P47s of the 404th FG on the European Mainland - 1944-45
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506th squadron P47s at Fitzlar 1945. Nearest is Pappy Yocum's "Pride o' Dogpatch" and behind is Russ Christopher's "Maggie Zass" All the 506th P47s in the background appear to have the yellow squadron markings on cowl, wingtips and bomb racks and Thunderbird markings, even on the few remaining camouflaged aircraft. (Photo copyright Bill Lee)
After the 404th left Winkton, two gradual transformations took place within the ranks of its aircraft. Fairly rapidly the remaining olive drab razorbacks were withdrawn, although at least one 506th squadon olive razorback was still around at the end of the war in 1945. The replacements were all in natural metal and whilst some were late model razorbacks including some D23s, gradually the group received numbers of the D25 or later models with the glass bubbletop canopy with all round vision. A number of silver razorbacks did however survive with the group to the end of the war but the majority of aircraft in May 1945 were D30s.
The colours also evolved, with less, not more being the general rule. D day stripes disappeared except for under the rear fuselage, and at least one bubbletop aircraft, Leo Moon's "I'll get Bye" had the under fuselage stripes in reversed colours, three black and two white. Gradually theatre markings disappeared too, with the black cowl and rudder and fin stripes disappearing. No unit markings were worn on the aircraft. In early 1945 at St Trond a typical 404th Thunderbolt was plain silver, blue and white star and bar national markings, black serial on the fin, olive drab or black anti dazzle panel and often just a name in plain letters and/or a simple artwork device. . There were of course exceptions. Some squadron commanders seem to have adopted a full fuselage length black anti dazzle panel, in some cases joining up with a black painted cowl in a wide curve and with the cockpit framing also in black. The black was often trimmed with another colour, often red or yellow. One such was the aircraft flown Major James A Mullins who wore the insignia of a Snorting Bull. This insignia was repeated in colour on the aircraft's cowl along with the name Snorting Bull 3rd. Another was the P47 flown by Major Carl Tice Jr which was called Elsie on the port side, Li'l Butch on the starboard and featured a dubious looking baby in a white romper suite holding a hunting rifle and suspended by balloons and a native American motif on the cowl. Colour pictures of these aircraft can be seen below. Another aircraft which features in an number of books is Leo Moon's machine, both when he was C.O of the 508th squadron and later when he was promoted and made Group Commander. Leo's machines stared off quite plainly finished. His un-named razorback was adorned only with a stylized wheel symbol on the tail ( a triangle inside a circle) -denoting a senior officer - a "Wheel". Later his P47 carried the plain silver look with a simple "I'll Get Bye" painted on the port side, a cresent moon on the fin and D day stripes under the fusleage. By the time he was Group Commander the stripes had been reversed, his silver Colonel's oak leaves on a green background are painted on the front of the under wing bomb racks. On the tail the rudder trim tab is painted in red and white chequers as are the warning panels on the upper inboard end of the flaps. On the fin and rudder is a cloud and wind motif with a German phrase which translates loosely as "death from the skies".
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4K L Leo Moons P47 "I'll Get Bye" when CO of the 508th with Cresent Moon emblem on the Fin |
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James Mullins' Snorting Bull 3 (Photos - left courtesy Steve Mullins, right copyright Bill Lee) |
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Bob Williams's P47, late in the war (Photo courtesy Bob Williams) |
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Kemal Saied's P47 with Thunderbird emblem (Photo courtesy Kemal Saied) |
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Clay Tice Jrs Bubble Top P47 at St Trond, Y8*E "Elsie"/"L'il Butch". (Photos copyright Bill Lee) |
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404th FG P47s late war period (Photos USAAF) |
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Jabo's Taxi flown by "Jabo" Jarvis (Photo courtesy Norris Grasner) |
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Jack Tueller's armorer, name unknown, standing on the wing of Tueller's P-47. Jack's ship "ROSANNE" was, in the early days, 7J*X, serial 225873 . The aircraft letter J (shown here) was allocated to Joe Sherwood ship 7J* J serial 225688. Its unclear if by this date Tueller had a replacement aircraft (Sherwoods old machine), or if he was able to reletter his original plane. The letter J has no bar underneath, so its not a duplicate letter. (Photo courtesy of Stephen Tueller) |
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Bob Bealle's "Black Panther" - photos from Bob Bealle |
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Charles Matheny's Sigma Nu Girl - photos from the Matheny and McDonnell families |
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Photos from late 1944 and 1945 show 404th aircraft with names (and associated art work) such as "Hawkeye Gal", "Sweet Music", "Bobby Snooks" (Galbraith) "Mary Anne", "Pretty Baby", "Maggie Zass" (Russ Christopher), "Bundle of Nerves", "Snorting Bull 3" (James Mullins), "Lo Flow" and "Fightin' Gator (Fred Varn). Fred Varn's Fighting Gator was a Republic Employee donated P47 that completed 200 missions without a technical abort and was retired from operational duties at a service conducted by the Group Commander. The aircraft was painted with the Republic Employee donated plaque and the ribbons of the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
