#56th fighter group

[onefootin1941]

Three top ace fighter pilots of World War 2, from the 56th Fighter Group

(Left to right) Robert Johnson, Hubert “Hub” Zemke and Walker “Bud” Mahurin. (National Archives)

[usafphantom2]

Here's an image to brighten up a drab day.

It was taken in Essex during WW2, Boxted to be precise. It shows a USAAF P-47 of the 56th Fighter Group undergoing maintenance. Coloured by Howdi.

@WW2airfields via X

[freetheshit-outofyou]

Colonel Dave Schilling, P-47 ace (22.5 kills) and eventual CO of the 56th Fighter Group 'Zemke's Wolfpack' carried a full auto modified .45 'machine pistol' on missions over occupied Europe.

[bigglesworld]

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. 61st Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group. Radio equipment test. 1944

[aviationgeek71]

P-47C Thunderbolt, 56th Fighter Group, 61st Fighter Squadron. 

[captain-price-unofficially]

Republic P-47B Thunderbolts of the 56th Fighter Group in flight, in 1942

[eliotqueliot]

Ted Coldwater's airplanes

This might not matter to anyone but me (art purposes), but I'm identifying some of Quentin's father's model planes. The one in the foreground left here is a P-47 Thunderbolt, one of the workhorses of World War II, flown by the U.S. Army Air Forces. This one flew with the 56th Fighter Group, 61st Fighter Squadron, 8th Air Force (stationed at the RAF air bases in this order: RAF Kings Cliffe, then moved to RAF Horsham St Faith, then RAF Halesworth, and finally RAF Boxted--most likely flying out of Boxted). I can't see the serial number on the tail, so I can't be certain, but one of the most popular model planes of this type is the P-47D (serial number 42-26418) flown by Lt. Col. Francis "Gabby" Gabreski out of Boxted. If you have more info, please let me know.

By the way--Quentin's mom was wrong on so many levels. So many. Including the fact that these planes aren't a worthless waste of time, or something to quickly dispose of--not just for sentimental reasons. Q's dad's collection would indeed have been worth quite a lot. Most of all I wish Q had been able to keep at least one plane to remember his dad--no matter how much catharsis Jennifer helped him achieve that day.

[pinturas-sgm-aviacion]

1944 05 12 Eagle Strike - Simon Atack

Flying his Messerschmitt Me109G6, Major Günther Rall, Group Commander of II./JG11 with over 200 air victories already to his credit, clashes with a P-47 Thunderbolt of the 63rd Sqn, 56th Fighter Group high over the Rhine south of Koblenz, May 12, 1944.

Led by Colonel Hub Zemke, the 56th Fighter Group played advance guard to a deep penetration bomber raid to central Germany. As his forty eight P-47 Thunderbolts arrived to sweep the sky around the Koblenz –Frankfurt area, the Me109s of II./JG11 pounced from a 5000 feet height advantage.

Simon Atack’s high-impact painting depicts Major Günther Rall bringing down Hub Zemke’s wingman, the first of two victories he claimed before himself being brought down by 56th Fighter Group P-47s later in the combat. Günther Rall returned to combat flying, commanding JG300 until the end of hostilities by which time, with 275 air victories, he became the third highest scoring Ace in history.

[militarymetalart]

We build the Future of Airpower through our unwavering focus on safe, reliable aircraft! The 56th Maintenance Group provides aircraft maintenance on 77 F-16 and 86 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft. The group plays a pivotal role in conducting safe training for 405 pilots, by generating more than 30,000 sorties and 37,000 flight hours each year. The group also provides maintenance and munition support for Republic of Singapore Air Force partner nations; and is the largest US Air Force fighter maintenance group. Additionally, the group directly supports the 372 Training Squadron’s mission to train mission ready F-35 crew chiefs. The 56th Maintenance Group also directly contributes to Luke's second mission: training more than 3,000 maintenance technicians and 121 Mission Ready F-35 crew chiefs each year. https://www.instagram.com/p/CpTjY3frcXJ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[usaac-official]

Men of the 61st Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group.  Unlike many group photographs, all the men have been identified.

