1/48 Tamiya P-51D |
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Gallery
Article by Ron Smith |
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Lt. Colonel John C. Meyer
352nd Fighter Group "The Bluenosers"
This is the plane of
Lt. Colonel John C. Meyer. This was his 3rd of 5 combat planes assigned to
him during his combat career which spanned from WW2 through Korea. He flew
a P-47D, P-51B, this P-51D, another P-51D and finally an F-86A in
Korea.
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images below to see larger images
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He was considered
one of the most outstanding combat flying leaders. On Dec 31/1944 he had
his men delay New Years Eve celebrations so they could be prepared for a
possible Jan 1 surprise attack by the Luftwaffe. The attack did come in
the early morning hours of Jan 1 1945, but Meyer had 12 Mustangs ready for
patrol when enemy fighters arrived over the airfield. Of the 12
Mustangs, 11 Mustangs shot down 10 Bf 109 as well as 13 Fw190 fighters with only
1 of their Mustangs being damaged by "friendly AA fire". Meyer
scored his 23th & 24th confirmed victories, received his 3rd DSC for
leadership and the 487th Ftr. Squadron received the only DUC, usually reserved
for Ftr. Groups, awarded to a Ftr. Squadron of the 8th AF. During the Korean
War, Meyer directly oversaw the first F-86 vs. MiG-15 air to air combats and
downed two MiG 15's. In total Lt. Colonel John C. Meyer scored 26 air
combat victories.