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Frederick H. Le Febre
FREDERICK H. LE FEBRE Colonel born on July 17, 1919 at Grand Rapids, Michigan. After attending Calvin
College in that city, he entered Aviation
Cadet training in 1941 and was assigned to a
Fighter Squadron upon graduation in 1942,
flying P40 aircraft in various locations on
the East Coast. He was one of the original
members of the 351st Squadron, 353
Fighter Group when it was formed at Norfolk, Virginia, which later moved to Milville, New Jersey. He started to fly P47 aircraft in the winter of 1942/43. With the 351st Squadron, he went to England in
June, 1943, where he flew two combat
tours totaling 119 missions from Fighter
Stations at Metfield and Raydon, England
during the period of June 1943 to February
1945. During that time, he became the
Squadron Commander. He was credited with
destroying three enemy aircraft in the air
and numerous trains and military vehicles
while on interdiction and ground support
missions. He also participated in some of the
first dive bombing missions by P47s in
Europe.
After the war, Col. Le Febre stayed in the
Air Force. He transitioned from prop to jet
fighters (P-8Os) in Germany during the
summer of 1946. He flew a combat tour in
F86 "Sabre" aircraft in Korea in 1952-53
and continued flying, primarily jet fighters
until his Air Force retirement in 1970.
During his military career, Col. Le Febre
was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal
with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf
Clusters, the Air Medal with nine Oak Leaf
Clusters along with various other awards.
Of the many fighter planes he flew, which
in addition to the P47 included such planes
as the P40, P51, P8O, T33, F86, F1O1,
F102 and the Mach 2 F106, he says the
sentimental favorite is the faithful old Jug.
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Pilot Name
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Biography Summary
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Asa A. Adair
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He returned to the States in August of 1944 after participating in the invasion "D" Day. He flew P-63's, P-51's, F-80's, T-33's, F-84's, T-38's, P-47's in numerous assignments during the following twenty years in in, Japan, U.S.A. and Europe before retiring after twenty-six years of Active Duty.
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John C. Anderson
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After P-47 transition he was assigned to the 406th Fighter Group, 512th Fighter Squadron. (E.T
.0.) He flew 56 missions through January, 1945 destroying supply routes, bridges, and railroads; he also flew close support missions with the ground forces, with attacks on tanks, artillery and enemy positions.
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W.B. 'Tex' Badger
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Eight and Ninth Air Force in WWII. B-l7's, P-51's and P-47's. Fifth Air Force in Korea, F80's and F86's. WWII and Korea, Flew 156 missions. Tactical units served in with the USAAF and USAF were: 305th BG , 368th Fighter Group, 4th Fighter Group, 49th Fighter Group, 12th Fighter Wing, 506th Fighter Wing.
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Robert T. (Bob) Bagby
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He trained in P47's at Cross City and Dale Mabry Fields, Florida and then joined the 341st FS Black Jack Squadron), 348th FG of the 5th AF in Brisbane, Australia in June 1943. Bob flew 78 combat missions in New Guinea (Port Moresby, Finchafen, Sador, Wakde and Biak) primarily as wingman to squadron CO's John Campbell and John Moore. Also privileged to fly wing to Neil Kirby on several occasions.
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Frank Baker
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After brief stops at Stone and Atcham, England he joined the 313th Fighter Squadron of the 50th Fighter Group in France. He flew 90 missions through V.E. Day. Most of the missions were close support attacks on various ground targets with a few B-26 escort missions thrown in. All of the missions took place in eastern France and southern Germany. He was awarded the Air Medal with 11 oak leaf clusters.
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John M. Balason
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To relieve the boredom, Balason went down on the deck and blew up a locomotive
he had observed at altitude. A few seconds after making his strafing pass he received a hit in his left wing tank and a fire started immediately in the cockpit. The paralyzing effect of the intense heat made climbing out of the cockpit impossible.
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Albert W. Barlow, Jr.
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He flew 69 escort and ground support missions. Destroyed one E/A (ME-I09). Was shot down on Sept. 8, 1944, and evaded enemy ground forces for 8 days. Was picked up by an American Recon. Unit behind the German lines. Was hospitalized until Feb. 1948, when he was medically retired with the rank of Capt. Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters, and Purple Heart.
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William T. Beckler
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In July, 1944 Beckler exchanged his P-40 for a P-47N Thunderbolt. Missions in the Jug covered Northern Italy and Southern France. These included escorting medium bombers. The Bombers, based in Southern Italy, would be escorted to France by Thunderbolts based on Corsica. Shortly before target the Jugs would pull ahead of the bombers and bomb the enemy gun positions.
Beckler's activities while participation in three major campaigns earned him the DFC, two Air Medals and two Presidential citations.
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Herbert R. Benson
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After training in P-47 Thunderbolts at bases in North Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware, he was
assigned to the European Theatre of operations and joined the 48th Fighter Group
493rd Fighter Squadron at St. Trond, Belgium. After flying 44 combat missions, he was awarded the Air Medal with 4 Oak Leaf clusters.
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Marvin C. Bigelow
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Training in the Southeast Training Command with the class of 44C, he graduated and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant single engine pilot at Marianna, Florida with the class of
44D. After checking out in the P-40 at Marianna, he transitioned in the P-47 in the Northeast Defense Command and after gunnery at Dover, Delaware was shipped on the Queen Mary to England.
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