The war was over.  Part of the surrender.

Yep, Air Medal...interesting thing about the Air Medal...

"The original award criteria set by an Army Policy Letter (dated 25 September 1942) was for one award of the Air Medal...:[4]
per each naval vessel or three enemy aircraft in flight confirmed destroyed. (An entire aircrew would be credited for the destruction of a ship but only the pilot or gunner responsible would be credited for destroying an enemy aircraft).
per twenty-five (25) operational flights during which exposure to enemy fire is probable and expected.
per one-hundred (100) operational flights during which exposure to enemy fire is not expected.

These criteria were later altered by the commanding generals of each numbered Air Force to fit the conditions of their theater of operations and to maintain morale. The Distinguished Flying Cross would usually be awarded for roughly twice to five times the requirements of the Air Medal. This led to automatic "score card" awards of the Air Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross for completing a set number of operational missions rather than distinguished service, meritorious action, or bravery as had been intended."

So the ground pounder part of the Army thought it was sort of unfair, so the Bronze Star (without "V") was created...

"As a result of a study conducted in 1947, the policy was implemented that authorized the retroactive award of the Bronze Star Medal (without the "V" device) to all soldiers who had received the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge during World War II. The basis for doing this was that the badges were awarded only to soldiers who had borne the hardships which resulted in General Marshall's support of the Bronze Star Medal. Both badges required a recommendation by the commander and a citation in orders."

My Grandfather was entitled to a Bronze Star (no "V") and he never knew (or didn't care)...but I have one with his Medal display now...In fact the only ribbons he had listed on his DD-214 was his Purple Heart, his Good Conduct, and his European Theater ribbon,  but he also was entitled to the Bronze Star and The Occupation Medal....

In the late 70's, when NBC had "Baa Baa Black Sheep" on their prime time schedule, I watched this on CBS. It was pretty heavily edited, for both time and and adult content.

It ended being very little more than a great collage of the flying sequences, which was absolutely perfect for my preteen warbird-obsessed self!

As promised after work.  Italy 1942 I believe. 47th bomb group 84th bomb squadron.  My pap(gunner) and both of his a-20s.  Both were shot down. Two air to air kills.  One a me-109 the other a fw-190.  Great guy miss him a lot and a true hero in my book.  Rip Ssg William A Krause.

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Great pics !!

Love the desert camo.

One of the B-25s in the movie was used for a fire scene.  Although not intended to actually burn, the director required several re-takes of the fire scene.  After the last one, none of the pilots at the Mexican air field where the flying scenes were filmed were willing to fly the now-crispified B-25.  So with the permission of the Mexican government, they dug a hole and buried it there.  I suppose it is still there ...

Aren't we forgetting a big one here?

He-111 was mentioned on page 1,....but a spitfire already shot it down

Ju-88

Personal favorite, the B-25 Mitchell in J-2 configuration.

Fourteen forward firing .50 BMGs...and a whole lotta ammo. Gives me a woody, it does.

That film almost singlehandedly ensured the survival of flying B25s.

Iirc, 17 or so.

Excellent topic.  I would have liked to see a fly-off between an a-20 and a Beaufighter.

As an aside, I remember reading a Beaufighter pilot's autobiography as a kid, It was a hardcover book printed in the late 50's with lots of pics, aircraft manual excerpts and maps. . Does anyone have a clue as to the name?

I remember seeing a picture somewhere of Jimmy Stewart flying an A-26 in Vietnam...

I've been in the Yellow Rose and the Devil Dog. Not up, unfortunately but inside.

I built a model of his plane years back and when I asked him what was the desert camo he said it mud applied with a mop.  Yankee inginuity

Italian Breda 88


Another Italian job, the IMAM RO 57.  Looks like a real hot rod for its time

Messerchmidt 329

The Beaufighter is one of my favorites. Here's a whole gaggle of them messing up a ship.

Quad engine bomber

B-25 "Ruthless Ruth", direct hit on Japanese escort ship 134:
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Link to higher res version of capsized shot

Other B-25's vs. Japanese warships:

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This low budget Australian Beaufighter documentary is excellent, the war time film and the crew interviews are outstanding: 

Air Medal.

Americans were very good at skip bombing.  Hara's book, Japanese Destroyer Captain, talks about it and a must read for aviation buffs who want to hear what the other side had to say about American airpower.