78th Fighter
Group
78th Fighter
Group 
Searching the Internet for 78th Fighter Group References . . .
The webmaster recently searched the internet for references to the 78th Fighter Group. In addition to locating a number of historical reference sites, it was surprising to find web articles and postings regarding specific 78th Fighter Group personnel . These findings are posted on the next few pages along with appropriate source credits and web addresses.
" We feel it necessary to include these references on the "History and Tribute" site because they do contribute in part in telling the complete story of the "Eagles of Duxford". "
Contents ( Page 1 ):
T/Sgt. William Blystone, 82nd Fighter Squadron, from 1942 to 1943, Personal Interviews
Lt. Col. John D. Landers, Headquarters Squadron, Group CO, 2-22-45 to 6-28-45, Personal Biography
2nd Lt. George C. Maitland, 83rd Fighter Squadron, 1-44 to 3-8-44, KIA, Crash Site Recovery Project Report
2nd Lt. Frederick J. Regner, 83rd Fighter Squadron, 3-27-45 to EOW, Obituary
1st. Lt. Robert E. Wieland Jr., Headquarters Squadron, 1942 to 1943, Personal Web Site / Newspaper Article
2nd Lt. Lloyd L. Eadline, 83rd Fighter Squadron, 10-15-44 to 2-24-45, KIA, Collingwood, NJ Memorial Web Site
Captain Robert E. Belliveau, 84th Fighter Squadron, 4-22-43 to 4-18-44, Personal Interview
T/Sgt. William P. Blystone, 82nd Fighter Squadron, from 1942 to 1943
T/Sgt. William Blystone Neubiberg,Germany, 1945. (Source Credit: The 357th Fighter Group Association via William Blystone )
William Blystone served as a crew chief with the 78th from the Group's early formation and training days in California to their deployment to Goxhill, Loncolnshire, England. Interviewed by the 357th Fighter group Association, he reports:
" Interview with 357th Fighter Group Member, William Blystone "
Written by Darrell Reed, 357th Fighter Group Association
" I was in the 78th Fighter Group, 82nd Fighter Squadron from early 1942 until we lost our P-38s to North Africa in early 1943. I transferred to a Fighter Training Squadron crewing P-47s. I joined the 82nd at North Island Naval Station in San Diego, CA after attending aircraft maintenance school in Keesler Field, MS. and Lockheed factory school in Burbank,CA.. I was an aircraft mechanic. The Group left California in late 1942 and after a troop train ride across the US we boarded the Queen Elizabeth and with 15,000 other troops we sailed for England arriving around 27 Nov. 1942. We went To Goxhill Airfield near Grimsby and with our P-38s practiced escort duty with a local B-17 Bomber Group. Our planes were then sent with pilots into North Africa and we were without planes for a short while. Some of us mechanics were sent to RAF schools for various training. I was at a mobile oxygen producing school for a month but never saw another mobile unit during my entire time in England. We got P-47s then and after a short time the Group was sent to a new station at Duxford, near Cambridge".
The complete text of William Blystone's interview and additional pictures can be found on the 357th Fighter Group Association web site.
Bill also wrote to the "World War II Troop Ships" web site regarding his experience in crossing the Atlantic on the Queen Elizabeth in 1942 with the 78th Fighter Group.
" HMT Queen Elizabeth "
Voyage Date: November 22, 1942
From: William P. Blystone
Date Received: 98-02-09 21:15:25 EST
" I sailed on the Queen Elizabeth from New York on 22 November 1942 and landed in Scotland 5 days later. I was a member of the 78th Fighter Group , a P-38 Lightning outfit which had the distinction of being the only group in England that had P-38s, then P-47s and ending up with P-51s. After landing we were stationed in Goxhill, England near Hull and Grimsby. Later in early 1943 we were transferred to Duxford Aerodrome where the outfit stayed until the end of the war. There were 15,000 troops on the ship I'm told and we sailed alone in a zig-zag course the whole way. I'm also told that a German sub fired torpedoes at us but missed- how true that is I don't know. Many of the troops were Canadian and other Allies.
