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42-67885

P-38 Lightning

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Assigned to 55FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) droopsnoot mission to Tours, France. Crashed near Valmeray in P-38J 42-67885, brought down by flak on 23-Apr-44. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 4124.

Service

Aircraft

  • 43-28490 'Jeanne'

    P-38 Lightning
    Lt Col Roy W Forrest [Commanding Officer 388th BG] monitored Batty** project glide bomb mission from this A/C. Target Le Havre submarine pens. 13-8-44. ...

  • 42-67450 'Eze Does It'

    P-38 Lightning
    P-38J field modified to 'Droop Snoot*' configuration. Assigned to the 20th Fighter Group. The groups other P-38's would fly in close formation with the 'droop snoot*' and all drop their bombs when the lead aircraft released its. Several missions were...

  • 42-67716

    P-38 Lightning
    Built by Lockheed as a P-38J, field modified at Langford Lodge into a 'Droop Snoot*' configuration. ...

Units

  • 8th Air Force

    8th Air Force


    Eighth Air Force Bomber Command became the Eighth Air Force on February 1944, it oversaw bombardment of strategic targets in Europe until 1945. ...

  • 20th Fighter Group

    20th Fighter Group

    Group
    In August 1943, the 20th Fighter Group arrived in Clyde, Scotland, before travelling to Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire, which was to be their base for the rest of the war. The Group flew 312 missions before their last mission on 25 April 1945. The...

  • 55th Fighter Squadron

    55th Fighter Squadron

    Squadron

People

  • Robert Ahern

    Military | First Lieutenant | Fighter Pilot | 20th Fighter Group
    Robert was one of 5 children. Born in Duluth, Minnesota and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. His last mission involved the bombing of a train. He flew over the train once as a warning for passengers to evacuate. On the second flyover, he was shot down and...

Places

  • Wittering

    Military site : airfield
    Wittering, now in Cambridgeshire, began as RFC Stamford in 1916. By the end of the First World War, it had been renamed RAF Wittering, and was used by both British and American aircraft. It had six hangars, fifteen aircraft sheds and many other...

Events

Event Location Date
Manufactured Burbank, CA, USA August 1943
Delivered California, USA September 1943
Assigned Wittering, Peterborough, Peterborough PE8, UK 1944

Assigned to 55FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF.
Crashed Valmeray, 14370 Moult, France 23 April 1944

Failed to Return (FTR) droopsnoot mission to Tours, France. Crashed near Valmeray in P-38J 42-67885, brought down by flak on 23-Apr-44. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 4124.
Nicknames
Not yet known
Production block number
P-38J-10-LO
Manufacturer
Lockheed
Markings and paint scheme/livery

Coded KI-L.

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
27 June 2016 19:53:28 Al_Skiff Changes to production block number, markings, description, events, aircraft associations, unit associations, person associations and place associations
Sources

http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/search.php?searchString=Ahern
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbmpilot.asp?Pilot=Ahern
https://www.fold3.com/image/28646712
Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:41:01 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

MACR 4124 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database

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