Description
Physical description
Side-cap of blue-grey wool, featuring a brass RAF cap badge to the left side, and two small crested Royal Canadian Air Force buttons to the front.
Label
This RAF field service cap is associated with Leland Macfarlane, a veteran of the Royal Air Force, who was later killed in action when serving with the 8th USAAF in the Second World War.
Born 8 September, 1919 in San Francisco, Macfarlane was a student at Multnomah College, Portland, in the late 1930's and obtained a private pilot's licence while studying journalism. In 1942 he enlisted into the Army Air Corps to begin pilot training but was given a medical discharge because of hypertension (high blood pressure). Later that in that same year he enlisted with the RCAF and began basic training at Palmdale, California, to be posted to England where he flew Spitfires with the RAF.
At a date unknown at the time of writing, he transferred to the USAAF (possibly September, 1942) and from 20 January, 1943, Macfarlane served with 334 Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group (Debden).
While flying on a Group mission over Belgium on 21 May, 1943, 334 Sqn "bounced" several Me109's going inland, west of Bruges. 335 Sqn provided overhead cover while 336 created a barrier to stop enemy planes heading for France. The attack broke into a dogfight over the North Sea and Ostend. Macfarlane's P-47D Thunderbolt, 42-7920 QP-N, was last seen following enemy aircraft inland after a fight over Ghent (13.50hrs). One other 334 Sqn pilot was killed in this action while another was shot down and became a POW*.
2nd Lieutenant Macfarlane is buried in Empinal American Cemetery, France.
[*Notes taken from 'Escort to Berlin - The 4th Fighter Group in World War II.' By GL Fry and JL Ethell, 1980.]
Macfarlane's uniform items and a copy of a photograph of him were gifted to the Imperial War Museum by his brother in law, Colonel L R Poundstone in 1999. See file for negative of the photograph.
History note
This RAF field service cap is associated with Leland Macfarlane, a veteran of the Royal Air Force, who was later killed in action when serving with the 8th USAAF in the Second World War.
Born 8 September, 1919 in San Francisco, Macfarlane was a student at Multnomah College, Portland, in the late 1930's and obtained a private pilot's licence while studying journalism. In 1942 he enlisted into the Army Air Corps to begin pilot training but was given a medical discharge because of hypertension (high blood pressure). Later that in that same year he enlisted with the RCAF and began basic training at Palmdale, California, to be posted to England where he flew Spitfires with the RAF.
At a date unknown at the time of writing, he transferred to the USAAF (possibly September, 1942) and from 20 January, 1943, Macfarlane served with 334 Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group (Debden).
While flying on a Group mission over Belgium on 21 May, 1943, 334 Sqn "bounced" several Me109's going inland, west of Bruges. 335 Sqn provided overhead cover while 336 created a barrier to stop enemy planes heading for France. The attack broke into a dogfight over the North Sea and Ostend. Macfarlane's P-47D Thunderbolt, 42-7920 QP-N, was last seen following enemy aircraft inland after a fight over Ghent (13.50hrs). One other 334 Sqn pilot was killed in this action while another was shot down and became a POW*.
2nd Lieutenant Macfarlane is buried in Epinal American Cemetery, France.
[*Notes taken from 'Escort to Berlin - The 4th Fighter Group in World War II.' By GL Fry and JL Ethell, 1980.]
Macfarlane's uniform items and a copy of a photograph of him were gifted to the Imperial War Museum by his brother in law, Colonel L R Poundstone in 1999. See file for negative of the photograph.