Front Row: Lt. George E Levkovich, Lt. Robert A Baughman, Capt. James R Carter, Lt. Stuart H Getz, Lt. Arthur C Maul, Lt. Robert J Rankin, Lt. Earl Hertel, Lt. Cleon C Thornton, Lt. Oscar M Belk, Lt. Joel I Popplewell. 

Middle Row: Lt. William R Hudson, Lt. Warren S Patterson, Lt. Timothy J Sullivan, Lt. Merton J Gillies, Lt. Jack J Haek, Lt. Praeger Neyland, Lt. Edward A Sisson, Lt. Samuel D Hamilton, Lt. William M Heaton, Lt. Herbert R Holtmeier, Lt. Steven Gerick, Lt. Carl E Westman. 

Back Row: Lt. Dick W Thompson, Lt. James J Clark, Lt. William H Barnes, Capt. Benjamin E Cathers, S/Ldr. Tadeusz Sawicz, Flt/Lt. Tadeusz Andersz, Lt.Col. Francis S Gabreski, Flt/Lt. Boleslaw M Gladych, S/Ldr. Kazimierz Rutkowski, Flt/Lt. Witold A Lanowski, Lt. Robert J Keen, Lt. James M Jure, Lt. Joseph H Perry, Lt. William R Aggers. 

Identification thanks to Piotr Wisniewsk

[airmanisr]

Post War Paris Display by Willard Womack Via Flickr: B-17 of the 94th Bomb Group, the 331st Squadron. P-47, #44-21175, (UN-Z) of the 56th Fighter Group, Zemkes Wolfpack. P-51, along the wing tip of a B-17, and a B-24 of the 453 Bomb Group, (circle J)

[aviationwarhistory]

Frederick Joseph Christensen Jr. was an American fighter pilot who flew with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. A member of the 56th Fighter Group in England, Christensen scored 21½ aerial victories.

[usafphantom2]

Photo thread of the USAAF 56th Fighter Group 'Zemke's Wolfpack' who flew P47 Thunderbolts. Based in north Suffolk at Halesworth Airfield, England.

@WW2 airfields via X

[j-r-macready]

Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning AF 13-5071 USAF , "LF" 62nd Fighter Squadron "Spike War Dawgs", by christopher murkin Via Flickr: Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning AF 13-5071 USAF , "LF" 62nd Fighter Squadron "Spike War Dawgs", 56th Operations Group, "LF" Luke AFB, Arizona, Air Combat Command, F-35 advanced fighter training Squadron The F35 Jet is multirole combat aircraft, designed for ground attack and air-superiority mission Photo taken at EAA Airventure Wittman Regional Airport Oshkosh Wisconsin USA July 2019 1AA_6965

[pink-peony-princess]

Thank you for loving me/S.M

"Baby, time to get up hon, you've got work in an hour," Shawn whispered in my ear, peppering kisses from my brow down to my chin. His calloused fingers- from his favourite hobby- the guitar- running up and down my arms.

"Mmm, morning," I smiled leaning up to meet his soft kiss.

"Is that coffee I smell?" I asked, sitting up slowly, pulling my (Shawn's) favourite over-sized sweater off the arm chair at the side of the bed and standing up only to be pulled into my favourite spot in the world, Shawn's warm embrace.

"Do you really think I'd be so silly as to wake you without the coffee pot at the ready?" he laughed, kissing my temple again, before taking my hand and leading me down the hallway and into the kitchen.

Both Shawn and I worked for the City of Toronto Fire Department, me as a recently qualified paramedic, and Shawn as a firefighter and paramedic. It had been a tough few months for me, the job was demanding and taxing, but I loved it, and I had Shawn and all my work mates to help guide me.