At the end of the war in Europe the 404th was stationed at Fritzlar, Germany (Y-86). On the 23rd of June the 404th moved to Stuttgart, Germany (R-50) to continue its role as part of the Airforce of Occupation until late July 1945 when the unit returned to the USA.. In recent years I have had the pleasure of meeting some of the former members of the 404th and I continue to correspond with several more. One of the first salutory lessons that amateur historians and modellers like myself learn when we talk to those who were there, is that nothing is a simple and clearcut as either official orders might indicate or that history would wish, and that new orders and organisations took time to work their way through the various units concerned. The other is that pilots will tell you that the majority of flamboyant group and squadron colour schemes applied to Ninth Airforce aircraft, including Thunderbolts, only appeared late in the European war or more usually immediately post war. This was certainly true in general of the 404th, although there were as always one or two exceptions to that rule.The equipage of the 404th and its three squadrons was probably typical of most P47 USAAF units until the autumn of 1945. Aircraft types were mainly P47D30s, all bubbletops. However the group not only still had a few silver D22 and D23 razorbacks at the end of the war, but it had at least one Olive Drab/Neutral Grey razorback machine still being serviced and in use. The latter was almost certainly a residual aircraft from the original issue to the 506th squadron at Winkton in April 1944, as all the camouflaged P47s issued to the 404th were concentrated in the 506th. As the 404th received P47D21s or earlier, the remaining olive drab razorback machine surviving in 1945 must be of that model or earlier, possibly even a D10 or D15.
On 25th of April the 404th had a new group C.O, Lt.Col. John R. Murphy formerly of the 365th Fighter Group. With less than two weeks to go to the end of hostilities, it seems unlikely that any massive changes were made to the usually plain silver colours of the 404th until the war was over. However after the war was over, it seems that Lt Col Murphy started a restyling exercise based on a previous 365th scheme. The changes started with the 506th squadron and it was intended that they following on to the other two squadrons, the 507th and 508th. Jim Sterling's Warbirds on the Web site has black and white and colour photos of the 404th Fighter Group's aircraft betwen April 1944 and July 1945.
One picture in particular (top of page) shows the 506 squadron line in 1945, from inside a hangar. The silver P47s are painted with a yellow stripe around the cowl, yellow tips to the main wings and yellow front edges on the under wing bomb racks. Theatre recognition marks have disappeared. Most aircraft have a cowl insignia. Andy Wilson who was the Group PR officer tells me that the insignia is the thunderbird, the mythic bird of the South-western Indians. Some of the pilots had trained in the far west of the USA and some liked the association of the 'thunderbird' with the Thunderbolt type of aircraft".
It is said that the Thunderbird makes thunder roll from its great wing beat and and lightening flash from its blinking eyes. To the Native Americans, the Thunderbird grants victory in war by controlling the forces of good over evil. According to Winnabego tradition, "Thunder is a spirit, and it is an emblem of war, it is winged, mighty and awful and it is called the Thunder Bird". The Chippewa supreme bird had "eyes of fire, his glance was lightning, and the motions of his wings filled the air with thunder". The Pueblo Indians honored six directions - north, south, east, west, zenith (above), and nadir (below). The Thunderbird was the symbol of the zenith because of its ability to soar to great heights. From these heights it could survey all four directions.The insignia consisted of a white triangle (with a thin black outline) on the side of the cowling, with a black thunderbird silhouette set within the triangle. One very different 506th machine was "Sigma Nu Girl" flown by Charles Matheny an Olive Drab/Neutral Grey camouflaged P47 bubbletop with the yellow markings and thunderbird emblem applied over the camouflage. The aircraft was named "Sigma Nu Girl" with Sigma Nu painted in a medium blue Germanic script outlined in white and Girl in a less formal script in blue only.
Whilst some aircraft of the 507th and 508th aircraft received similar treatment, not all did - I guess time ran out and certainly no red/yellow/red Reich occupation markings are evident. Some of their aircraft acquired the coloured band around the cowl, blue for the 508th and possibly green for the 507th. Some received just the thunderbird emblem, some received both, some received none at all. (The thunderbird emblem may be the reason why the 404th is still sometimes referred to as being nicknamed the Tin Hornets. In fact the 404th's nickname was never officially adopted as the then Group Commander, Leo Moon didn't like the "tinhorn" gambler implication. Andy Wilson does admit he may have used it in one or two press releases and the thunderbird emblem does also resemble a dragonfly type of insect - which would have reinforced the Tin Hornet appellation).
