Scott Bishop has been in touch with some further information and pictures from his stepfather’s wartime album. 1st Lt. John W. Bishop from Austin, Texas flew a tour with the 351st Fighter Squadron from June to October 1944. He completed 270 combat hours and was awarded the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters and the DFC. Lt Bishop was the pilot of P-47 Thunderbolt YJ-E “Patrica Baby” lost along with Lt. Greene on September 17, 1944. Some of the photos from Lt. Bishop’s album are posted here with thanks to Scott Bishop for sharing this fascinating further information. Rather than cropping the photos, I have left the original captions as they were written by John Bishop. Some of the details are also quite difficult to see so just click on the images for a larger view.
1st Lt. John W. Bishop (0-663448) of Austin Texas and the 351st Fighter Squadron in July 1944 (S Bishop).
Lt. Bishop during basic training (S Bishop)
Lt. Bishop with “his old P-47.” Note that this is clearly not YJ-E “Patrica Baby” and may well be another aircraft as he was not consistently flying YJ-E until the end of July, 1944 (S Bishop)
Lt. Bishop outside his barrack hut at Raydon. The “Weg” may roughly translate as road or way in Dutch and German – thus “Immelmann Road/Way” after the famous combat manoeuvre – though this is entirely speculation on my part. Maybe someone can be more precise as to its meaning? (S Bishop)
A page from a map belonging to Lt. Bishop showing the location of Raydon (S Bishop)
Around the Base at Raydon
The “Thunderbolt Theatre” at Raydon (S Bishop)
![Left to right are Bishop, Stump, Milligan [looks like Maguire], Compton and Fuchs [Intelligence Officer] (S Bishop)](https://353rdfightergroup.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/gsb-19.jpg)
Left to right are Bishop, Stump, Milligan [looks like Maguire], Compton and Fuchs [Intelligence Officer] (S Bishop)
Left to right are Rosen, Murray, Stump (with Capt. bars), Murphy, Knicklebein, unknown and Milligan (S Bishop)
Inside the barrack hut at Raydon (S Bishop)
“Big Friends” returning home over Raydon (S Bishop)
Colchester High Street – not much has changed since the 1940s (S Bishop)
Transition to Mustangs
Lt. George S. Montgomery from Opelika, Alabama flew with the 351st between August, 1944 and April 1945. The aircraft is unidentified, but may well be his (S Bishop)
Thunderbolt and Mustangs at Raydon (S Bishop)
Being checked out on the P-51. Lt. Bishop’s first Mustang mission was on October 3, 1944. From the flight of four Mustangs taking part Capt. Daniel became a POW when his aircraft engine failed. His element lead aborted as escort to the struggling aircraft – hence Bishop’s note about two lost. (S Bishop)
Lt. Walter E. Murphy of Albany, IN and the 351st Fighter Squadron (S Bishop)
“Donna J” (serial and code need checking) is thought to be the aircraft of Lt. Billy J. Murray who appears to be seated in the cockpit (S Bishop)
A Typical Mission
The 351st Ready Room at Raydon (S Bishop)
Heading to the planes from the briefing hut at Raydon (S Bishop)
Heading to the aircraft (S Bishop)
Take-off (S Bishop)
Take-off (S Bishop)
Lining up – in the front in Fred Lefebre’s “Willit Run?” (S Bishop)
Mustangs of the 351st FS take-off (S Bishop)
353rdFighterGroup 
Thanks for sharing.
“Donna J” YJ-O is Murray’s second P-51 of that name. It is 44-14808 and the last four can just be made out on the cowl. It was lost in a belly landing due to engine failure on 17 Januaty 1945 and written off the following day.Pilot was Robert Wiehe. His previous 44-13978 YJ-W seems to have been reassigned to Harry Morris.
Thanks for the new pictures. That is definitely William Maguire in the center of one snap.I have never seen this picture before. Capt. Maquire was my mother’s first cousin. Thanks Again!
I looked at the two serial #s again and am now pretty sure that 14808 was in fact his before 13978. It seems that he took 13978 after 14808 had the CBL due to engine failure on 17 January 1945. Strange, as there should have been later models available but maybe it was a matter of expediency?
Hi Peter – Thanks for this – yes Murray is listed as flying YJ-O 14808 on October 7, 1944 so it has to be his first aircraft. He began flying YJ-W 13978 as his regular aircraft from around February 6, 1945. There’s a small pic of the crash of “Donna J” Januaary 17, 1945 on p.584 of Jonah’s Feet Are Dry.
Fantastic set of photos and some great take off shots. The ‘Bubbletop’ Thunderbolt in the third photo is P-47D-28-RE, S/N 44-19934. I don’t have a name or code for this A/C but it was transferred out of the 353rd on 29 September 1944 to the 84th Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group, where it was became WZ-G and was assigned to Lt. Roy Higgins who named it “Ginny”.
Thereafter it was transferred to the 9th Air Force where it flew with the 395th Fighter Squadron, 368th Fighter Group before being lost on 23 February 1945 with Capt Virgil Noriega who became a POW – MACR 12648 refers.
Ash you have eagle eyes – I’d missed that serial number hidden away down there on the third pic. Good spot.