"Sit," he pointed to the barstool where a cup of coffee in my favourite mug and omelette was waiting.

"Ahhh I love you!" I groaned, flopping down in the chair, shovelling a piece of the fragrant food into my mouth.

"I take it it meets your expectations," he laughed, coming to sit next to me.

"Exceeds!" I mumbled around the next mouthful.

Am hour later and Shawn had dropped me at my station, before headed off across town again to his station.

As I made my way into the station the familiar sounds of saws, engines and various other equipment- once so threatening now seemed to welcome me home.

"Hey El." my work partner and paramedic in charge Jo called, coming to meet me at the locker room door.

"Morning, how are Eli and Felix today?" I asked referring to her two little boys.

"They're okay. Eli had a meltdown before school this morning at having to get out of bed, but once I reminded him that Mummy can't go to work and save people if he doesn't get up and go to school all was well. I swear if the kid doesn't become a firefighter or a paramedic himself one day I'll walk to the moon!" she laughed.

"Aw, he's so sweet, it's so cute how you're his idol, speaking of don't we have that school group coming today?"

"We were supposed to, but due to budget cuts'" she rolled her eyes "the department is no longer able to fund it, apparently it's too expensive and labour intensive to have people out of action."

I sighed," How are we supposed to encourage the next generation of they can't see it for themselves. I mean I became a paramedic because my school had a field trip to a firehouse."

"You're preaching to the choir here girl, you're preaching to the choir." she laughed, turning and walking out. I went about putting my stuff away before heading to the kitchen/common room where we all spent our time inbetween calls.

The day turned out to be a slow one and by eleven o'clock I was doing laundry- (only having been called out once) when Mo one of the longest serving fire fighters and overall cool dude appeared by the door.

"You've got a visitor El, there's someone waiting for you it on the apparatus floor."

"Thanks Mo, " I smiled, putting the clothes I had been folding down and heading out the door.

When I got to the apparatus floor, I was slightly shocked. There was Shawn, leaning casually against a Pilar waiting for me a brown bag in one hand- a bunch of sunflowers (my favourite) in the other.

"Shawn... What are you doing here?" I asked, still stunned.

He beamed running and picking me up.

"I had to come speak to chief Hachette about an arson case so I thought I'd surprise my girl. Do you have time for lunch?" he asked just as Jo walked out, stopping in her tracks. She looked so surprised I thought she was going to faint for a minute.

"And who's this?" she asked with a smile, coming over to stand in front of us where Shawn was still holding me.

"Jo meet Shawn." As soon as I said it I knew it was a mistake. A mischievous grin came over her face and I suddenly felt sick at all the intimate details I'd shared with her about our relationship on long nightshifts-mostly under duress, but still.

"Right so we're going to have lunch before we get another call," I spoke quickly, tugging at Shawn's arm to get him to walk before Jo had an opportunity to embarrass me.

"She seems nice," Shawn commented as we found a quiet spot to sit in the grass behind the firehouse.

"She is," I agreed as he handed me a turkey and Brie sandwich from my favourite deli downtown.

Half an hour later and lunch was done all too soon, duty unfortunately calling for Shawn leaving me alone to face the scrutiny of Jo.

"Girrlll, OMG, he's fiinnnee El. I hope you've locked him down cause I want me some of that," she spoke a million miles a minute running to catch up with me a la I made my way back into the common room and through to the laundry to finish folding the clothes from earlier.

"Well, speaking of," I dug around in my breast pocket, pulling out the engagement ring Shawn had proposed with over the weekend on a mini getaway to the Hamptons.

The scream that left Jo's mouth was louder than expected and sent the whole house into a frenzy. Mo and several of the other firefighters including Tiny and Bug to come running.

When they realised there was no actual issue they turned around grumbling about how we'd pulled then away from the basketball game theyd been placing bets on.

"So when, how, where all the details," she demanded grabbing my arm and jumping up and down. Just the thought of the romantic evening Shawn and I had spent made me giddy again.

