Aleutian P-38's ...

[Mark Allen M]

I've had these in a folder for a while so maybe you guys might like them. This is the LIFE photo series of what I believe are 54th fighter group, 11th Air Force P-38's created by LIFE photographer Dmitri Kessel in 1943. Many you have seen before but maybe not all of them. Fantastic stuff IMO.

I believe when the 343rd FG first went to the Aleutians, the 54th FS had P-38 Lightnings, 11th FS & 18th FS had P-40s. By the end of the war the whole Group was P-38 equipped.

From WIX: On 29 May 1942, 25 P-38s began operating in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. The fighter's long range made it well-suited to the campaign over the almost 1,200 mi (2,000 km)–long island chain, and it would be flown there for the rest of the war. The Aleutians were one of the most rugged environments available for testing the new aircraft under combat conditions. More Lightnings were lost due to severe weather and other conditions than enemy action, and there were cases where Lightning pilots, mesmerized by flying for hours over gray seas under gray skies, simply flew into the water. On 9 August 1942, two P-38Es of the 343rd Fighter Group, 11th Air Force, at the end of a 1,000 mi (1,609 km) long-range patrol, happened upon a pair of Japanese Kawanishi H6K "Mavis" flying boats and destroyed them, making them the first Japanese aircraft to be shot down by Lightnings.

[The Inspector]

And 99+% of what went to Alaska was either old, obsolsecent, or oddball, mostly diverted from scrap metal drives P-38E's, early P-40's, B-18's, and other castoffs. Gen. Buckner and his boys did a hell of a job with mobile scrap metal at the absolute end of the earth. If you haven't yet, might want to read up on the Aleutians Campaign to really understand working and fighting in extreme hardship conditions

[Taylor Stevenson]

Wonder why lead's (#74) prop's feathered...?

[The Inspector]

Wonder why lead's (#74) prop's feathered...?

Attu and Kisa did have lots of unfriendly folks who were bored, and all had rifles and machine guns. Also volcanic dust gets into, and destroys everything it's basically 60 grit garnet paper.

[CoastieJohn]

A few years ago when I was at NARA doing some research on Greenland happenings, I came across a weekly (or monthly??) war action summary book. It was classified as secret at the time. It listed snapshots of what was going on around the world that week (or month??). I remember thumbing thru the pages and came across the Aleutian summary. There was alot of fighting going on around Kiska. The book listed what aircraft were shot down or damaged and where. Lots of good historical info in that little book. Kinda wish I wrote down the RG box it was located in.

[corsairkid]

Wonder why lead's (#74) prop's feathered...?

Practicing his single-engine loiter skills it appears.

[hang the expense]

One lone kittyhawk in all those pics.

[Chris Brame]

Two photos towards the end were printed in reverse, so I fixed 'em:

[Mark Allen M]

Thx for the correction, I didn't catch that one. I was assuming they swung over to the other side of the B-24 for that shot. Where's the 'embarrassed' smilie at?

[CoastieJohn]

Where's the 'embarrassed' smilie at?

[Invader26]

Methinks the P-38 feathering an engine was a PR exercise to show the versatility of that mighty machine...

[Travisd80elcam]

This is my favorite photo thread. this one and the one you did of NAS Oceana. I do only live 30 mins away from it. Thanks for posting Mark.

Travis

[tom d. friedman]

1 thing is for sure..... p-38 pilots literally froze their asses off in the cockpit as the 38's cockpit heaters were notoriously unreliable & substandard.