DaveQ
Charter Member
Last week I was contacted by an old friend of Lt. Col. Jay F Marts and asked to do a repaint of the A2A P-51D in Jay's memory - he died in November 2001. I was deeply honoured to be given such a request and, as a result of correspondence, gained a much deeper understanding of what his Mustang meant to him.
As a 'rookie' to the 505th FS 339th FG at Fowlmere Jay was assigned one of a new batch of block-10 P-51Ds, 44-14329 and he christened her 'Junior'. On August 28th 1944, on one of his first missions, the squadron was strafing German troop concentrations near Sarrebourg on the Luxemberg-German border when a AAA shell exploded under his right wing and tore off most of the wing-tip and jammed the aileron. As a result 'Junior' rolled violently to the right and Jay needed all his strength to keep the stick and rudder to the left to keep her airborne. Heading for home he was joined by Capt. Jim Starnes flying his P-51D 'Tar Heel' who road shotgun all the way back to Fowlmere. Advised by the tower to turn for the sea and bail out, Jay opted to save himself a swim and the Government a new Mustang and just managed to land 'Junior' without bending her.
Jay and 'Junior' stayed together for the rest of the war, despite two crash-landings and shooting down two Bf-109s and two enemy-flown P51s during which encounter 'Junior' survived a 500 mph dive when compressibility meant that only elevator trim would pull the nose up. Reading these accounts it is very clear to me that 'Junior' was a very important part of Jays life at Fowlmere and the screenshot celebrates 'Junior' and Jay and all those who fought and died for us during WWII.
Regards
DaveQ
PS - IanP two more for Fowlmere soon!
As a 'rookie' to the 505th FS 339th FG at Fowlmere Jay was assigned one of a new batch of block-10 P-51Ds, 44-14329 and he christened her 'Junior'. On August 28th 1944, on one of his first missions, the squadron was strafing German troop concentrations near Sarrebourg on the Luxemberg-German border when a AAA shell exploded under his right wing and tore off most of the wing-tip and jammed the aileron. As a result 'Junior' rolled violently to the right and Jay needed all his strength to keep the stick and rudder to the left to keep her airborne. Heading for home he was joined by Capt. Jim Starnes flying his P-51D 'Tar Heel' who road shotgun all the way back to Fowlmere. Advised by the tower to turn for the sea and bail out, Jay opted to save himself a swim and the Government a new Mustang and just managed to land 'Junior' without bending her.
Jay and 'Junior' stayed together for the rest of the war, despite two crash-landings and shooting down two Bf-109s and two enemy-flown P51s during which encounter 'Junior' survived a 500 mph dive when compressibility meant that only elevator trim would pull the nose up. Reading these accounts it is very clear to me that 'Junior' was a very important part of Jays life at Fowlmere and the screenshot celebrates 'Junior' and Jay and all those who fought and died for us during WWII.
Regards
DaveQ
PS - IanP two more for Fowlmere soon!
