"DON GENTILE'S 1944 LOGBOOK"

by Wade Meyers © 2001-2009

Note:  This article, which started off in 2001 as a small booklet to hand out with my One-Man Air Force prints, is ever-expanding.  Between my own further research and that of my "e-army", we may just yet get it all figured out!

To my fellow 4^th Fighter Group buffs, I hope the following information will prove useful and interesting. In the mid-1980s, I had the privilege of corresponding with one of Don's sons, then-Major Joseph Gentile, USAF (an F-16 Instructor Pilot!), and Joe's mother, Isabella. Both were very nice, helpful, and most cordial. Kind of gave me an insight into what a class guy Don must have been.

One of Joe's possessions is his dad's WWII logbook - what a treasure! Joe was kind enough to photocopy most of it for me. He skipped some months in 1942 and 1943, but the entries for 1944 are complete. I will reproduce these entries for you here, along with my own comments and observations. I think you will find some "new" information presented, which, if nothing else goes to show how much we still have to learn - and it's evidently only going to be primary historical data such as this that sorts things out.

"Official" VIII Fighter Command (the fighter arm of 8^th Air Force) confirmation of victory claims usually took place within several days, according to Grover C. Hall, Jr's. book, 1000 Destroyed. Capt. Hall was the Public Relations Officer for the 4^th Fighter Group during WW II, and of course followed the Gentile story closely as it happened. 1000 Destroyed is an expanded version of his wartime classic, Mr. Tettley's Tenants.  Both are excellent contemporary reference sources on the 4^th.  1000 Destroyed and photographic evidence leads me to believe that victory marks would not have been painted on Don's airplanes until they were officially confirmed. This fact helps us more accurately date photos of Gentile's P-51B-7-NA, 43-6913, Shangri-La. In the text below, I have numbered each kill as he wrote it in his logbook. The logbook matches the detailed narratives in 1000 Destroyed, and, we presume, the order in which they were painted on his airplanes.

Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things, but there is the slight chance that Don's claims were given special attention at this time, that is, the claims review process expedited, because from mid-March to the time of his crash on April 13, Gentile was in the news constantly. Indeed, a gaggle of reporters camped out at the 336 dispersal just waiting for Don to get back from each mission to see if he had added to his score. The more famous Don became, the better 8^th Air Force, the USAAF and the war effort looked. The war was carried out to a large extent by public good will and their continued purchase of War Bonds, and bonafide heroes made good Bond salesmen. HQ 8^th AF was aware of all this, and they probably made sure that there were no delays in clearing Don's claims. This in no way implies that Don was given victories to grease the publicity machine - quite the contrary. To be confirmed, all victories were either substantiated by gun camera film, witness confirmation, or both. However, good publicity was very important and carefully cultivated back in WW II, just as it is today.

Along those lines, Don's official victory tally has been the subject of a little controversy for many years now. There's the official score, and then there's the unofficial (wartime) score. Gentile claimed, and was officially awarded at the time, 30 victories: 23 air and 7 ground.  This matches the final tally of 30 crosses painted on Shangri-La on April 13, 1944, the day he flew his last combat mission. However, his scores were officially revised downward after the war to 21.833 air and 6.0 ground. Why did this happen? Well, the answer is simple: Don shared two victories with others - .333 Ju-88 on 12/16/43, and .5 Me-109 on 3/8/44. This is a matter of record. However, what's very important to note is that on his airplanes, the shared victories were counted/painted as "full" kills. That's how we get to the unofficial 30 total kills. Oh, and I'm not saying this practice was necessarily "wrong." For the correct perspective, we have to place ourselves in their minds back then. Maybe the 4^th and/or VIII Fighter Command and the publicity troops saw shared kills as full kills to help the cause. Lord knows they needed it back then. They also harped on the teamwork exhibited between Gentile and Godfrey, which was crucial to their individual successes, as a means of encouraging other pilots to do the same. Maybe not a bad thing all around.

The revised score factors in the shared kills, and rightfully so in my opinion. As you may know, Don was not the only ace to have his totals adjusted after careful postwar review of the evidence. However, my goal with this article is to go back in time and present Don's 1944 logbook day by day as Don wrote it, noting victories as he goes along.

"The 1944 Logbook Entries"

OK, here we go - with comments/editorials from the official histories, and my own research, in [brackets] after the date commented on.  A "+" represents small swastikas drawn in the logbook by Don. I have not differentiated much between air and ground kills, except that all aerial kills have the approximate time(s) of the engagement in the text after the kill number (example:  Kill #22 - 1015).  As you may know, back then 8AF gave equal credit to both, which was what they should have done if they wanted pilots to "waste" ammunition on ground targets. After the war, many "Aces" were stripped of the title when the Air Force disallowed ground kills as counting toward the coveted "Ace" tally of five or more. However, during the war years, if you destroyed five enemy aircraft (air or ground) while flying with the 8th Air Force, you were an Ace as far as 8th was concerned, and, accordingly, both air and ground victories were painted on most 8AF aircraft as "kills". This was the case with Gentile.

