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Edgar Whitley | Lieutenant Colonel Edgar Whitley Posted to fly P-47s with the 56th Fighter Group in England, ed Whitley was an original cadre member of the 63rd Fighter Squadron. His first combat mission came in April 1943, and another 35 were to follow. He was credited with two air victories, one of which came on 17th August 1943 - the famous Double Strike mission when the 8th Air Force bombed Schweinfurt and Regensberg. |
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The Wolfpack by Robert Taylor. The 56th Fighter Group was led by some of Americas greatest fighter leaders of World War II and was home to many of its leading fighter Aces. Under successive commanders Hub Zemke, Robert Landry and David Schilling, the 56th destroyed more enemy aircraft in combat than any other fighter group in the Eighth Air Force. Arriving in England in January 1943 under the command of Colonel Hub Zemke, a master tactician and fearless leader, the 56th quickly emerged as an outstanding fighting unit. The only Eighth Air Force Group to fly P-47 Thunderbolts throughout the war, the 56th spawned more fighter Aces than any other USAAF group - legends such as Gabby Gabreski, Robert Johnson and the colourful Ace Walker Bud Mahurin. Under Hub Zemkes mercurial leadership they became known and feared as Zemkes Wolfpack. On 26 November, 1943, the P-47s of the 56th Fighter Group were tasked to escort B-24 Liberators of the 392nd Bomb Group on a dangerous mission to attack the heavily defended industrial and dockyard facilities in the German port of Bremen. Zemke knew the Luftwaffe would be waiting for them as they approached the target, and they were - in force! It was to become a day of high drama. With the Luftwaffe throwing all the fighters they could muster at the American heavy bombers, a massive aerial battle ensued. In the running dogfights high over Bremen, the Wolfpack claimed their most successful action of the war with 23 confirmed kills, 3 probables, and 9 damaged, creating an all-time record in the European Theatre. The 392nds B-24 Liberators could not have been in safer hands on that eventful day. |
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