UNITED STATES EIGHTH AIR FORCE IN BRITAIN, 1942-1945

USAAF Fighter pilots at a Mustang station study their score card. This station has downed 156 enemy planes in one month, a record in any theatre. LT.R. S/Lt D J Patchen (New York), Capt R D Hobert (Washington State), S/Lt D R Emerson (N Dakota), Major J A Goodson (Toronto), 14 "kills", & S/Lt. R S Tussey (Penn.). 315285

First Lieutenant Donald J Patchen, Captain Robert D Hobert, Lieutenant Donald R Emerson, Major James A Goodson, pilots of the 4th Fighter Group, based at Debden air base, in front of a board showing numbers of enemy aircraft destroyed, damaged and probably downed, 10 April 1944. Pinned to the board is the insignia of the 336th Fighter Squadron (formally of the RAF's Fighter Command No. 133 Squadron), with the motto 'LET US TO THE BATTLE'.

Lt. Patchen joined the 336th Squadron of the 4th Fighter Group as a pilot on 9 March 1944. On 19 May 1944 his P-51 Mustang (serial number 43-6584, markings VF-A ) was hit by rocket flak. He was forced to bail out and on landing was taken prisoner. See Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) 5290. He survived the remainder of the war. On 5 April 1944 Capt. Robert D. Hobert bailed out over the Channel when his aircraft suffered a mechanical failure. He was picked up and taken to hospital but died the same night from exposure. Lt. Emerson, an ace pilot, was killled in action on Christmas Day 1944, when his P-51D Mustang (serial number 44-15054, markings VF-D) was hit by anti-aircraft flak on return from a mission over Bonn, Germany. Major James A. Goodson commanded the 336th Squadron between 8 March 1944 and 20 June 1944 (between 13 Apr 1944 and 10 May 1944 Maj Willard W. Millikan was acting CO). On 20 June 1944, Goodson's aircraft (P-51D Mustang, serial number 44-13303, VF-B) was damaged by ground fire as he strafed Neubrandenburg aerodrome, Germany. He survived the crash landing but was taken prisoner. See Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) 6252. Before becoming a prisoner of war, Goodson had registered 15 air victories and 15 ground victories making him one of the most accomplished ground strafers of the Eighth Air Force at the time of his capture. On 11 May 1944, 2/Lt. R.S.Tussey's P-51B Mustang ('Miss Altoona', serial number 43-24771, VF-?) developed mechanical problems over the North Sea. Tussey bailed out over the English Channel and was picked up but later died at Ramsgate Hospital of his head injuries. He is buried at the American Cemetery, Madingley, Cambridgeshire (plot E, row 5, grave 48).

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