Please note that our logo is used on our website images only and does not appear on our products.
| Gathering Storm by Anthony Saunders (GL)
Mustangs of 434th Fighter Squadron head across the Channel. On 25th May 1944, pilots of the 434 Fighter Squadron flew their first combat mission. In the early hours of 6 thJune, D-Day, included in the 12,000 aircraft which flew cover, interdiction or other support missions were 434th pilots, some who flew three missions, returning to base long enough to refuel and rearm. Not until 29th July 1944 did the 434 Fighter Squadron down its first aircraft , when 1 Lt Arthur F. Jeffrey, one of the original six pilots assigned to the squadron, bagged an Me-163 Komet, a rocket-propelled interceptor. Over the next nine months squadron members flew bomber escort missions, attacked air fields and flew other missions as required, including support of beleaguered ground forces around Bastogne, Belgium, better known as the Battle of the Bulge. On 25th April 1945, pilots flew their last combat mission and 1 Lt Hilton O. Thomas shot down the last aircraft credited to an Eighth Air Force pilot - an Arado 234 Blitz, a jet-powered bomber. Of the four aces the from the 434th Fighter Squadron, three top aces evolved - Arthur F. Jeffery, Robin Olds and George W. Gleason. |