Maj. Jack Ilfrey Tribute Flight

[Bomber_12th]

The P-38 is one of the examples included with the superb FSD P-38 package, and is a reproduction of the P-38 that Ilfrey flew during the spring and early summer of '44 (and on D-Day). It was in late July that the 20th switched to flying the Mustang. http://www.fightin79th.com/ilfrey2.htm (A funny letter can be found on this page from Adolf Galland to Jack Ilfrey, written in 1987, as part of a roast that was thrown in Jack's honor.)

Note: you can see where the external mirror on Ilfrey's Mustang came from.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Happy%20Jacks/ilfrey_1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Happy%20Jacks/ilfrey_2.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Happy%20Jacks/ilfrey_3.jpg

[fsxar177]

Stunning! Nice photo-shoot!
When are we going to get together on a MP flight for some formations?


Joseph

[stovall]

Thanks for the link John, I really enjoyed the letter from Adolph Galland to Jack. General Galland must have been a real scrapper. He also was one hell of a pilot, first to have survived the war with so many victories but also to have been made a general. He was an adviser for the movie Battle of Britain. He also got into several altercations when the subject came up on who won the Battle of Britain. A scrapper to the end.

Appreciate you sharing.

[Bomber_12th]

Thank you Joseph and Tom! I took about 30+ images, but these were the only ones I really liked the most. Joseph, it's been quite a long time since I logged any MP hours!

Regarding the letter on the page I linked to, it's far from politically correct, but it's such a unique piece, from one former enemy ace pilot to another, with all of the same young-hearted fighter pilot humor from the war years, exchanged decades later. Several of the items that Galland jokingly refers to in the letter, comes from items that Ilfrey talked about in his book about his experiences during the war - Eddie Rickenbacker, mentioned in the letter, was a good friend of Ilfrey's, and wrote the forward in Jack's book.

[Smashing Time]

Thought this might be of interest. Showcased at the National A.F. Museum.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y260/SmashingBomb/ilfreyP-008.jpg

[fsxar177]

...it's been quite a long time since I logged any MP hours!...

Well, when shall we get you back in the saddle?

Joseph

[PRB]

Oh dear, I bet he was "PO'd" as all "heck" when he had to give up his P-38, hehe! Nice shots, John!

[Bomber_12th]

Thank you for that, Rick!

Joseph, I'll have to try and make a consorted effort one of these days - I know I need to setup some things with my router first.

Paul, I'd imagine he probably was, lol! He did spend quite a long time flying P-38's. He was amongst some of the first wave of American fighter and bomber group pilots to arrive in England, as part of the "Operation Bolero" flights in 1942 (for which was made well known by the recovery and restoration of the P-38F "Glacier Girl", which had taken part in these flights, but didn't make it all the way). He trained on and flew P-38E's in the states, and then flew P-38F's for a while, including the one he flew from the U.S. over to England as part of the 1st FG. In 1943, after quite a full tour of combat (having flown combat missions in and around North Africa as part of Operation Torch), he was assigned as an instructor in the U.S. for a while, introducing pilots to the P-38 and P-47. When he was assigned to the 79th FS, 20th FG in early-mid 1944 (first as Operations Officer, and later, in Sep. '44, the Squadron CO), he was back in action flying a P-38J (as pictured above). On the May 24, 1944 mission, he shot down two Me-109's, though the last of these ended up actually colliding with Ilfrey's P-38, taking off several feet of his right wing tip. Ilfrey was able to recover and he was able to get the aircraft all the way back to King's Cliffe - when he got back to base, he found that everyone had actually given up hope on him making it back at all. Only a few weeks later, just six days after D-Day, he would be shot down by ground fire in this aircraft, and as mentioned in the write-up within the image posted by Smashing Time, was able to evade capture and returned to the 20th FG not too long after. It was in mid-late July that the 20th FG got their first P-51D's, the D-5-NA's without dorsal fin fillets, and he flew P-51D-5-NA 44-13761 from then until early December of '44.

I've mentioned a few unique items about Ilfrey's service during WWII, here and in the "HJGB, Then and Now" thread. Another unique event took place on November 20, 1944, when after Ilfrey's wingman Lt. Duane Kelso was forced down behind enemy lines in Maastrick, Holland, Ilfrey landed his Mustang nearby and picked him up. They both rode in the cockpit of Ilfrey's Mustang (which can be a tight enough squeeze in itself for just the one pilot it is designed for) on a short flight to Brussels, landing safely.