On 2019-01-07 20:50:11 +0000, Mitchell Holman said:

Savageduck wrote in
news:2019010707352530832-Savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom:




Indeed. Part of this collection, coming
up - but I assumed the tail markings
meant it was a stateside trainer.

Just goes to show..........

Nope! Not stateside.

Jimmy Poston went through basic, and advanced flight school (43G Craig
Field, & Page Field) with my father. They were both assigned as P-47
replacement pilots to the 9th Fighter Sqn, 49th Fighter Group in New
Guinea. They flew P-47s out of Dobodura NG for about 3 months, and then
the sqadron converted back to P-38s, which they flew until the end of
the war. Both of them were part of the first fighter groups into
Tacloban, Leyte.

My father's orders, and Poston's mirrored each other even to the point
of them going on stateside leave together in November 1944, and
returning to Linguyan, and Okinawa for a second tour. Neither one of
them flew P-38s stateside. After VJ Day they both returned to the
states to Luke, and started flying P-51s.

Here are Jimmy Poston (left), and my father at Gusap, New Guinea 1943.



--
Regards,

Savageduck

Attached Thumbnails