It was twenty five years ago this month, the 23rd to be exact, that my father died of a heart attack. He had battled heart disease for many years and almost died in 1974 during open heart surgery. The day he died he had gone fishing at a lake owned by a family we knew about an hour from our home. (I was not with him) He became ill and made it to their house from the lake but quickly collapsed, a rescue squad was called but due to it being a rural area it took a while for them to arrive. When EMS got to him he had been down for too long for them to begin any treatment and the sheriff's dept. was called. The deputy gathered his personal property and took to the station.
  Among the items was of course his wallet, that in all these years remains much as it was then. In it are the usual items and a few from his military days including, his I.D., his AAF white card for his instrument rating, a AAF physical record card, a pay card dated Oct. 17,'45 that shows he got $120.75 for flying and was paid a total of $387.55. Also he carrried 2 photos that I remember asking him to show me from time to time as a boy, one is the shot of his plane that was the first pic I posted here, (there was a larger copy in his collection)  The other is below, a shot of him climbing into the cockpit of 6D3, the name of the plane I think is "Lovely Lucy II", the photo is in very poor condition as he carried it all those years, you can see where it pressed against a plastic insurance card and imprinted some of the numbers. This is the first time the photo has been out of his wallet for more than a few moments, I know that may be strange or even silly to some, but it is what it is and I sure do miss him. Anyway, I wanted to share the photo as that P-47 has not shown up here or on Keith's site, if anyone knows who it was assigned to I would like to hear, I may take the photo to photo shop and see if it can be "cleaned up". Thanks for letting me ramble......
 
                                                                          Clay


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Attached Image(s)

Son of Russell Crocker, P-39, P-47 pilot - 346thFS / 350th FG, 12 AAF, North Africa, Italy- April 1944 - June 1945.

Thanks for sharing.
Regards
Rick Peck 

Thanks Clay.  Your father raised a good son.  There was a 6D3 with serial number 44-19593 in the 346th squadron.  Sadly, Addison A. Bachman was killed in action with this ship on April 22, 1945. 
Bob

Clarification Please, I do want to correct any mis information I might have on the Honor Roll web page;
 
MACR 14005, 22 Apr 45, 44-19593, Republic P-47D-28-RE Thunderbolt,  Bachman. Addison. A., O-762443, 346FS, 350FG, 12AF, KIA, Hometown: Throckmorton County, TX, Location, L-488595, Point Of Departure, Pisa, Italy. P47D, numbered 6C1, named Bachs Boche Bustin Bastard, Lt. Bachman - probably hit by enemy fire - apparently misjudged his height and "mushed" on the ground, exploding in a ball of fire. The action took place at 16.30hrs in Sassuolo area.
 
This is one of the 5 planes lost that day leavig the door open for one of the other 4 planes to be 6D3.
I hope this does not "muddy the water" but I want to correct any mis information I might have.
 
Truely a treasured and fine picture of 6D3 complete with its name
 
Warmest Regards
Rob

http://www.geocities.com/raf_112_sqdn/

Thanks for sharing that with us Clay.It must have been something being raised by a guy like your father and listening to his stories.
 
 
Here's to your dad.
 
Cheers
 Tony

Clay, Thank you for sharing your memories and the great photo.  Phillip

Hi Rob,
Yes Addison Bachman's assigned ship was 6D1 Bach's Boche Bustin Bastard but had the serial number 42-29048.  MACR 14005 for 22 Apr 1945 indicates he went down in a different plane though - this being 6D3 44-19593.  We don't know if it was the Lovely Lucy II though.  Might have been another 6D3.  346th pilot Roger C. Ellis, Jr. was shot down in Bachman's plane 6D1 just two days before on April 20th (MACR 14075).  Was hit by ground fire and bailed out low over enemy territory, breaking both ankles.  German Infantry in a nearby farmhouse began firing on him and a gun emplacement was shelling his position.  Fellow 346th pilots protected him from capture with strafing and rocket attacks.  Fortunately he survived the ordeal and was picked up by friendly troops.  Hope this helps.
Regards,
Bob

I may take the photo to photo shop and see if it can be "cleaned up". Thanks for letting me ramble......

Clay, hoping to reciprocate a little the human enrichment caused by your "ramblings", I am enclosing a cleaned version of your photo...



All the very best

Ferdinando 'veltro' D'Amico

ORIGINAL: 350th FG Remembered

Hi Rob,
Yes Addison Bachman's assigned ship was 6D1 Bach's Boche Bustin Bastard but had the serial number 42-29048.  MACR 14005 for 22 Apr 1945 indicates he went down in a different plane though - this being 6D3 44-19593.  We don't know if it was the Lovely Lucy II though.  Might have been another 6D3.  346th pilot Roger C. Ellis, Jr. was shot down in Bachman's plane 6D1 just two days before on April 20th (MACR 14075).  Was hit by ground fire and bailed out low over enemy territory, breaking both ankles.  German Infantry in a nearby farmhouse began firing on him and a gun emplacement was shelling his position.  Fellow 346th pilots protected him from capture with strafing and rocket attacks.  Fortunately he survived the ordeal and was picked up by friendly troops.  Hope this helps.
Regards,
Bob

 
 
Thanks Bob;
 
I will get that corrected ASAP.
 
Great Job on the Photo cleanup Ferdinando
 
 
Regards All
Rob

http://www.geocities.com/raf_112_sqdn/

Hi,
 
Just a little info on marking on the aircraft.
 