My name is William P. Blystone and I was a crew chief during the war with the 82nd Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group and also was later in the 362nd Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group, stationed in Leiston, England.
I went to Germany in the summer of 1945 after Germany surrendered and was station in Neubiberg airfield near Munich until March, 1946 when I returned to my home in Freeport, Pennsylvania. "
Lt. Col. John D. Landers in the cockpit of a P-51D Mustang. Col. Landers was the Group Commanding Officer of the 78th Fighter Group from 2-22-45 to 6-28-45. (Source Credit: Unknown )
One of the most famous 78th Fighter Group commanding officers was Lt. Col. John D. Landers. The Hood County Texas Genealogical Society provides the following biographical reference:
" Biography - John Dave Landers "
Written by Virginia Hale with contributions by Frank Saffarrans & W. Cody Martin, 2000,
Hood County Texas Genealogical Association
" Colonel John Dave Landers, one of the U.S. military's greatest flying aces, lived the last ten years of his life in Granbury in Hood County, Texas. During World War II, Colonel Landers distinguished himself with 34.5 victories in both the Japanese and European theaters of war. He is recognized as a hero in the Battle of Britain.
John Dave Landers was the son of Obadiah Ray Landers and Mamie Legal Martin Landers. John was born on June 23, 1920 in Rexroat, Carter County, Oklahoma. On July 28, 1938, 18-year-old John Dave Landers applied for a Social Security card and resided in Joshua, Johnson County, Texas. He was employed with the Lone Star Gas Company at 915 Wood Street in Dallas, Texas.
During World War II, John Dave Landers attended flight school, specializing in fighter planes, at the Ryan School of Aeronautics in San Diego, California. Landers was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the USAAC and received his wings on December 12, 1941 - just two days after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Landers served with the 49th Pursuit Group, 9th Fighter Squadron in the Pacific Theater achieving 6 credited victories against the Japanese. He evaded capture in December 1942 after being shot down and bailing out of his fighter plane near Dobodura, New Guinea. After a period as a flight instructor in the United States, Landers joined the 55th Fighter Group, 38th Fighter Squadron based in Duxford, England. Five more victories were credited to him during this tour. Landers flew a series of North American P-38s and P-51s, all which were named "Big Beautiful Doll." Landers earned the nicknames of "Firewall" and "Big Ass." The 78th Fighter Group posted an official total of 688 enemy aircraft destroyed either in the air or on the ground with an additional 406 aircraft probably destroyed or damaged. Fifty pilots accounted for over half of these victories. These statistics are based on the claim and credit guidelines established by the 8th Air Force in 1943. 474 of these victories were in the air.
Colonel Landers clearly met the definition of fighter ace, having shot down five or more enemy aircraft. During World War II this definition was refined and required formal verification. First, it had to be established that the pilot was flying his aircraft when the kill occurred. Second, the enemy aircraft must itself be in the air. In general, aircraft destroyed on the ground did not count. (The 8th Air Force did include ground victories in the credit awards.) The enemy aircraft had to be piloted. Captured Allied aircraft flown by the enemy did not count. It was expected that the enemy aircraft was an armed military aircraft. Liaison aircraft were included because it was assumed that someone aboard might be armed. For a pilot of the 8th Air Force to be officially recognized as a fighter ace, he had to make immediate formal claims and receive a total of at least five credits from the Victory Credit Board. In 1943 the 8th Fighter Command established a board, composed of experienced combat pilots, that reviewed all claims to verify information inflicted to enemy aircraft by its pilots. The Victory Credit Board rendered its decision as to the category of the damage, e.g. destroyed, probably destroyed, damaged, and then awarded the appropriate credit to the pilot. Most American units, including the 78th Fighter Group, also allowed shared victory credits. The 8th Air Force allowed credit for confirmed ground victories. These ground credits were later revoked by the post-war U.S. Air Force, stripping away the "ace" designation for a long list of 8th Air Force pilots.
