Lost Gallery: AAF at Bassingbourn

In the basement of an "antique store" these two books of 35mm negatives were found. They were destined for the dumpster no doubt, but rescued for LOST GALLERY and the enthusiasts who treasure the history and memorabilia of the second world war.

The first book of contains 327 negatives. The photographs were scanned and uploaded to a set on Flickr in 2007 and then grouped generally by subject for the pages of LOST GALLERY. Most of the photographs in this set are of aircraft in world war two. Nothing was known for sure about the photographs but slowly over the years some information has accumulated. It was established that the date for most of the photographs is late 1944.

Most of the negatives had notations on the accompanying index pages. Mostly the photographer was concerned about the lighting and exposure of each frame but occasionally also made notes on the subject matter. Where possible these notations will be included under each picture on this page.

The 205 negatives in the other file were taken postwar, about half in England and the rest in Texas, USA. The photographs apparently show a bit of touring before leaving the England based AAF unit and the first photographs after arriving in Texas.

This page will review all of the negatives in the set that feature the P-51 Mustang and the information that has accumulated since 2007.

All images are the property of
Lost Gallery
and the author. Permission must be granted for their use.
All rights reserved.

All of these photographs have been posted on Flickr and on LOST GALLERY blog for over 6 years now. This updated posting adds the accumulated comments about them that add insight and information about the aircraft, the times and people.

If you have additional information to add, please do.

P51s parked

P51s f4.5 60th sec.

P51s f4 5 60

P51s B17s lite haze over sun

P51 B17 f9 30 lite cloud over sun no shadow

From D. Sheley on Flickr: Really cool photo. It's a group shot of 505th FS, 339th FG P-51's. I've been able to ID some of them,from front to back.

"Pistol Packin' Mama" flown by Capt. Evan Johnson

"Junior" flown by Lt. Jay Marts

"Umbriago" flown by Capt. William Krauss,this aircraft was lost on Feb. 6,1945 while flown by Lt. Gilbert Palmer,he was KIA.

4th in line I can't identify

"Bison Bull" flown by Capt. Chester Malarz,this aircraft was lost on Oct. 5,1944 while being flown by Lt. Stephen Ananian,he survived.

The aircraft parked tail out is "Miss E.T.O." and was flown by either Lt. Roland Gousie or Lt. George Jones,they were both assigned the plane during their tours.

From Gerry Asher on Flickr: New camera position = additional info. Third ship down, "Umbriago," is P-51D 44-14383 (coded 6N-H) assigned to CAPT William H. Krauss of the 505th Ftr Sq, 339th FG. It was lost 6 February 1945; LT Gilbert G. Palmer was KIA.

UPDATE July 2018
From "Anonymous" comment (see below)
Anonymous July 2, 2018 at 10:18 PM
You wrote that the plane tail out in one of the photos was flown by Roland Gousie or George Jones. My grandfather was Roland Gousie and I know he flew a plane named after his younger sister named Dottie. See: Little Friends or American Air Museum in Britan

Here is a picture of George Jones with Miss ETO So I think it is more likely George Jones.

P51s f4 5 60

P51s f4.5 60th sec.

P51s f4 5 60

P51s f6 3 40

P51s parked

From D. Sheley on Flickr: This is another view of P-51's from the 505th Fighter Squadron, 339th Fighter Group. I can only identify the two nearest the camera. The closest is "Umbriago" S/N 44-14383 coded 6N-H that was flown by Capt. William Krauss. The second plane in line is "Junior" S/N 44-14239 coded 6N-J that was flown by Lt. Jay Marts. This photo is of the same planes as another one of this set but from a different angle.

The third P-51 in line, with the Malcolm hood, is a C model with the S/N 42-103955 and coded 6N-G. As far as I can tell it was never named and didn't have an assigned pilot.

P51s parked

The photographer often took more than one shot at some scenes.

P51s B17s lite haze over sun

From Gerry Asher on Flickr: No splattering, just peeling paint. 339th FG at Fowlmere, not far from the 91st BG at Bassingbourn. Given the B-17 tails in the background, the photo was probably taken at the latter.

From D. Sheley on Flickr: I believe the number on the tail is 16259,with the 1 being really hard to see. That would make this planes serial number 41-6259. This plane has a really interesting history,what I've found so far. It served with two operational fighter groups,the 78th FG and then the 56th FG. It was declared as 'War Weary' and converted to a 2-seat configuration and used for liason duties out of Debden. Then she went to a rescue group,just like Shabby said. When it was still being used as a fighter it was assigned to these pilots (although others probably flew her too).

Major Harold Stump from the 84th Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group. The plane carried the squadron code WZ-C and was named "Bad Medicine".
Capt. Glen Schiltz from the 63rd FS, 56th FG. The plane carried the squadron code UN-V and don't know if it was named.

A serial number search says this plane crashed at Church Broughton,England on Jan. 19,1944 and was condemned as missing on Oct. 31,1944. I'm still going to keep researching this and hopefully Shabby can add some more.

P51 P47 f9-40th sec. brite thru haze gel filt 01

P51 P47 f9 40 brite thru haze gel filt

P51s parked med yel filter

P51s cub op tent

P51s parked med yel filter 04

P51s parked med yel filter