Merry Xmas to you all !

Merry Xmas & Joyeux Noël to all and specially to Mr Dodd V Shepard (89th FS) and his family ;)

Card is from the Anthony Arnone collection, and was signed by Jinx Falkenburg.

Pilots of the 80thFG "Burma Banshees" with a non-refundable gift yet to be delivered, 24 December 1944

Col Philip Adair presentation at the Pax River Aero club in 2004

Le Colonel Philip Adair filmé pendant une conférence, en 2004.

Six parts: Part.1>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwV7zFWEF3E Part.2>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-YKECo8XUY Part.3>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXH2d4coBc4 Part.4>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um3NpXS3mr4 Part.5>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGb_rgGOw5U Part.6>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR5GaeIs-vM Enjoy !

80th Fighter Squadron briefing picture

Picture by William Vandivert from the "LIFE" magazine collection.

Note the 80th FG patch on the flight jackets, the "skull design" on the P-40 painted on the curtain ... and the small kitten on the bench ! >°o°<

On remarque le badge du 80th FG sur les blousons, la penture de P-40 orné d'un crâne sur le rideau du fond,... et le chaton qui se fait caresser par un des pilotes. Miaaw.

459th FS, P-38 "Twin Dragons" in action video

On YouTube...

Another B&W video

On YouTube, again: On y voit les 8 pilotes de P-40 qui inscrivirent 18 victoires au palmarès du 80th FG,le 27 Mars 1944.

Pilot Lt. Raymond B. Mc Reynolds wrote to his family, on April 5, 1944:"Had to go down to headquarters about two days ago and pose for a movie or newsreel outfit. There was 8-P40 pilots that knocked down 18 Jap planes-in the little scrap we had-so they thought was good enough-to make a complete movie of it-as we were all afternoon-posing for the cockeyed thing. Guess it will take them six months or more before we will get to see what it looks like to be in a movie. Ha ! Some stuff."

Burma Banshees P-40 line-up

2 images du même alignement de P-40Ns permettent de se repérer un peu mieux, parmi les différents crânes et numéros individuels.

These 2 images allow us to better identify some P-40Ns & their "skull nose-arts". Among these are #43 and #49 from the 89thFS.

P-40N #43 (source: Fold3)

P-40N-5 #49 "Joanne" (from Sq/Signal in action)+ another earlier P-40N-1 #49 as seen on this screen shot.

Un P-40N #49 d'une version antérieure à celui vu dans le Sq/Signal in action, sur cette capture d'écran d'un film couleur.

Paul J. Eastman

Paul J. Eastman's story has been (well) written by Walt Shiel: ROUGH WAR / The Combat Story of Lt. Paul J. Eastman, a "Burma Banshee" P-40 and P-47 Pilot.

Walt Shiel a écrit le récit de la courte carrière de Paul J. Eastman, un pilote du 90thFS, qui pourrait avoir volé sur le P-40N #83.

He may have flown P-40N #83, as seen on this very bad picture...but it seems more likely that his assigned P-40 displayed #85, same as his P-47 later."Bunny" was his wife nickname, while "Lady Esther" was his mother.

"Bunny" était le surnom de sa femme, tandis que "Lady Esther" faisait référence à sa mère. Sadly, Walt Shiel passed away, back in 2016. RIP, Walt.

His book can still be found on Amazon or else.