Landers became Commanding Officer of the 38th Squadron in mid-1944. In the fall of 1944 he became Group Executive Officer of the 357th Fighter Group and also achieved victory number 11. He became Group Commanding Officer of the 78th Fighter Group in February 1945. During his time with the 78th Fighter Group, 3.5 victories were credited to him. In May 1945 Landers was promoted to Colonel. He became the Group Commanding Officer of the 361st Fighter Group in June 1945. Landers finished the war with 14.5 victories, plus 20 ground victories. One of Colonel Landers' flying proteges was Chuck Yeager, who flew as Glamorous Glen, and later went on to be a test pilot and the first man to break the sound barrier.
Not much is known about Landers' post-war life, except that he was in the construction management business and moved a lot. He moved to Granbury about 1979. A year before his death, in 1988, John Landers gave a presentation before a meeting of the Granbury Radio Control Airplane Club and talked about some of his experiences. "
The following obituary of John Dave Landers appeared in the Hood County News, on September 20, 1989, page 9B:
"JOHN LANDERS, 1920 - 1989"
"John Landers, 69, of Granbury died on Tuesday, September 12 at Hood General Hospital. Services were held on Friday, September 15 at Greenwood Chapel (Fort Worth). Entombment was at the Greenwood Mausoleum. Former project manager of Brown and Root Construction, he was one of the youngest Colonels in World War II. He was born in Wilson, Oklahoma. A veteran of World War II he was a U.S. Army Fighter Pilot and a member of the American Fighter Aces Association. He was a member of the Ridgley Presbyterian Church. Survivors include his wife, Kathyrn Landers of Granbury, daughter, Diana Perry of Fredricksburg; two sisters, Nell McLaurin of Cleburne and Opal Vaughn of Sanger. John Landers died following complications from surgery. Mrs. Landers has since moved from Granbury to Fredricksburg, Texas. John Buchanan, of Green Valley, Arizona, was a flight school buddy of Colonel Landers in 1941. Mr. Buchanan recently wrote the Hood County Genealogical Society on July 26, 2000, and stated the following regarding Colonel John Dave Landers: "He was absolutely an extraordinary guy, among the best America had to offer when we needed them most desperately!"
To see the complete text with pictures, please visit the "Hood County, Teaxas Geealogical Society" web site.
2nd Lt. George C. Maitland, 83rd Fighter Squadron, 1-44 to 3-8-44, KIA
2nd. Lt. George C. Maitland, 78th Fighter Group, 83rd Fighter Squadron. (Source Credit: East Anglian Aircraft Research Group Archives )
As more and more "lost" WW II aircraft are located throughout England and Europe by the diligent efforts of aviation archaeologists, personal stories of the aircrewmen are researched and documented. Such are the following excerpts from the research report written by Jeff Carless of the East Anglian Aircraft Research Group after locating the wreckage of 2nd. Lt. George C. Maitland's, 83rd Fighter Squadron P-47C, HL-J, s/n 41-6229:
" Outstanding Cadet "
Written by Jeff Carless, East Anglian Aircraft Research Group
" Born on December 27th, 1920, George Crooks Maitland was the youngest of four children, and the only boy. His ancestors had originated from Great Britain, from Scotland on his father's side and on his mothers, from the English scientist, Sir William Crooks. His father, a self made man in the lumber trade, was also involved in local politics, becoming Vice-mayor of their home town; Williamsport, Pennsylvania. After graduating high school, George attended Lafeyette College, studying mechanical engineering. In May 1942, he left college to join the Army Air Force. During his training he excelled at sport, just as he had done in high school and in college, particularly in football and basketball. Graduation saw him receive not only his wings, but the physical fitness trophy and highest gunnery award; making him the "Outstanding Cadet" in a class of 200 ."
