY 8TH AIR FORCE P-51 P-47 COLOR PROFILES
BIG book 355TH FIGHTER GROUP UNIT HISTORY 8TH AIR FORCE P-51 P-47 COLOR PROFILES
OUR MIGHT ALWAYS:
THE 355TH FIGHTER GROUP IN WORLD WAR II
By James William Marshall
560 Pages - Large Hardcover (11 inches - 29 cm tall)
Huge book - weighs over 5 pounds!
Illustrations - Photos
CONDITION: NEW - LIST PRICE .99
Ships in a new box.
Monumental 8th AF fighter group unit history with over 800 photos and 50 color aircraft profiles.
Our Might Always: The 355th Fighter Group in World War II is an exhaustive history in day-by-day combat diary format with over 800 rare images of the 355th including fifty color profiles of P-47s and P-51s. The 355th was third in combined German aircraft destroyed during World War II, first in ground credits, and fifth in air-to-air victory credits within the 8th Air Force. The book is extensively researched with respect to Luftwaffe units engaged, the data tables are extremely detailed and extensive for aircraft, pilots, victory credits, pilot rosters, losses, aces scores and unit awards.
The 355th Fighter Group was first activated 12 November 1942. Originally equipped with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts, the group began using North American P-51 Mustangs in Spring, 1944.
The group was under the command of the 65th Fighter Wing of the VIII Fighter Command, Eighth Air Force. The aircraft group identification was white spinners and cowling bands.
The group consisted of the following squadrons:
354th Fighter Squadron (WR)
357th Fighter Squadron (OS)
358th Fighter Squadron (YF)
The 355 FG flew its first combat mission, a fighter sweep over Belgium, on 14 September 1943 and afterwards served primarily as escort for Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress/B-24 bombers that attacked industrial areas of Berlin, marshalling yards at Karlsruhe, an airfield at Neuberg, oil refineries at Misburg, synthetic oil plants at Gelsenkirchen, locks at Minden, and other objectives. The group also flew fighter sweeps, area patrols, and bombing missions, striking such targets as air parks, locomotives, bridges, radio stations, and armoured cars.
The 355th quickly gained acclaim as the "Steeple Morden Strafers," a reference to its base in England and its lethal accuracy at low level. The fighter group destroyed or damaged 1,500 enemy planes, making it the top strafing outfit in the VIII Fighter Command during World War II.
On 5 April 1944, shortly after converting from Thunderbolts to Mustangs, the group successfully bombed and strafed German airfields during a snow squall, a mission for which the group was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation.
The group provided fighter cover for Allied forces landing in Normandy on 6 June 1944, and afterwards hit transportation facilities to cut enemy supply lines. Hit fuel dumps, locomotives, and other targets in support of ground forces during the breakthrough at Saint-Lô in July.
The 355th Fighter Group flew its last combat mission on 25 April 1945. On 3 July the group transferred to Gablingen, Germany for duty with United States Air Forces in Europe as part of the army of occupation. Transferred, without personnel and equipment, to Mitchel Field New York on 1 August 1946. It was inactivated on 20 November[2] due to the Air Force's policy of retaining only low-numbered groups on active duty after the war, and its mission, personnel and equipment transferred to the 14th Fighter Group which was simultaneously activated.
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