Moved from old YW site:
gschwertley
A request was made to me to scan some particular pics in my dad's WW2 photo album, so I scanned a few more to share here. I've shared some others on this board before. My dad was Lieutenant Don Schwertley, 44th Fighter Squadron, 18th Fighter Group (Twin Engine), 13th Air Force in the Pacific.
My dad standing next to his second plane in 1945.
According to my dad's notes, this was the result of one of his squadron's pilot's (Bill F.) after bailing out of a high-speed dive on Mindoro, Philippine Islands, March 1945. One man in an A-20 squadron was killed on the ground in the crash.
This is a picture of a 1939 Buick that was shot-up in the Philippines. Note the Japanese camouflage paint scheme. All items of transportation equipment were confiscated by the Japanese when they invaded, so this Buick might have belonged to a plantation owner or a missionary originally.
This picture was taken from the control tower at Tawi-Tawi in the Sulu Sea (Philippines) in 1945. It shows P-38's of my dad's squadron buzzing the tower (against Army regulations). Note the Northrop P-61 "Black Widows" on the flight line in the background.
M14man
I like it!
ehailstone
Captivating Picts!
"History is whats Happening"......now if we all could only have kept our best picts,as your father
Thanx for shareing.
gschwertley
As I pointed out, the 44th Fighter Squadron (P-38's) was part of the 18th Fighter Group (Twin Engine). In addition to other P-38 squadrons at that time, they also had squadrons of night fighters, which were also twin engine. Night fighters were used in night interdiction roles, patroling for targets of opportunity, mostly in the air and on the sea. The earlier night fighters that were used by the US were a derivation of the Douglas A-20 light bomber, which was called the P-70. The larger, heavier and more powerful Northrop P-61 replaced the P-70 in 1945. Both of these types were painted in dark color as night camouflage. The P-61 had large, multi-row radial engines that drove huge, four bladed airscrews.
You might wonder why the more advanced night fighter (P-61) had a lower model number. This is because the P-70 was a quick adaptation of an existing light bomber, the A-20, which had been developed in the 1930's. the P-61 was purpose-built and had a longer development time. The P-70's were put in place quickly to fill a perceived gap until the real deal could be brought on line. The P-61's didn't have a very long time in service. There were active squadrons in Europe and the Pacific in the last full year of the war, but when hostilities ended in Sept. 1945, these planes disappeared from the Army inventory rapidly. Big, expensive, and expensive to maintain aircraft were no longer urgently needed.
A square 10
very nice , thank you for the posting
MasterCork
The P38 was a good plane to be assign to fly from my limited reading. My Dad was in the Army Air Corp assigned to a ground job in a P51 squadron at the end of the war and he spoke highly of the P38's.
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