" Posted to Europe he joined, in January 1944, the 78th Fighter Group at Duxford. From here they flew bomber escort missions and fighter sweeps over enemy occupied territory. Returning from his fifth mission on 8th March that year, his aircraft was seen to dive out of low cloud and, unable to pull out in time, crash into the ground. The impact came at Watering Farm, Barking near Needham Market. The exact cause was not established but was probably caused by vertigo and a lack of instrument time. A common failing among the young American pilots trained in the clear skies of the US mid-west, and then subjected to the clouds of a European winter. His body was recovered and buried with full honors at the American Military Cemetery, Madingley near Cambridge. "
" In August 1988, the remaining wreckage of his Thunderbolt, the engine, propeller and forward airframe, was excavated by the East Anglian Aircraft Research Group. "
____
Left: A piece of the recovered fuselage of P-47C, HL-J, s/n 41-6229 shows remnants of the nose art, "Percy". (Source Credit: East Anglian Aircraft Research Group Archives). Right: P-47C, HL-J, s/n 41-6229, "Percy" was assigned to 1st. Lt. Robert Knapp, 83rd Fighter Squadron. It distinguished itself when Lt. Knapp temporarily lost control in a combat dive and reached 840 mph, such as reported by US newspapers at the time. It's Crew Chief, S/Sgt. Stanley Crawford, 83rd Fighter Squadron, was awarded the Legion of Merit for crewing 2 P-47s which finished 137 missions( 365 combat sorties) without aborting. (Source Credit: "Eagles of Duxford", Garry L. Fry via Robin Gray/AFM, 1991, Phalanx Publishing, Ltd., ISBN 0-9625860-2-1).
For more pictures and information regarding George C. Maitland and recovery of the P-47, please visit the East Anglian Aircraft Research Group web site.
The following obituary, dated August 20, 1999, was found on the West Bend, Wisconsin, "Daily News" web site. Sections pertinent to Frederick J. Regner's military career, including his time with the 78th Fighter Group, are presented here:
Frederick John "Fritz" Regner Sr., 76
" Frederick John "Fritz" Regner Sr., a retired Air Force Major and descendant of a pioneering West Bend family, died Monday, August 9, 1999, in St. Petersburg, Fla. He was 76. "
" He graduated from West Bend High School in 1941, earning the school's Pick award for football. After attending Beloit College and Marquette University, Regner enlisted in the Air Force. As a P-51 fighter pilot he served with the 78th Fighter Group and 83rd Fighter Squadron in England and Germany during World War II. He commanded and flew more than 20 types of aircraft. He fought in the Korean War, then was stationed in Ashiya, Japan for four years. Regner retired in 1966 after 24 years in the military. He chose a second career as an auditor and concessions manager for the Army/Air Force Exchange Service which operates the commissary, PX and gas stations on American military bases worldwide. This took him to Vietnam, Dallas, Washington D.C. and Louisville. In 1972 he retired to Florida's west coast. For the past two years he was a volunteer at the MacDill Air Force Base hospital pharmacy n Tampa, Fla. "
" Regner was a member of the P-51 Mustang Pilots Association."
" The MacDill Air Force Base Honor Guard conducted military honors for the burial service held August 19, 1999 at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Clearwater, Fla."
To access the complete obituary for Frederick J. Regner, please visit the West Bend, Wisconsin, " Daily News " web site.
Major Robert E. Wieland. ( Source Credit: Robert E. Wieland Collection )
The following information regarding 1st Lt. Robert E. Wieland, 78th Fighter Group, Headquarters Squadron, was found on his own personal web site:
" On Dec. 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Robert E. Wieland enlisted and was trained as a pilot and aerial gunner. He was sent overseas in 1942 as a U.S. advisor to the Royal Air Force and later served with the 78th Fighter Group, 82nd Fighter Squadron, based at Duxford, England, where he was in charge of flight control. During this time, he pioneered what became known as the "Duxford Scramble" in which fighters took off en masse. He met both the King and Queen and his unit received a Presidential Citation. "
"Wieland also was decorated for his innovations in air-sea rescue in both the North Sea and the Mediterranean. He served in North Africa, Italy, and was caught briefly behind enemy lines in Belgium while overseeing the construction of forward airfields during the Battle of the Bulge. He also was attached to SHAEF Headquarters near London. He received seven Bronze Stars and the Legion of Merit. "
" In 1998, Wieland and actor Charlton Heston were among the U.S. delegation on hand for Her Majesty's dedication of the American Air Museum at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford."
