TO WAR WITH THE YOXFORD BOYS The Complete Story of the 357th Fighter Group

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Merle Olmsted's book on the 357th Fighter Group covers the activities of one of the premier Mustang groups of WWII. Basically, it covers the forming of the Group, the training days, and then through the combat days in Europe. We trained on the Bell P-39, as discussed at length by Olmsted. I, and many other pilots, loved to fly the airplane - as long as we weren't fighting in it. It was a tricycle-gear airplane, and very easy to take-off and land. It had a reputation as a "tumbler" in the air force, but I don't recall much evidence of that, and Bell test pilots reported that it had a 37 mm cannon firing through the prop shaft, and as I recall it worked well for me, I was usually able to deplete my ammo supply. It was a fun gun to fire!

This encounter with the withdrawing P-51s was the first inkling of the big recall message fiasco of the 4th of March. About two hours into the mission, most of the B-17s turned back, supposedly in response to a recall signal from FINTHREE (8th Air Force). Most of the fighters turned back as well.

There has been considerable confusion on this recall. Most historians treat it as a legitimate 8th Air Force recall signal. However, in the book B-17s OVER BERLIN, a 95th Bomb Group history, the event is told in context. Leading the First Combat Wing of the 3rd Division was Lt. Col. Harry Mumford in a B-17 named I'LL BE AROUND, with Lt. Al Brown as pilot. Shortly after crossing into Germany, T/Sgt. Frank Atterbury, Brown's radio operator, reported the recall signal to Mumford and Brown. He added that the signal was not in the proper code and therefore was a bogus recall originating with a German transmitter.