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Coloenl Don Blakeslee, CO of the 4th Fighter Group, in the cockpit of his P-51B after returning from the first American raid on Berlin. On March, 4 1944 Colonel Don was the first American fighter pilot to escort bombers over Berlin.

Connections

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. ...

  • 4th Fighter Group

    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

  • 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,...

Aircraft

  • 43-6437

    P-51 Mustang
    Assigned to 335FS, 4FG, 8AF USAAF. Lt Col Don Blakeslee led the 4th Fighter Group in this aircraft on their first escort mission to Berlin on 3 March 1944. Although a notoriously unreliable aircraft, Blakeslee kept 43-6437 because of its rare Malcolm...

Locations

  • 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...

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Object number
UPL 21963

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
29 May 2016 23:45:12 WD-C Mustang Created entry with caption, unit associations, person associations, place associations and aircraft associations
Sources

http://www.starduststudios.com/don-blakeslee.html
https://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/13596
http://www.4thfightergroupassociation.org/timeline.html

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