However before I got a chance to response the bell went off overhead signalling an incoming call

"Main to 41... Possible GSW, 56th and Main."

I sighed.

It was probably some gang related drug issue again there were plenty of lovely people , but that side of town had a reputation.

"41 responding," I spoke into the radio on my shoulder l before running to the trick, jumping in and flicking the switch to the lights and sirens.

When we got to the scene all was well at first, the cops were already there assuring us it was safe to enter, however just as we were about to leave having treated a minor self inflicted wound a man brandishing a gun leapt from a concealed closet.

"Give me all the drugs you have b*TCH." He yelled before either Jo or I could take in what was happening.

"You know we can't do that sir," Jo spoke calmly. Moving to try to assess the man, who's head was bleeding heavily.

"I said give me the f*cking drugs b*TCH ."

He yelled again, storming towards me. The next few seconds were a blur, I heard a shots, there was immense pain in my abdomen and leg and then I crumpled to the floor, whacking my head in the process.

"El, El. Omg, stay with me." Jo panicked.

"41 to main we have an officer down, urgent assistance required for a GSW, EMS required now!" she shouted down her radio.

"Hurts," I gasped as the initial shock wore off and the pain hit, everything seemed to ache, my leg, my ribs, my head. The room was spinning and I was having trouble breathing no longer able to keep track of the flurry of activity.

Somewhere in the chaos,I'm not sure how long after the incident I heard his voice, Shawn's voice and at first I thought I was dreaming, but I managed to open my eyes and there he was, looking down at with with so much fear.

"It's alright baby, I'm here now, we're going to fix it up, you'll be just fine. Can you tell me where it hurts?" he asked.

I went to move, instinctively seeking his comfort, but he stopped me, and I instantly wanted to cry, more than I already was.

"You have to stay still Princess."

I let out a loud groan as he placed an oxygen mask over my face.

"El? Can you hear me?" I grunted, the effort of actually forming words seeming too hard right then. I could feel hands all over me, and as much as I just wanted to be left alone, I also knew , they were trying to help me.

"It hurts," I cried again.

"I know it does honey, but you're going to be okay. I'm here, and so is Connor and Jo, and we'll look after you, and then when we've got you all comfy we'll take you to get all fixed up, how does that sound?"

"Okay, lets get her onto the bed, and then we can assess her from there," Connor suggested, appearing by my side, with a back board and neck collar that Jo had brought over.

"Okay, we're going to roll you onto the board El just let us do all the work okay?" Shawn said.

I let out a serious of screams as they rolled me, gripping Shawn's gloved hand like my life depended on it.

"We'll get you sorted yeah?" Shawn tried to reassure me as they strapped me onto the bed so I was safe, and then starting to push the gurney out the door and towards the entrance of the ambulance which was no more than ten metres away.

"Shawn ," I whispered, tears falling down my face, mixing with the blood which I could feel was congelling on my face.

When we were in the ambulance Shawn and Jo attached me to the hundreds of leads which I was so used to attaching to others while I lay there helplessly.

"I've started some morphine," Jo patted my arm gently as Shawn pulled a blanket over my body as I drifted off into fairy land.

Ten minutes later and we were pulling into the emergency bay.

The automatic doors opened, where we were met with a hoard of staff, ready to assist, the first person being Brian, Shawn and my mutual friend and colleague.

The look of horror on his face when he saw that it was me on the gurney was unsettling.

"She's a priority one, bed four, resus," he directed Shawn, following behind. " What do we know?" He asked, starting to attach monitors and leads to me all over again.

"GSW on scene, while responding to an incident on the other side of town. Wound to leg and abdo, possible broken ribs and concussion." Shawn reeled off.

I wasn't aware that they'd even assessed me, clearly I'd lost consciousness at some point and I wasn't even aware of it.

I lay there mulling over this lapse in memory, letting the chaos wash over me like a wave.

