42-8531 Butch II

P-47 Thunderbolt Serial 42-8531 assigned to the 353rd Fighter Group/ 352nd Fighter Squadron was flown on D-Day, 6 June 1944 by Lt Clifford F. Armstrong.

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Units served with

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 353rd Fighter Group 350th Fighter Squadron 352nd Fighter Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 12046115 / O-793481
  • Highest Rank: Major
  • Role/Job: Fighter Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 353rd Fighter Group 350th Fighter Squadron Headquarters (353rd Fighter Group)
  • Service Numbers: O-398671
  • Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
  • Role/Job: Commanding Officer of 353rd
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: Headquarters (384th Bomb Group)
  • Service Numbers: O-504188
  • Highest Rank: Captain
Major Loren G. McCollom, of the 56th Fighter Group with a P-47 Thunderbolt, 1943. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'Major Loren G. McCollom, 1943.'
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 353rd Fighter Group 56th Fighter Group 61st Fighter Squadron Headquarters (353rd Fighter Group) Headquarters (56th Fighter Group)
  • Service Numbers: O-393150
  • Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
  • Role/Job: Commanding Officer, Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 353rd Fighter Group 352nd Fighter Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-724865
  • Highest Rank: Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Fighter Pilot, Pilot

Places

Missions

  • Date: 6 June 1944
  • Official Description:

Events

Event Location Date Description

Assigned

7 September 1943 SX-C The following is posted with grateful thanks to Lt Col. McCollom’s daughter, Patty McCollom Bauchman. A/C 42-8531 P-47D-5-RE. This olive drab Thunderbolt appears to have come into the Squadron in early September 1943. Lt Col. Loren “Mac” McCollom took it as his personal aircraft and named it “Butch II” for his wife. As commander of the 61st FS, 56th Fighter Group, McCollom called his P-47 “Butch.” His daughter Patty explains that “Butch” was her father’s humorous nickname for her mother – a very diminutive, feminine and educated woman who you could never imagine calling “Butch.” When he left the 56th to join the 353rd, McCollom’s old P-47 would likely have remained on the 56th books and the natural thing to do would be to call the new 353rd aircraft “Butch II.” It seems that “Butch II” was disappointingly unreliable in the air. McCollom’s diary for the time recorded that “she’s a little rough I’m afraid” on September 7, 1943 and then “Butch II is still a little rough and not as fast as Butch” on the following day. McCollom’s frustration was evident in his diary entry for October 20 writing “[I] had to come back because she overheated. I’m going to have to give Butch II up. She’s just not dependable.” To add to these problems, Glenn Duncan had lost a wingtip from the aircraft in combat on September 23, 1943 so you can imagine that McCollom was probably not sorry to lose the aircraft. After McCollom, the aircraft then became the assigned aircraft of Lt. Gordon L. Willits, but there are few records indicating that he ever flew it operationally. It did receive further battle damage while being flown by Major Bill Bailey on December 1, 1943. By the time records do become more comprehensive in January, 1944 it seems a variety of 352nd Squadron pilots flew it, but with no regular pilot it perhaps had a poor reputation in the Squadron. It last flew operationally with the Squadron on March 6, 1944 in the hands of Lt. Clifford F. Armstrong and probably left the Group soon after this date. There are no details about the ground crew for SX-C. The aircraft shows up twice in subsequent accident reports after leaving the Group. The first is an accident at the hands of Reavy H. Giles while landing at RAF Woodchurch on April 23, 1944. The second was taxiing accident by Ansel J. Wheeler of the 373rd Fighter Group at Le Culot (A-89) on December 10, 1944. Just as a final note on SX-C – the coding was only used once in the Squadron during the entire war. Inevitably this fact has brought some speculation that it was not used again as a tribute to Lt. Col. McCollom who was brought down by flak on the mission of November 25, 1943 to become a POW. This now seems unlikely to me as McCollom, it would appear, had given up the aircraft at some point in late October. Roger Freeman in his 56th Fighter Group (Oxford, 2000), p.21 also describes British Air Ministry recommendations not to use “C” in aircraft codes. This seems a much more plausible reason for the lack of “C” in the Group though I have no further information on this at this stage.

Other

Landing Accident

Woodchurch, UK 23 April 1944 Aircraft: P-47D (#42-8531). Organization: / BAD1 of Burtonwood, Lancashire. Pilot: Giles, Reavy H. Notes: landing accident. Location: Woodchurch/Sta 419 England. Damage (0-5 increasing damage): 3 source: Aviation Archaeology http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/

Revisions

Date
ContributorWill Willits
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Date
ContributorWill Willits
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Sources

SX-C
The following is posted with grateful thanks to Lt Col. McCollom’s daughter, Patty McCollom Bauchman.
A/C 42-8531 P-47D-5-RE. This olive drab Thunderbolt appears to have come into the Squadron in early September 1943. Lt Col. Loren “Mac” McCollom took it as his personal aircraft and named it “Butch II” for his wife. As commander of the 61st FS, 56th Fighter Group, McCollom called his P-47 “Butch.” His daughter Patty explains that “Butch” was her father’s humorous nickname for her mother – a very diminutive, feminine and educated woman who you could never imagine calling “Butch.” When he left the 56th to join the 353rd, McCollom’s old P-47 would likely have remained on the 56th books and the natural thing to do would be to call the new 353rd aircraft “Butch II.” It seems that “Butch II” was disappointingly unreliable in the air. McCollom’s diary for the time recorded that “she’s a little rough I’m afraid” on September 7, 1943 and then “Butch II is still a little rough and not as fast as Butch” on the following day. McCollom’s frustration was evident in his diary entry for October 20 writing “[I] had to come back because she overheated. I’m going to have to give Butch II up. She’s just not dependable.” To add to these problems, Glenn Duncan had lost a wingtip from the aircraft in combat on September 23, 1943 so you can imagine that McCollom was probably not sorry to lose the aircraft.
After McCollom, the aircraft then became the assigned aircraft of Lt. Gordon L. Willits, but there are few records indicating that he ever flew it operationally. It did receive further battle damage while being flown by Major Bill Bailey on December 1, 1943. By the time records do become more comprehensive in January, 1944 it seems a variety of 352nd Squadron pilots flew it, but with no regular pilot it perhaps had a poor reputation in the Squadron. It last flew operationally with the Squadron on March 6, 1944 in the hands of Lt. Clifford F. Armstrong and probably left the Group soon after this date. There are no details about the ground crew for SX-C.
The aircraft shows up twice in subsequent accident reports after leaving the Group. The first is an accident at the hands of Reavy H. Giles while landing at RAF Woodchurch on April 23, 1944. The second was taxiing accident by Ansel J. Wheeler of the 373rd Fighter Group at Le Culot (A-89) on December 10, 1944.
Just as a final note on SX-C – the coding was only used once in the Squadron during the entire war. Inevitably this fact has brought some speculation that it was not used again as a tribute to Lt. Col. McCollom who was brought down by flak on the mission of November 25, 1943 to become a POW. This now seems unlikely to me as McCollom, it would appear, had given up the aircraft at some point in late October. Roger Freeman in his 56th Fighter Group (Oxford, 2000), p.21 also describes British Air Ministry recommendations not to use “C” in aircraft codes. This seems a much more plausible reason for the lack of “C” in the Group though I have no further information on this at this stage.

Date
Contributorbombercommand
Changes
Date
ContributorED-BB
Changes