WORLD WAR TWO PILOT MEMOIRE
40 FLYPAST December 2018
WORLD WAR TWO PILOT MEMOIR
roommate from Columbus, Ohio,
Lt Bob Hulderman, with whom I
became close friends.”
Hulderman usually flew P-51B
42-106950/WR-P, which he took
over from Maj Clay Kinnard
who’d named it The Iowa Beaut.
The aircraft retained Kinnard’s
impressive victory tally under the
cockpit and Warren Peglar flew it
several times.
However, not all the Americans
were as welcoming, as Peglar
explained: “At first there was some
hesitation on the part of a couple of
pilots to accept the fact that I would
be part of their squadron.“One from the deep South was
openly hostile and belligerent, and
advised me that he had been trained
at Corpus Christi – and ‘what
jerkwater place was I trained at?’ At
this point Maj Marshall advised him
to shut up and listen to someone who
had been in action while ‘you were
still learning how to taxi a Stearman!’
“My first big bomber raid was on
the 29th [July], and after a good
breakfast – bacon and eggs, no less- it was over to the briefing hall.
The whole wing was there: three
squadrons, 48 pilots and the various
senior officers who would cover the
operation and our part in it. Our
charges were 760 Fortresses that
would bomb a synthetic oil plant
at Merseburg, near Leipzig, deep
into Germany.
“Our squadron, the 354th, would
fly close support to a large part of
the B-17 forces, which means we’d
be at about 20,000ft, 500 yards out
from the bombers. We rendezvoused
with them just off the Dutch coast
and we carried long-range tanks
that, if attacked by enemy fighters,
we would drop... in a hurry!
“The mission went well. We did
not encounter any enemy planes,
not in our sector, and we landed
back home about six hours later,
all safe and sound. I had been in
P-51D ‘WR-D’.
“Two days later came an escort
mission for 1,300 bombers to
Munich – targets were factories, rail
yards etc. We were airborne over
6½ hours on this one and saw good
bombing – and very heavy, accurate
flak bursting all around us.
“One Fortress blew up and fell
apart, no parachutes. On these raids
you always knew where the target
was from the pall of smoke rising up
to well over 20,000ft.”DOUBLE VICTORY
“I got my first success with the
USAAF on August 3. It came
during another big raid – this one to
the Strasbourg area by 1,154 heavy
bombers to various transportation,
industrial and fuel targets; 672 of
these to be escorted by the 355th
FG, with Bill Marshall leading the
354th FS.
“We made rendezvous with the
B-17s south of Eindhoven andand, on September 11, shot down a
Messerschmitt Bf 109 and damaged
a second on another mission.
After the Spitfires they’d all flown
previously, the P-51D came as a
shock, as Peglar explained: “The
Mustang was bulky, so it needed the
greatest of attention. After a while
you find that this is a wonderful
machine in which to fight your
war. It was armed with six 0.50-cal
machine guns, and the firepower
was devastating.
“I soloed on the P-51 on July 15,
1944 and, as I got used to it, I was
full of anticipation for my first foray
deep into enemy territory. My new
squadron leader, Capt Bert Marshall,
made ithe ntroduction to flying with
the ‘Yanks’ a pleasant experience.
“The food in the mess was
excellent, their generosity was
amazing, and to this day I’ve felt
privileged to have served with the
Eighth Air Force. On my arrival
I was assigned quarters with a“My fi rst big bomber raid was on the 29th and after a
good breakfast – bacon and eggs, no less – it was over to the“My fi rst big bomber raid was on the 29th and after a
good breakfast – bacon and eggs, no less – it was over to the“My fi rst big bomber raid was on the 29th and after a
briefi ng hall”
good breakfast – bacon and eggs, no less – it was over to the
briefi ng hall”good breakfast – bacon and eggs, no less – it was over to the
Above
Warren (on wing)
discusses the relative
merits of the Spitfi re
and P-51 with his CO
in the 354th FS, Maj
Bert Marshall. Peglar
was credited with
four victories plus one
ground ‘kill’ during
his attachment to the
Eighth AF.Right
Flt Lt Jack Cleland
(right) with his
groundcrew at Leiston,
Suffolk, in August 1944.
J CLELEND VIA J C SCUTTSBelow
Parked at Leiston, P-51D
Mustang 44-13573 ‘B6-
V’ was Jack Cleland’s
regular mount in the
356th FS, 357th FG.
It wears two victory
symbols and is named
after his wife Isobel.
J CLELAND VIA J C SCUTTS