For more information about Bob Wieland, his family and career, including additional pictures, please visit his personal web site, " Robert E. Wieland ".
The following newspaper article was also found regarding Robert E. Weiland, it was published on the " The Holland Sentinel " web site on August 1, 1999:
" Robert Wieland holds his Legion of Merit medal for his actions during World War II. "( Source Credit: The Holland Sentinel, Holland, MI, Archives )
"Veteran gets medal more than 50 years late . . .
Award given for saving pilot and developing lighting system for planes."
By John Burdick, Staff Writer, The Holland Sentinel, Holland , MI
" Robert Wieland of Holland got quite a surprise for his 80th birthday on July 25. When he went to his mail box, he found a package with the words "United States of America" on it. "I thought to myself, 'What am I getting here? Am I getting drafted or what," he mused. It turned out to be the Legion of Merit, a prestigious military award he earned in the service 56 years ago for pulling a man out of a burning airplane and for devising a portable lighting system to help with night flying. Wieland was at Duxford Airfield when an incoming plane crashed in July, 1943. He rode over with emergency vehicles to the scene. "He couldn't get out," Wieland said of the pilot. "He was stuck and his flight suit was on fire. I just did it without thinking." Around that same time, Wieland also designed a portable lighting system that helped pilots fly nighttime missions. The Group commander, Col. Arman Peterson, told Wieland he would get the Legion of Merit for his actions. Peterson died a week later in a mission over Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Perhaps because of Peterson's death, Wieland never did receive the medal after the war. He didn't think much of it. "There were a lot of men who did much greater things than I did without getting any recognition," he said. For his birthday last year, his son Bob presented him with a display case with his World War II decorations. That's when Robert told him about the Legion of Merit he never received. So Bob, who works for the Associated Press bureau in Dallas, went to work making sure his dad got the award. "I had no idea of all the contributions he made to the war effort until I started researching his military background," Bob said of his father. "He's a very modest about his wartime exploits." Wieland piloted both Thunderbolt P-47s and Mustang P-51s during World War II. He piloted 30 missions and also commanded 90 missions from the control tower. He was with the 8th Air Force, 78th Fighter Group. He saw action in England, France, Germany, Italy and North Africa. More important than any medals, Wieland got a bride, Mara. They were married 52 years before she died two years ago. "I was always appreciative of dad's service during World War II because that's where he met my mother," Bob said. "
©Copyright, 1999, The Holland Sentinel
2nd Lt. Lloyd L. Eadline,
83rd Fighter Squadron, 10-15-44 to 2-24-45, KIA
A Collingswood N.J., newspaper picture of 2nd Lt. Lloyd L. Eadline, 78th Fighter Group, 83rd Fighter Squadron published soon after he was reported missing on February 24.1945. (Source Credit: Unknown)
Some Cities and States have virtual memorial web pages honoring their war dead. Such is the case with the Collingswood, N.J. War Memorial web page. The following information was reported for 2nd. Lt. Lloyd L. Eadline, 83rd Fighter Squadron.
