Where were the Yoxford
Boys based? The Correct answer is that the 357th Fighter group
was NOT based at Yoxford! They were based at Leiston.
The moniker "Yoxford Boys" was created by the infamous
British traitor William Joyce, better known as "Lord
Haw-Haw", during his January 30th 1944 radio broadcast during
which he "Welcomed" the unit to it's new home at the
Leiston airfield. Yoxford was actually one of the small
villages located nearby. Joyce also warned the group's members
of all the terrible things that would happen to them in the days to
come. Joyce got it wrong: it was the Luftwaffe that should
have been warned about the boys with the red and yellow checkerboard
nosed Mustangs!
The 357th Fighter
Group arrived in England in late 1943 and entered transition
training at the newly constructed Raydon airfield. The first
combat missions were flown by senior Group pilots, flying with the
354th Fighter group (the pioneer Mustang group) based at Boxted.
The 357th was originally
assigned the the 8th Air Force, but they became the first P-51
equipped init in the 8th Air Force when they were exchanged for the
358th Fighter Group (a P-47 init) in early1944 due to the pressing
need for the Mustangs long range escort capabilities. the
357th also swapped bases with the 358th, moving to Leiston on
January 31st 1944.
The
Group's first combat mission was on February 11th, 1944.
despite being one of the last fighter units to join the8th Air
Force, the Mustang gave the 357th ample opportunities to engage and
destroy the Luftwaffe. The Yoxford Boys created an enviable
record. They had more aces than any other unit and scored the
second highest aerial kill record in the 8th - despite their
relatively short time in combat. they also shot down more
German jets that any other group, and were the fastest scoring unit
during the last year of the war.
This new decal
sheet from Cutting Edge
Modelworks includes markings for 4 different P-51's ....all with artwork on
script on the nose.
The
first aircraft is a P-51D-20-NA "Moose" with the 362
FS, 357FG in early 1945 flown by Lt. Myron A. Becraft. The paint scheme is
overall baremetal-silver on the top and the underside with an Olive
drab anti glare panel in front of the windscreen. Black code
letters on the rear fuselage read "G4 S". Black tail
serial numbers are 463221. On the nose is the red script
"Moose". Artwork includes a colour image of a blue carton
Moose on the side of the fuselage below the windscreen with 7 kill
markings. There is
a red and yellow checker band on the nose directly behind the prop spinner
and the prop has matching red and yellow stripes.
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