The “Sun
Setters”, were the VLR Mustang pilots of the 15th, 21st and 506th
Fighter groups, VII Fighter Command based on Iwo Jima
The 506th FG was
delivered by ship to Guam on March 17th 1945, a week later the unit flew
to Tinian. 7 weeks of CAP and practice missions were flown while North
Field on Iwo was prepared for their arrival. Finally on May 11, the FG
landed at North, first combat missions didn’t occur until May 18th.
Black Friday, June
1, occurred when a large weather front was entered by all 3 Fighter
groups. As a result 27 planes and 24 pilots were lost, on that day’s
mission no plane was lost to fighters or ground fire. Headquarters lost
Lt. Col. Harvey Scandrett and Capt. Edmund. The 457th lost the most pilots
from the 506th FG; 1st Lt. James Best and 2nd Lt’s Robert Kripple,
Robert Griffith, Leonard Kloiber, William Saks. Lt. Lawrence Grennan 457th
- bailed out at 5,000 ft. 10 miles from Iwo and was rescued.
In the end the
457th claimed 12 enemy aircraft shot down, with Capt Abner M. Aust as the
only ace for the 457th FS and the 506th FG. On 16 July he was credited
with three Ki-84’s and two Zero’s on 10 August. He remained in the Air
Force flying 300 mission in F-4 Phantoms during Vietnam. Nine 457th pilots
were to pay the ultimate price for the victory over Japan.
457th was
commanded by: Maj. Malcom Waters 10/44 to 1/6/45 and Maj. Daun Anthony
2/6/45 to EOW.
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457th FS P-51’s
were assigned numbers 500 to 549 and were painted with 4 inch green
stripes on the rear fuselage vertical fins and stabilizer but not on the
rudder or elevators. Planes began changing their
identification scheme about mid-June as they went from striped tails to
solid color tails, this in an effort to simplify the painting process and
to have better identification of each fighter squadron. Some aircraft
carried the unit badge on the rear of the cowling on the port side.
Here are two
examples of the aircraft markings, stripes and solid.
“NIP
‘NOCKER” (both sides), with an incomplete unit badge on port side.
#531 was flown by 1 Lt. Wesley Murphy Jr., from airfield #3. He scored his
only kill on 16 July shooting down a “Tojo” and damaging a “Zeke”
over Nagoya. This is a Tamiya 1/48 P-51D, decals are from SuperScale sheet
48-1152.
“HEL-ETER (1st
Lt. John W. Winnen, port side for his wife Helen and son Peter) / LIL –
TODDIE (1st Lt. Phillip G. Alston starboard side after his daughter).
#527 flew from airfield #3, as in most cases there were more pilots than
planes. This was the late paint scheme with the solid green tail,
#527 was lost in August while Alston was on leave in Hawaii. This is an
ICM 1/48 P-51D, decals from AeroMaster sheet 48-795.
The twin UHF
antennas were actually made out of wood. I fashioned mine out of flat end
toothpicks.
These are among the last USAAF
Mustang units to be activated for combat. If you would like to know more
about the VII Fighter command, the Banzai attack and the storm of June 1,
you will enjoy reading the following:
References:
Decals:
Web Site:
Mark L. Rossmann
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