Zemke’s Wolfpack P-47D wing spar
One of my favorite pieces in my collection of WWII relics is this main wing spar section (approx 6' long) from one of the P-47Ds lost by the 56th Fighter Group on September 18, 1944 in the Arnhem area. On September 17th the 56th Fighter group flew ground attack...
Jim “Pee Wee” Martin, 4/29/1921 – 9/11/2022
I am saddened to hear that my friend Jim "Pee Wee" Martin (G Company / 3rd Battalion / 506th PIR / 101st Airborne Division, D-Day, Operation Market Garden, The Battle of the Bulge) passed away yesterday September 11, 2022. Pee Wee was 101 years old and still attending...
Battle of Midway 80th Anniversary (Part 2)
80 years ago this morning, 15 TBDs launched from the deck of the USS Hornet to attack the fleet of Kido Butai. Led by John C. Waldron, all 15 aircraft were lost, with only 1 of the 30 men on that mission surviving. These men knew their aircraft were obsolete and had...
Battle of Midway 80th Anniversary
While there is nothing I could possible write today that would add anything of significant value to the incredible amount of published research on the Battle of Midway, I cannot allow the 80th anniversary of this momentous event in our national history to pass without...
SBD-3 Lt. (j.g.) Jack ‘Dusty’ Kleiss, Scouting Six (CV6)
SBD-3 BuNo 3232, Lt. (j.g.) Jack 'Dusty' Kleiss and radioman 3/c John John Snowden, Scouting Six, USS Enterprise (CV6), June 4, 1942. On the morning of June 4, 1942 Jack 'Dusty' Kleiss was flying one of 32 SBD-3s from USS Enterprise led by the Group Commander Wade...
SBD-3 Cdr. C. Wade McClusky, Commander of USS Enterprise (CV 6) Air Group
SBD-3 BuNo 4618, Cdr. C. Wade McClusky, Commander of USS Enterprise (CV 6) Air Group, June 4, 1942. Cdr. C. Wade McClusky played a major part in the Battle of Midway, with Admiral Nimitz saying McClusky's actions in locating the enemy fleet "decided the fate of our...
Film of USS Enterprise SBDs launching prior to Battle of Midway
This video has some incredible footage of planes from USS Enterprise just prior to the Battle of Midway (my guess is May 1942 as the pre-war markings have been painted over for the BoM aircraft, and since some of these were lost on June 4th and are unarmed, we know it...
Doolittle Raiders color film footage
The National Archives has color film footage of the Doolittle Raiders launching from the USS Hornet. I was unaware of the existance of this until now, thanks to my friend Lynn Ritger. You can watch and download it here: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75692 ...
SBD-3 Ensign Frank O’Flaherty VS-6
SBD-3 BuNo 3224, Ensign Frank O’Flaherty and AMM 1/c Bruno P. Gaido, Scouting Six, USS Enterprise (CV6), June 4, 1942. Ensign Frank O'Flaherty participated in the first attack of the Battle of Midway, completing a dive bombing run on the Japanese carrier Kaga...
Warhawks
My next 'big' profile project is P-40E thru N models. I've dug out my collection of original Curtiss engineering drawings from my archive and am now sifting through over 3000 of them for the ones necessary to create my master scale drawings that the profiles will be...