78th Fighter Group
78th Fighter Group
Personal pictures, stories and web "links" submitted by 78th Fighter Group veterans, family and friends.
_Captain Charles P. London, 83rd Fighter Squadron, 5-11-42 to 11-1-43
Captain Charles Pershing London, 83rd Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group, was the first qualified "Ace" of the 8th Air Force. ( Source Credit: Warren M. Bodie, "Thunderbolt - From Seversky to Victory",1994, Widewing Publications, ISBN-0-9629359 )
Charles Pershing London was born on November 17, 1918 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He joined the US Army reserves and was commissioned a 2nd Lt. and rated a pilot on July 11, 1941 at Brooks Field, Texas. He then joined the 14th Pursuit Group, 49th Pursuit Squadron but was transferred to the 78th Pursuit Group on May 8, 1942. He trained in P-38G/H Lightning fighters with the 83rd Pursuit Squadron and eventually disembarked with the rest of the 78th Fighter Group to the ETO. At the end of December, 1942 he had over 855 hrs of logged flying time. His first aerial victory occurred on May 14, 1943 10 miles west of Antwerp when he downed a FW-190. He was "A" Flight Commanding Officer from July 15, 1943. On July 30, 1943, Captain London acheived a double victory(FW-190 and a Me-109) over Haltern, Germany, qualifying him for "Ace" status .
The first 8th Air Force Ace, Captain Charles P. London, 83rd Fighter Squadron and his crew chief T/Sgt. Percy M. Scott. The personal nose art on Captain London's P-47C, HL-B, s/n 41-6335, "El Jeepo" is shown clearly. ( Source Credit: Garry L. Fry, "Eagles of Duxford", 1991, Phalanx Publishing, Ltd..ISBN 0-9635860-2-1 )
P-47C-5, "El Jeepo" HL-B, s/n 41-6335. ( Source Credit: Jerry Scutts, " P-47 Thunderbolt Aces of the Eighth Air Force", 1998, Osprey Publishing, ISBN 1-85532-729-5 )
After the 78th Fighter Group transfered most of it's P-38 aircraft and pilots to North Africa(Operation Torch) in February, 1943, the remaining senior flight officers were sent off to various RAF training centers. It was no different for Captain London. He reports(1):
" After they denuded our whole Group of planes and pilots, there were no airplanes to fly. They decided to send us off to different schools. I was sent to a British Commando school, which I did not go for at all. Then I was sent to the big RAF base at Hornchurch, of Battle of Britain fame. Wing Commander Bentley was CO there and he wondered what we were supposed to do there. We said he was supposed to teach us to fight the war, so he quickly got us checked out in Spitfire Mk IX's. I got about three quarters of an hour in the aircraft. Then he says, "Tommorrow, we'll go on a Do'" and we did. The next day we went over Calais to let the Germans shoot some flak at us, and to quote Bentley, "Just to convince you that they really don't like you over there". We were about to take off on another mission to see if we could goad the Hun into a reaction, when a teletype came in stating we were not supposed to fly. Thsi was very embarassing to us, because evidently he was supposed to tell us war stories and not really let us get into it. Then I returned to Goxhill just before the move to Duxford, which was a beautiful country club compared to Goxhill".
P-47C-5, "El Jeepo" HL-B, s/n 41-6335 shown during a visit to the 381st Bomb Group's base at Ridgewell sometime during June/July 1943. Four victory markings are shown along with a black crew panel on the starboard side. This aircraft also had the "El Jeepo" nose art crest painted on the port side. Note, the cowl flaps are in the"open" position. ( Source Credit: Jerry Scutts, " P-47 Thunderbolt Aces of the Eighth Air Force", 1998, Osprey Publishing, ISBN 1-85532-729-5)
During the early stage of the war, 8th Fighter Command supply logistics weren't exactly the most efficient in England. Essential materials sometimes had to be procured through "un-official" channels. Charles London, relates(2):
" Amazingly enough, we couldn't get new spark plugs. We had to use reconditioned spark plugs in our P-47s and they were only supposed to be good for about twenty-five hours. Normally after one mission, they'd have to change them and with that big heavy engine cowl, it was horrendous to have to change them every time they were taken up. So we found out that six miles away from us was a big bomber base called Bassingbourn and that they used the same spark plugs we did. We used to escort them and I went over and talked about our problem with one of the Squadron COs. He said, " Well, you fly over here for lunch at the Officers Club and when you go back, we'll have a whole bunch of spark plugs on the floor of your airplane to take back." So, whenever we needed spark plugs for our Jugs, I'd fly over there and have lunch and when I came back, we had all the brand new spark plugs we could use. What a hell of a way to fight a war, but that's the way it worked out. We had a little saying there, "In God and Pratt & Whitney we trust"."
"High over the East Anglian haze, Captain Charles London curves his HL-B. s/n 41-6335, "El Jeepo". Captain London scored all of his five aerial victories in this aircraft. This P-47C was shot down by FW-190s over Holland on a 2-22-44 mission marked as HL-A(bar) with 2nd lt. John H. Johnson at the controls." ( Source Credit: Garry L. Fry, "Eagles of Duxford", 1991, Phalanx Publishing, Ltd..ISBN 0-9635860-2-1 )
Webmaster's Notes:
(1) , (2) - Quote by Charles P. London, "Eagles of Duxford", Garry L. Fry, 1991, Phalanx Publishing Co. Ltd., ISBN 0-9635860-2-1
Thanks... to all that have contributed to these pages on behalf of the 78th Fighter Group Family!
This page was last revised on 7 / 23 / 02
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