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.
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Debden Airfield. General Dwight Eisenhower pinning the DFC on Captain Don Gentile's tunic. Colonel Don Blakeslee (right) is soon to be awarded with the same. This is when the general famously called Gentile a "one-man air force".
Connections
Units
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4th Fighter Group
Group
Some of the pilots of the 4th Fighter Group had seen many hours of combat by the time they joined the 4th Fighter Group as they had volunteered with the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Air Force. The three 'Eagle Squadrons' of RAF Fighter...
People
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Donald Blakeslee
Military | Colonel | Fighter pilot, Commanding Officer
Don Blakeslee was born on 11 September 1917 in Fairport Harbor, Ohio. As a boy, he became captivated with planes while watching the Cleveland National Air Races held only 30 miles away from his home at 529 7th St, Fairport Harbor, Ohio. In 1938,... -
Dwight Eisenhower
Military | General | Supreme Commander
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Dominic Gentile
Military | Major | Fighter Pilot
Don Gentile was born on December 6, 1920, to Italian parents in Piqua, Ohio. As a boy, he had always been fascinated with flying and built, as his mother remembered, hundreds of model airplanes. Don used to say to his mother, “I hope someday I'll be...
Locations
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Debden
Military site : airfield
RAF Debden, construction of which began in 1935, is perhaps most famous as a Battle of Britain fighter airfield, partly responsible for the defence of London in 1940. In 1942 it was also home to three RAF 'Eagle Squadrons’ of volunteer American pilots...
Revisions
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 07 May 2016 22:40:53 | WD-C Mustang | Created entry with caption, unit associations, person associations and place associations |
| Sources | ||
'Great American Fighter Pilots of WWII' by Robert Loomis. |
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