Eagles Sqaudron Pics...........

Jack Cook · **Posted:** Wed Mar 14, 2007 9:38 am

In honor of another 12 hour day....................

PO Spike Miley 133 ES

Spike's Spit V after joining the 4th FG

Roy Evans by his Spit V

Jim Daley later killed in Sept 1944 while commanding 371st Ftr.Group

Gus Daymond 71 Squadron

Don Willis 121 Squadron

Chesley Peterson

PeterA · **Posted:** Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:26 am

Jack,

Fine shots as always.

The first image of PO Spike Miley is with 'York', a presentation Mk V Spitfire BM263, taken on charge 133 Squadron in April 1942.

Sometimes we in the UK forget that close to 950 Spitfires were supplied to the US forces.

PeterA

Forgotten Field · **Posted:** Wed Mar 14, 2007 11:12 am

What kind of missions were they doing at this time?

Bill Greenwood · **Posted:** Wed Mar 14, 2007 1:17 pm

Jack, some seriously cool photos of a time when it was for real with some very young guys. There are not many flying machines ever made that have more of the Wright Stuff than a cannon armed Mk V Spitfire.

hsperdue · **Posted:** Thu Mar 15, 2007 10:02 am

Forgotten Field wrote:

What kind of missions were they doing at this time?

The three Eagle Squadrons became the 4th Fighter Group after the US entered the war ... 71 became 334 FS, 121 became 335 FS, 133 became 336 FS. They all kept their Spit V's for a time doing the normal Escort and Figther Sweeps over France (of course they called them by the RAF names)... later they started escorting US bombers when they started flying and switched to the P-47B/C... with an abrupt switch to the P-51 in early '44... Don Blakeslee hated the 47 and saw the 51 as the wave of the future...

Lot's of cool stories with the 4th (motto is Fourth but First... I wrote an article in Warbirds Int almost 10 years ago on the subject)... I am honored to have served almost 5 years in the 334th Fighting Eagles! So I am a little biased<g>.

Chicoartist · **Posted:** Thu Mar 15, 2007 11:29 am

Ah, my favorite subject! Super-duper shots, Jack!

Just for fun, here's a little "Then and Now" of the two-ship parking bay (blast pen) in which the Spit is running up. The photographer was standing on the earthen wall looking down into the bay, shooting northeasterly. The 133/336 FS area was located at the southwest area of the airfield.

My shot (taken in 2002) looks into the very same blast pen, with me standing on the hard surface "entrance" to the left in the original photo - I'm shooting southwesterly, roughly the opposite view of the original shot.

Debden's grassy areas, as you can see, are now largely overgrown in this section of the airfield, but remarkably, almost all of the peri-track and runway "footprint" remains, allowing one to "explore" exactly where certain aircraft were parked, etc.

Much more "Then and Now" of Debden on my site for the geeks like me.

Wade

Connery · **Posted:** Thu Mar 15, 2007 11:39 am

Two of those parking areas were completely restored at RAF Croughton where I was stationed back in the 80's.

Bill Greenwood · **Posted:** Thu Mar 15, 2007 1:10 pm

Peter, thanks for giving us here in the colonies a little credit for the war effort. The real tough duty over there was trying to drink warm beer. Of course, to hear some of our "made in USA" folks tell it, the Yanks won the war after you guys got through playing around in those quaint Hurris, Spits, and Lancs.

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Eagles Sqaudron Pics...........

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