The last thing I was aware of was Brian shouting orders at the floods of nurses, and Shawn standing helplessly in the corner, red-faced from crying, before everything went black.

"Ah, can you turn the lights off!" I groaned as I came to again, reaching to rip off whatever annoying piece of wiring was sitting over my face "My head hurts," I added as a dull.ache consumed my thoughts as Shawn's worried face came into view, his frame helping to block out the blinding light as he bent over the bed.

"Oh thank God I was so worried," he cried kissing me with so much force I forgot to breathe, making the monitor go crazy for a second. "How are you feeling he asked, stopping me from pulling at the thing on my face which turned out to be oxygen tubing

"What happened?" I asked,. I remembered the main.events but the rest was fuzzy, whether from my injuries or from the drugs I had no doubt been plied with I wasn't sure

"You were shot while on-call, drug exchange gone bad, you scared me so bad baby," he whispered, brushing hair out if my face as Brian made his way into the room clearing his throat to announce himself.

"Hi El, it's good to see you awake, how are you feeling?" He asked coming to check a few things on the monitors before flipping my chart that sat at the end of the bed open.

"So as you know you had two gun shot wounds, one to your left let and one to the abdomen, luckily for you they were both clean shots and we didn't need to do anything other than clean and irrigate the areas and stitch you up. You did however manage to fracture three ribs when you fell as well as sustaining a sizable concussion.

"So what does that mean work wise?" I asked. Shawn must have sensed my nerves, because he was sure to keep a hand intertwined with my, the other tracing soft patterns up and down my arm.

"We'll unfortunately, during the fall you fractured your tibia, which has left you in a cast, and pretty well imibilised, I'm sorry to say you'll be relying on this big guy-" he slapped Shawn in the back, "for the next week at least while everything settles.

You'll be in a cast for at least six weeks and off work from a minimum of two weeks with rehab worked in. Rest up El, give me a yell if ya need anything," he spoke to Shawn as he left the room.

"I'll lose my job," I cried, the thought of not being able to do what I loved terrified me.

"No you won't Brian said you'll be sore for a bit and need to rest, not that you'd lose your job, besides now you'll have a real reason to boss me around, I'll be your slave". He laughed covering .me with a blanket and lifting my bung leg to rest it in a pillow.

Besides when you're well enough there are some people who'd like to see you.

"Get some rest and we'll work it all out when you wake up.

True to his word, he helped me with everything, toileting, showering (which proved to be a challenge with the cast), dressing, getting up and down stairs, making breakfast, lunch and dinner, and forcing me to take pain medication when I was too stubborn to admit I needed it.

By the end of the first week though, I was miseeable,.not used to doing nothing but sitting in my behind.

"You my dear, need to get a coat on we're going out!" he announced, coming over with said coat and helping me to stuff my arms in.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"SSH, it's a secret," he grinned, before carrying me to the car and making sure I was all buckled up.

Half an hour later and we were pulling up to the firehouse, where a few of the guys were sat outside playing cards as we made our way (me hobbling haphazardly on crutches) into the firehouse

"Hero in the house!" Mo called out and they all came running.

"I'm so glad you're okay. You scared me girl." Jo sniffled coming to hug me.

"Ouch still a little sore." I laughed leaning into Shawn for support as she blubbered all over me.

"Well sore is better than the alternative.

If it weren't for this one," she pointed to Shawn "you'd be dead."

"You've got yourself a keeper,"Mo added with a smile.

"Well if Mo approves it must be true." I agreed. "I think I'll keep you." I added, causing everyone to laugh.

"Thank you," I whispered to Shawn when the others were out of ear shot.

"For what?" he asked.

"Just for being you and for loving me," I shrugged, snuggling futher into his embrace, feeling greatful just to be alive, let alone call this wonderful human mine.

[aviationgeek71]

P-47C Thunderbolt with the 56th Fighter Group, 62nd Fighter Squadron, March 11, 1943.