USAAF Fighters in the Pacific

[JohnB]

Yesterday at the museum I volunteer at guy came in and wanted to specifically asked to see the AT-6 and P-51. Easy enough.

He had been looking at his dad's records and said his dad started out flying P-47s during the Phillipines campaign, then went to Australia to pick up Mustangs to fly from Okinawa escorting B-29s.

Lacking the equivalent of The Mighty Eighth books about the Pacific in my library, I have some questions...

Did Pacific fighter units re-equip from Thunderbolts to Mustangs I know Thunderbolt units in the 8th AF changed, but the Pacific too...why not switch to the P-47Ns?

Also, why pick up Mustangs in Australia, seems that there would have been closer places for them to be sent to rather than have new pilots fly them all that distance to Okinawa?
Seems like an awfully long flight.

[Snake45]

Well, for one thing, the 47N didn't come along until well after the D Mustang. The Ns only made the last few months of the war, IIRC.

[junkman9096]

The 35th FG, the 58th FG and the 348th FG went from P-47's to P-51's as did the 15th FG. The 35th, 58th and the 348th were in the 5th AF and moved from the SW Pacific to the Philippines and from there to Okinawa/Iwo Jima. The 15th FG spent most of the war in Hawaii and the 7th AF and moved to Iwo Jima in April (?) 1945.

[Matt Gunsch]

maybe this will help
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neel_E._Kearby, P-47 ace, Pacific theater,
also restoration of a pacific theater P-47 https://www.aircorpsaviation.com/projec ... razorback/

[RyanShort1]

Keep in mind, too, that the P-51 was a lot more fuel efficient, so if you had a limited amount of fuel to work with, the P-51 could fly more missions per gallon than the P-47.

[wendovertom]

Remember the Mexican 201st Fighter Squadron or Escuadrón Aéreo de Pelea 201 flew P=47Ds between July and November of 1945 in support of the Philippine operations. As they started out they borrowed P-47Ds fron the USAAF 310th fighter squadron.

Tom P.

[junkman9096]

Regarding the second question, there was a large supply and repair setup in Australia during the war. Recall that most fighter planes weren't flown to the areas in which they fought but were brought over on ships. They had to re-assemble them prior to use and where better than a place that was safe from Japanese attack. By the time P-51's arrived Japan had been pushed much further away than the case in 1942.

[Waltz41]

As far as the 7th Air Force was concerned (as mentioned above) the 15th FG, along with the 21st and 506th FG's flew P-51's from Iwo Jima to Japan on VLR missions. The Mustang was chosen obviously because of it's long legs, especially with oversized 110 and 165 gallon tanks (when carrying rockets). The 15th and 21st arrived on Iwo in March 1945, the 506th got there mid May.

The first P-47N unit for the 7th AF did not arrive till July 1945 (414th FG). Meanwhile the 507th FG, 413th FG and 318th FG were also beginning missions with P-47N's. If the war had gone on, from what I have read, the 47N's would of started to replace the P-51's for the long range missions to Japan. They just didn't arrive enough in time.

[Randy Wilson]

From "P-47 Thunderbolt Combat Missions" by Jonathan Bernstein, 2015, page 141:

"Four fighter groups took the P-47N into combat, three flying from the coral airstrips on Ie Shima, roughly 400 miles (644km) south of Kyushu. The 318th arrived on Ie Shima in the third week of May and immediately began preparations for combat. They were followed by the 413th Fighter Group in mid-June and the 507th Fighter Group in early July, bringing the 301st Fighter Wing up to full strength. The fourth group, the 414th, arrived on Iwo Jima in late June 1945 and launched a number of combat missions over Kyushu and southern Honshu before the cessations of hostilities."

It also comments that the P-47N could carry a heavier combat load to Japan than the P-51. Just FYI with the usual caveats.

Randy

[Jack Cook]

First to correct a reply....no the 58th FG didn't switch from P-47Ds to P-51s.
They along with the 201st FS MEAF kept them.
No P-51s came from Australia. They were shipped from Hawaii to Guam and then ferried
to their final destination.
The 35th FG and the 348th FG switched from P-47Ds to P-51Ds in early 1945. The 15h FG
also made the switch but that was in Hawaii before they came to the theater.
The P-47N is not germain to the original question so I'll avoid that........

[Jack Cook]

the P-47N could carry a heavier combat load to Japan than the P-51. Just FYI with the usual caveats

But, they also started their missions in Japan! That being Ie Shima, Okinawa, Japan.

[Pogmusic]

First to correct a reply....no the 58th FG didn't switch from P-47Ds to P-51s.
They along with the 201st FS MEAF kept them.
No P-51s came from Australia. They were shipped from Hawaii to Guam and then ferried
to their final destination.
The 35th FG and the 348th FG switched from P-47Ds to P-51Ds in early 1945. The 15h FG
also made the switch but that was in Hawaii before they came to the theater.
The P-47N is not germain to the original question so I'll avoid that........

What do the GD Germans have to do with it....

[junkman9096]

First to correct a reply....no the 58th FG didn't switch from P-47Ds to P-51s.
They along with the 201st FS MEAF kept them.
No P-51s came from Australia. They were shipped from Hawaii to Guam and then ferried
to their final destination.
The 35th FG and the 348th FG switched from P-47Ds to P-51Ds in early 1945. The 15h FG
also made the switch but that was in Hawaii before they came to the theater.
The P-47N is not germain to the original question so I'll avoid that........

What do the GD Germans have to do with it....

Well, was it over when the Germains bombed Pearl Harbor?