The 350th FG became operational with the P47 in September of 1944.
The 346th Fighter Squadron's Code was made up as follows.
A Figure-Letter-Figure combination.
First Figure was the Last number in the Squadron Number - so  "6".
The letter it seems represented the Flight in Squadron so D Flight - so "D"
The final figure was the number of the aircraft within the Flight so the third a/c - so "3"
Thus "6D3"  was shown in 30 inch characters painted on the engine cowl sides and their colour was Black. No Red theatre markings were carried by the 350th FG it seems but Distinctive Squadron markings were carried on the Tails of the P47's. The 346th FS used a small Black Checkerboard on the "silver" rudders. A Squadron Badge was also to be seen on the fuselage sides forward of the intercooler doors.
 
Alex
 
refs: Aircam No.2 ; Camouflage & Markings No. 15.
 

Alex, pay a visit here:

http://web.mac.com/vizcarraguitars/350th_Fighter_Group_Blog/350th_FG_Blog/350th_FG_Blog.html

...you will surely see much more on the 350th FG's markings than you can imagine, also in colour...

All the best

Ferdinando D'Amico

Clay --
Very nice post and yet another nice picture! Looking at your signature, I wonder if your dad and my grandpa shared a boat and/or boxcar to N. Africa? Grandpa's logbook shows he arrived in N. Africa 4-19-44, and his first flight in-theater was 5-9 in Telergma (P-39N).

Ferdinando --
I am enjoying your "Aiwar Italy 1944-1945" book -- apparently everyone else does as well, because it was hard to find! Thanks for stopping by the board.

Alex --
Keep spreadin' the word, brother! Nice to see a book finally got some 350th markings correct (although they forgot to mention the red cowl flaps). Does the book you referenced have nice profile drawings or just written descriptions?

Grandson of 1st Lt. Bernell A. "Barney" Forster (1921-2007)
347th Fighter Squadron/350th Fighter Group

Thank you all for the kind words, its hard to fully express my gratitude to the members of this board, I appreciate all that you do.
 
  Bob, that is great information, thanks, I just always assumed Lt. Bachman went down in his own plane.
 
  Ferdinando, just like with the color pics of my Dad and his plane on Keith's site, you made my day, you made that photo look as if it had been taken yesterday!!
 
  Tom, I should correct those dates, according to the 346th book my father joined the squadron in mid May. I recall him saying it was around April, but that would be close when you count the time they took traveling to Newport News Va. to ship out, plus crossing the Atlantic. 
 
                                                      Thanks all,
                                                                   Clay 

Son of Russell Crocker, P-39, P-47 pilot - 346thFS / 350th FG, 12 AAF, North Africa, Italy- April 1944 - June 1945.

Ferdinando --
I am enjoying your "Aiwar Italy 1944-1945" book -- apparently everyone else does as well, because it was hard to find! Thanks for stopping by the board.

Thanks for your kind remarks, Screaming Red Ass (BTW your nickname is the same of the P-47 flown by my old friend Hugh "Rowdy" Dow...) it is nice to know that a work is appreciated...

Alex --
Keep spreadin' the word, brother! Nice to see a book finally got some 350th markings correct (although they forgot to mention the red cowl flaps).

Well, honestly the Aircam booklet is a too old reference (it was printed almost 40 years ago...). I do hope that a real work on the 350th FG is yet to come...

All the best

Ferdinando 'veltro' D'Amico

I hope for a real book on the 350th FG also.
Just got the Schiffer book ,a little disapointed then again with Bob,Keith ,Tom, Clay and others photo's it never had a chance.
Thanks guys
Rick Peck

ORIGINAL: rickpeck2

I hope for a real book on the 350th FG also.
Just got the Schiffer book ,a little disapointed then again with Bob,Keith ,Tom, Clay and others photo's it never had a chance.
Thanks guys
Rick Peck

Amen to that -- everything I new about the 350th took a quantum leap forward when Uncle Mike steered me to this place.

Regarding the 350th book, I was initially disappointed when I first got it 5 or 6 years back myself. To be fair, however, I think in the forward they say that the book was put together quickly to document the 350th's activities until the individual squadron histories could be published. The book text made a lot more sense when I re-read it after reading the 347th book. FYI, I was confused by the commanding officers section and long assumed that the reprint had transposed a page: the page featuring Lt. Col/ Robertson in front of "Laura Lee" should be moved up one page so that it faces the page featuring Lt. Col. Marvin McNickle. When I saw an original copy (thanks Bob!) this was confirmed.

Grandson of 1st Lt. Bernell A. "Barney" Forster (1921-2007)
347th Fighter Squadron/350th Fighter Group

Tom,I notice that to about the Comander pages.
Yep,Bob spoils us for sure.
Rick

For some reason, only some of the 350th postings here make it to my email. A small note about the 350th Schiffer book. First of all, there is no relation to  our friend Shifflet. And secondly, it is missing some info from the original and was never authorized as far as I am aware from any one in the 350th. As a researcher, i guess I owe you all an account of the differences between the original history and the copy. I have both and one day I will take take the time to note the differences. as regards the aircam book, it misses the mark getting the 345th markings correct. So for me, it is one of many of the sources of misinformation. As a rather old school researcher, I am happy to spend hours looking through antiquated books and documents. With this new age of large quantities of information posted on the internet it is our task to weed through it and do our best to share the accurate and weed through the less than accurate. Hats off to all in the venture.
Keith