34 AIR CLASSICS/August 2022
served with the 49th FS and scored
one aerial victory. Ross, who assumed
command of the 48th FS in early
August 1943, remembered later:“On our first ferry trip from
Langford Lodge, Ireland, we landed
at Casablanca and left the airplanes
there. We returned to Langford Lodge
in a B-17 as passengers. We spent two
nights there and then 16 of us, led by
a B-25, headed back to Casablanca.
The flight was uneventful except for
some tight formation flying when we
went through some clouds. We spent
two nights in Casablanca waiting
for orders of where to take the new
airplanes. We divided into four flights
of four and when ready randomly
took off and headed for our new
base.”Ross’ squadron mate (in both
groups) Joe Miller became an ace
the hard way — scoring his five
kills during two combat tours with
two different fighter groups in two
different theaters of operation. He
joined the 48th FS on 28 March 1943,
and that summer he was credited
with shooting down three Bf 109s
and a Macchi C.202. After completing
his tour, he returned home but later
volunteered for another overseas
combat tour. He was sent to England
as a replacement P-38 pilot and in
January 1945 was assigned to the
429th FS of the tactical Ninth Air
Force’s 474th FG in Belgium. On 13
March, while patrolling the Remagen
bridgehead over the Rhine River,
Capt. Miller shot down an Fw 190
fighter-bomber that was targeting the
bridge. He was finally an ace!
One of the most interesting and
successful former 78th FG pilots was
Larry Liebers. Lieutenant Liebers
had joined the Air Corps in 1940 as
an enlisted man (EM), was trained
as an aircraft mechanic, and became
a crew chief. The following year he
and dozens of other young EMs were
presented with the opportunity of
a lifetime. The Air Corps was in the
midst of a massive expansion and was
desperately short of pilot candidates,
mainly due to the requirement that
aviation cadets had completed two
years of college. These EMs now onlyLawrence P.
Liebers of the
82nd FG’s 96th
FS, with seven
victories each,
and, with five
each, 1st Lts.
Carroll S. Knott
and Marlow
J. Leikness of
the 49th FS
and Captains
Joseph E. Miller
and Sidney W.
Weatherford of
the 48th FS.
The 82nd
Squadron’s Herb
Ross was one of
the two highest
ranking 78th FG
pilots (captains
and flight leaders)
to transfer to
North Africa. The
other was the
83rd’s Richard
E. Decker, whoYet another rare color photo, of Lt. Gen. Carl “Tooey” Spaatz, CO of the Twelfth AF,
awarding Lt. Liebers his DFC for shooting down three Macchi fighters over Sardinia on
18 June.