Tag Archives: 7th Fighter Command

Pretty Ponies

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80 years ago. Official wartime caption: “After a strafing mission, North American P-51 Mustangs snuggle under the wing of a Boeing B-29 Superfortress for the trip back to Iwo Jima, Bonin islands. July 1945.”

U.S. Air Force Number B67967AC. National Archives Identifier. 204834881 (B&W). Similar images in the series include 59049AC/204834866, 67967AC/204834875, and A67967AC/204834878, all of the same four-plane stack through what looks to be the same window, that of the B-29’s portside remote gunner.

The tail number of the closest fighter, 44-72864, indicates that it is a North American P-51D-25-NA and is almost surely from the 7th Fighter Command’s “Sunsetters.”

The Very Long Range escort missions flown by Iwo Jima’s P-51s– note the twin drop tanks under each of the fighters– were grueling 1,500-mile round trips escorting B-29s over Japan. They were extremely dangerous, and under arguably worse flying conditions than the 8th AF had over Germany, all things considered.

Of note:

One of the greatest limiting factors of fighter escorts from Iwo was the human factor. The B-29 was heated and pressurized. Compared to the unheated, unpressurized P-51, the bomber crews sat in secure comfort. The punishment on the fighter pilots’ bodies was compounded by the extremely high altitudes they flew to escort the bombers, usually more than 30,000 feet. This was several thousand feet higher than fighter pilots flew in Europe, escorting B-17 and B-24 bombers. The round trip from Iwo to Japan and back was nine hours, spent in a physically battered state.

While 44-72864’s service history is unknown, it probably didn’t end well.

Take a gander at the 18 closest known P-51 serials to that frame, via Baugher:

72848 (530th FS, 311th FG, 14th AF) crashed after takeoff in China while on an administration mission from Sian to Peishiyi on Sep 12, 1945. MACR 14929. Pilot killed.

72851 (457th FS, 506th FG) in a landing accident at North Field, Iwo Jima Aug 2, 1945. The pilot survived, but the aircraft was destroyed.

72860 (457th FS, 506th FG) crashed from unknown cause at North Field, Iwo Jima Aug 5, 1945. The pilot was killed and the aircraft was destroyed.

72863 (72nd FS, 21st FG) shot down by AAA N of Koriyama, Japan Aug 1, 1945. MACR 14842. The pilot bailed out but was killed.

72865 (46th FS, 21st FG) crashed on takeoff at Central Field, Iwo Jima Jul 2, 1945. The pilot survived, but the aircraft was destroyed.

72866 (78th FS, 15th FG, 7th AF) in a landing accident at South Field, Iwo Jima Jun 7, 1944. The pilot survived, the aircraft was badly damaged, and it is unknown if repaired.

72867 w/o? 16 Sep 1947. Landing accident at Johnson AB, Japan 5FG-4FS

72869 (46th FS, 21st FG) in a landing accident at Central Field, Iwo Jima Jun 26, 1945. The pilot survived, the aircraft was badly damaged, and it is unknown if repaired.

72870 w/o? 16 Sep 1946 Landing accident at Johnson AB, Japan 314CW-8PRS

72871 (46th FS, 21st FG) crashed from unknown cause 19 mi N of Iwo Jima on Jun 7, 1945. The pilot bailed out and was rescued.

72872 (45th FS, 15th FG, 7th AF) crashed 150 mi from S of Osaka, Japan due to turbulent weather on Jun 1, 1945. MACR 14641. Pilot killed.

72873 (46th FS, 21st FG) hit by AAA over Hanshin Airfield, Osaka, Japan, and crashed in Osaka Bay, Japan Aug 8, 1945. MACR 14837. Believe that he was captured and killed.

72879 (21st FG, 72nd FS) crashed into the sea during a strafing run over Arita-cho, Oki-gun, Wakayama Prefecture, Yuasa, Japan Aug 8, 1945. MACR 14841

72883 (458th FS, 506th FG) was shot down by AAA and crashed N of Mount Fujiyama, Japan Jul 8, 1945. MACR 14733. The pilot bailed out and was MIA, believed killed.

72885 (457th FS, 506th FG) crashed 360 mi from Iwo Jima in the Pacific Ocean due to turbulent weather on Jun 1, 1945. MACR 14634. Pilot killed.

72886 (72nd FS) 21st FG) collided in midair with P-51D 44-63969 and crashed 14 mi S of Kita Iwo Jima Jul 13, 1945. The pilot bailed out and survived, but the aircraft was destroyed.

72892 506th FG 462nd FS. Lost in a midair collision in the traffic pattern over North Field on Aug 28, 1945, with P-51D 44-72550

72893 w/o 5 Aug 1947 takeoff accident at Johnson AB, Japan 35FG-39FS

85 Pounds of Survival

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Original caption: “Early in the morning, the pilot of the North American P-51D Mustang ‘Tamra,’ heads for his plane. He carries approximately 85 pounds of personal equipment including a parachute, lifebelt, life raft, seat, survival vest, helmet, and goggles. Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands. July 1945.”

USAAF Photo 68067AC, National Archives Identifier 204982187

And from the back:

USAAF Photo 67959AC, National Archives Identifier 204982142

The pilot is identified as LT Ceil A. “Denny” Dennis of the 45th Fighter Squadron, 7th Fighter Command, 20th Air Force.

The above images were likely taken at Iwo’s South Field, where the 45th called home from March through November 1945, with most of that escorting B-29s over Japan on very long-range missions, a task that earned the squadron a Distinguished Unit Citation. These 7-8 hour flights were grueling in the cramped cockpit of the P-51, and so hard on the planes that ground crews had to change the engine’s spark plugs after every VLR to avoid fouling, as prolonged low-RPM cruising with giant drop tanks burned them out.

The history of the unit goes back to 22 November 1940, when the War Department authorized the 45th Pursuit Squadron (fighter), and it was stood up a week later as part of the new 15th Pursuit Group, Wheeler Field, Hawaii Territory.

Flying P-26 Peashooters– which they had during the attack on Pearl Harbor– the 45th remained in Hawaii on air defense tasking in P-39s and P-40s until October 1943 when, transferred to the front lines of the war in the Central Pacific, leapfrogging from Nanumea to Abermama to Makin Island. During this more offensive phase of their war, they transitioned to the P-47, and, by late 1944, had moved up to the Cadillac of the sky– the P-51.

Shuttered for six years post-war, they stood back up for Korea where they flew F-86 Sabres, then moved on to the F-100, F-84F, and F-4– which they flew in Vietnam– before downshifting to the COIN role in the A-37 Dragonfly and finally transitioned to the A-10 Warthog in 1981– which they still operate out of Davis–Monthan, at least for now.

As for Denny, born in September 1923, in Blackfoot, Idaho, he joined the Army Air Corps, aged 20, in early 1944. Completing flight training at Luke Field in Arizona, he was sent to the Pacific immediately upon graduation and joined the 45th for the duration. He survived the war, retired from the Air Force as a Lt. Colonel in 1983, and spent much time as a volunteer at the Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa, Idaho. Lt. Col. Dennis passed in 2013, age 89, leaving several children and grandchildren.