" Second Lieutenant Lloyd Eadline "
" Second Lieutenant Lloyd L. Eadline had lived at 9 Fraser Avenue in Collingswood NJ before entering the Army Air Force. A fighter pilot, Lt. Eadline was flying a P-51D Mustang, serial # 44-63248, designated HL-Y in his squadron, when he was killed in action. The Camden Courier-Post reported in January of 1945 that Lt. Eadline had been cited for completing 25 combat missions. One of four brothers in the service, he was lost in Germany on February 24, 1945. His younger brother Allan, in the infantry in the Philippines, had been killed only four days earlier. "
" Lloyd Eadline had graduated high school in Phoenixville Pennsylvania. Before entering the service he worked for the Goodyear Rubber Company. He had entered the U.S. Army in September 1942, qualified for the flight duty in March, 1943. He graduated flight school and was commissioned in January, 1944. He was sent overseas in August, 1944. He was survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. George W. Eadline of the Fraser Avenue address, and brothers George Eadline, a First Lieutenant with the Army Signal Corps in Europe, and RT2C Herbert S. Eadline, in the Navy. "
" Lloyd Eadline is listed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands. His military awards include the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters. "
Lt. Lloyd Eadline was credited with one(1) aerial victory. This occurred during a mission on October 15, 1944. In the "Eagles of Duxford"(1991, Phalanx Publishing), author Garry L. Fry reports on this mission:
"German Jet fighters then operating against Allied bomber forces were particularly vulnerable during their takeoffs and landings, therefore, the Luftwaffe made a practice of flying piston-engine fighter top-cover over the jet fields to protect their Me-262s from patrolling Allied fighters. This was the stage set for the combats of October 15, 1944."
Lt. Lloyd Eadline, Cargo Red Flight, flying a P-47D, was a participant on this mission and he filed the following in his combat report:
"Four bandits were called out on the deck and we bounced. I closed in and got strikes on one on the right. He started to smoke and broke left. After another burst his canopy came off, he broke right, and I gave him more bursts until he crashlanded bursting into flames. I was in very heavy flak at the time. I was using the K-14 gunsight and just put the pipper on the aircraft canopy snd ignored lead. I like the sight very much."
On the day of his loss, the 78th Fighter Group's primary mission was escorting bombers to Hannover, Germany. On the return trip the Group went to the deck and strafed targets of opportunity. Garry L. Fry, in the "Eagles of Duxford", relates: " This strafing was a constant source of of pilot fatalities and losses and on this date were exceptionally above the norm." Lt. Eadline was struck by flak from AA barges in the Quackenbruck, Germany area. He managed to make it to the Zuider Zee before bailing out( a 4th Fighter Group pilot heard his May Day call). He was reported as MIA.
Captain Robert E. Belliveau, 84th Fighter Squadron, 4-22-43 to 4-18-44
Captain Robert E. Belliveau, 78th Fighter Group, 84th Fighter Squadron. (Source Credit: Mariemont Veterans History Project via Robert E. Belliveau)
" Motivated by a desire to honor our nation's war veterans for their service and to collect their stories and experiences while they are still among us, the United States Congress created the Veterans History Project. Public Law 106-380 calls upon the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress to collect and preserve audio- and video-taped oral histories, along with documentary materials such as letters, diaries, maps, photographs, and home movies, of America's war veterans and those who served in support of them. The Mariemont School District(Cinncinnati, Ohio) is an official partner of the Library of Congress in this endeavor."
The following contribution was provided by Robert E. Belliveau to the Mariemont School District Veterans History Project:
" Robert E. Belliveau was born on October 5, 1921. He served in the Army Air Corps from January, 1942 through July, 1945. Robert Belliveau was a member of the of the 84th Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group. He enlisted in 1942 and went overseas in 1943. He went to England at a training base near the border of Wales. He practiced on Spitfires and then P-47 Thunderbolts. He flew fighter planes that escorted bomber squadrons composed of B-17 and B-24 bombers over Emden, Germany. He was involved in the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Mr. Belliveau flew 96 missions and 304 combat hours. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross with an Oak Leaf cluster and the Air Medal with 7 Oak Leaf clusters. He achieved the rank of Captain. "
" We were no sooner over the target...we were attacked by ME 109s ... coming out of the sun."
For a personal audio and video interview with Robert E. Belliveau, please visit the Mariemont Veterans History Project web site.
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78th Fighter Group Internet references
This page was last revised on 9 / 19 / 04
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