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Naval History by Country :
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63rd Fighter Squadron |
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Name : 63rd Fighter Squadron Country : US |
| Parent Squadrons for : 63rd Fighter Squadron | |
| Squadron | Info |
56th Fighter Group Country : US Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of 56th Fighter Group | 56th Fighter Group Full profile not yet available. |
| Pilots and Aircrew for : 63rd Fighter Squadron | ||
| A list of all aircrew from our database who are associated with this squadron. A profile page is available by clicking their name. | ||
| Name | Info | |
| Adrianse, Lyle Click the name above to see a profile of Adrianse, Lyle | Adrianse, Lyle Joining the service in 1941, Lyle Adrianse was one of the early members of the 56th Fighter Group, arriving in England with them in early 1943 and flying P47s with the 63rd Fighter Squadron. He completed a total of 101 combat missions with the Group, and remained in Europe until the end of the war. | |
| Batdorf, Gordon Click the name above to see a profile of Batdorf, Gordon | Batdorf, Gordon Gordon Batdorf was one of the original cadre members of the 63rd Fighter Squadron, and flew several of the 56th Fighter Groups earliest missions after their arrival in England. He was credited with one damaged Luftwaffe aircraft on 20th October 1943. | |
| Bostick, George Click the name above to see a profile of Bostick, George | Bostick, George Flew P-47 Thunderbolts with 63rd Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group, claiming an Me262 jet on 25th March 1945. | |
| Bradshaw, John Click the name above to see a profile of Bradshaw, John | Bradshaw, John Volunteering to fly with the RAF, John Bradshaw flew Spitfires with 41 Squadron. An experienced pilot, he transferred to the USAAF in 1943 and was immediately posted to the 56th Fighter Group, flying with the 63rd Fighter Squadron. He flew a total of 126 combat missions, flew on D-Dat, belly-landed twice in Holland, and downed 1.5 enemy aircraft. | |
| Groce, Walter Click the name above to see a profile of Groce, Walter | Groce, Walter Flying with the 63rd Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group, Walter Groce flew the first of his 73 combat missions shortly after D-Day, 1944. He flew the longest combat mission in a P-47 without landing, after bailing out on his return. Scoring 3.5 victories he was one of the rare breed of fighter pilots to have shot down an Me262 jet in combat, claiming a share of one on 1st November 1944. | |
| Whitley, Edgar Click the name above to see a profile of Whitley, Edgar | Whitley, Edgar Posted to fly P-47s with the 56th Fighter Group in England, ed Whitley was an original cadre member of the 63rd Fighter Squadron. His first combat mission came in April 1943, and another 35 were to follow. He was credited with two air victories, one of which came on 17th August 1943 - the famous Double Strike mission when the 8th Air Force bombed Schweinfurt and Regensberg. | |
| Aircraft for : 63rd Fighter Squadron | ||
| A list of all aircraft associated with 63rd Fighter Squadron. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name. | ||
| Aircraft | Info | |
Thunderbolt 
Production Began : 1943 Number Built : 15683 | Thunderbolt Alexander Kartveli was a engineer with Seversky Aircraft who designed the P-35, which first flew in 1937. With Republic Aviation Kartveli supervised the development of the P-43 Lancer. Neither of these aircraft were produced in large numbers, and neither was quite successful. However, the Republic Aviation P-47 Thunderbolt, also nicknamed the Jug, was quite a different story. The Jug was the jewel in Kartvelis design crown, and went on to become one of the most produced fighter aircraft of all time with 15,683 being manufactured. The P-47 was the largest and heaviest single seat fighter of WW II. The P-47 immediately demonstrated its excellent combat qualities, including speed, rate of climb, maneuverability, heavy fire power, and the ability to take a lot of punishment. With a wingspan of more than 40 feet and a weight of 19,400 pounds, this large aircraft was designed around the powerful 2000 HP Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine. The first P-47 prototype flew in May of 1941, and the primary variant the P-47D went into service in 1943 with units of the U.S. Armys Eighth Air Force. The Jug had a maximum speed in excess of 400 MPH, a service ceiling in excess of 42,000 feet, and was heavily armed with either six or eight heavy caliber machine guns. With its ability to carry up to a 2,500 pound bomb load, the Jug saw lots of use in ground attack roles. Until the introduction of the N model, the P-47 lacked the long range required for fighter escort missions which were most often relegated to P-51 Mustangs or P-38 Lightnings. In his outstanding painting entitled Bridge Busting Jugs, noted aviation artist Stan Stokes depicts Eighth Air Force Jugs in a ground attack mission in the Alps in June of 1944. The top P-47 ace was Francis Gabreski who had flown with the 56th Fighter Group, the first unit to be equipped with the P-47. In August of 1943 Gabreski attained his first aerial combat victory (over an Fw-190) and by years end he had reached ace status with 8 confirmed victories. As Commander of the 61st Squadron, Gabreski continued to chalk up victory after victory, and on seven different occasions he achieved two victories during the same mission. However, in July of 1944 Gabreski damaged the prop on his Jug during a low level attack on an airfield near Coblenz. Forced to make a crash landing, he was captured and remained a prisoner of war until Wars end in 1945. Following the War Gabreski returned to military service with the Air Forces 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing in Korea. Flying the F-86 Sabre Jet, Gabreski attained 6.5 more aerial victories in 1951 and 1952 becoming an ace in two different wars | |
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