DATE ... A/C-CODE ... NOTES ... FLIGHT TIME ... MISC NOTES

Jan 2....P-47/T....Low flying....1:10

[Glesner "Buff" Weckbacher, a 336 FS crew chief, has noted that when the 4^th switched over from Spitfires to Thunderbolts in the spring of 1943, the armorers were instructed to remove the outboard guns from the Jugs as a weight saving measure to help increase the P-47's range (less weight to drag through the air) - a big problem early on with the thirsty "7-ton milk bottles". The outboard "hole" was faired over with a patch of sheet aluminum. Photos confirm this practice on many of the 4th's P-47s. The outboard guns reappeared on most kites after the summer of 1943, when 75 and 108-gallon drop tanks came into widespread use. Check photos for your particular aircraft of concern. On this day, 334 experimented with installing bombs on the P-47's B-7 centerline racks.]

Jan 4....P-47/T....Escort to Munster....2:55

[Penetration Support mission. No enemy aircraft sighted today - weather was poor.]

Jan 5....P-47/U....Tours airdrome, France....3:05....+ 1 FW190

[Kill #4 - 1200. Don was flying in "Red" section today - Good show; bombers were on time today, and 10 to 15 miles west of the target Don's section found itself in a perfect position to bounce four 190s. Don got one of them. Don had been 336 FS "B" Flight Commander as of 9/26/43, and was reassigned to "A" Flight Commander as his primary duty effective 1/6/44.]

Jan 7....P-47/T....Mons-Hirson-LeTougret....2:50

Jan 9....P-47/T....Air Test....0:35

Jan 10....P-47/T....Practice dive-bombing....1:00

Jan 11....P-47/T....Diepholz....1:55

[336 acted as withdrawal support for B-17s. From the 335 history comes the following narrative: "On the 13^th one of the enlisted men received a Montgomery Ward Catalog through the mail. It was taken to the dispersal for us to look at. It hadn't laid around very long when one of the pilots spied it. Soon there were 6 or 7 pilots and they began paging through the catalog like kids. You guessed it. They turned to the women's section first thing. Anyhow a fellow does learn that certain sense of values."]

Jan 14....P-47/T....Free Lance - Calais area....2:10....+ + 2 FW190s

[Weather today haze to 7,000' - high haze at 27,000'. Contrails persistent above 30,000'. Kills #5 and #6 - 1500-1520. Don became an ace on this mission. Gentile's regular mount, VF-T P-47D-5-RE, 42-8659, Donnie Boy, was shot up pretty badly on this show, and Don came home on the deck. 8659 was the second Donnie Boy. His earlier assigned aircraft, VF-T P-47D-1-RE, 42-7884, was the first Donnie Boy.  Don flew 7884 regularly from 5/1/43 until he got one of the first D-5s, 8659, on or about 9/26/43.  The cowling panel which had the artwork was switched from 7884 to 8659 about the time Gentile flew his first mission in 8659 on 26 September.  This was common in the 4th, especially with the P-47s.  After Don was assigned 8659, 7884 moved to the care of Larry Krantz and James Lammering as crew chief and assistant.  Krantz's aircraft were all assigned "P" codes, and 7884 was re-coded VF-P at this time. 8659 became the new VF-T, as Don's crew chief John Ferra had "T" as his personal code letter throughout the war. 7884 remained in Krantz's care, ultimately ending up with the Lucky - Reggie's Reply artwork on or about Dec. 1st - shortly after being officially assigned to Johnny Godfrey on November 27. This was about the time of Godfrey's first kill (12/1/43). On Jan 17, Don was awarded an Oak Leaf Cluster to his DFC.

As a side note, 42-8659 was later transferred to the Ninth Air Force's 367FS/358FG and was significantly damaged in a taxiing accident on 24 April 1944 at High Halden.]

Jan 20....P-47/U....P-38 Affiliation....1:20

Jan 21....P-47/U....Free Lance - Calais Area....3:05

[Don fired at four 190s making a circuit, but due to heavy flak was forced to pull off his attack. He landed at Gravesend after the mission, probably due to low fuel. This was a very common occurrence, as the histories show.]

Jan 21....P-47/U....Gravesend to Debden....0:15

Jan 23....P-47/T....P-38 Affiliation....1:15

[Back in D-5 8659 - repaired after the Jan. 14^th shoot-up. He had been flying VF-U 41-6180 Missouri Mauler - Millikan's kite - in the interim.]

Jan 24....P-47/T Ramrod - Malmedy Area....3:00

[Weather today: 8/10ths to 12,000' over channel. Scattered to 10,000' inland with haze. Downward vis fair to poor. Contrails non-persistent at 22,000'. On Jan 26^th, the first U.S.-trained pilots were assigned to the 4th. They quickly picked up the RAF-bred lingo and spirit of the veterans. For example, airplanes were "kites." One didn't go out on a mission, but a "show", and you didn't start your airplane, you "pressed", and so on, throughout the war.]

Jan 27....P-47/T....Local Formation....0:50

Jan 30....P-47/T....Sweep - Brunswick....2:50

Jan 31....P-47/T....Dive Bombing-Gilze-Rijen....2:05

[This was the first dive-bombing show for the 4^th. Eight 336 a/c carried 500 lb. bombs, and eight acted as top cover. 334 and 335 also participated in the fun. 70-degree dives were begun at 20,000' with "bomb's away" at 8,000 to 9,000'. A fuel dump SW of the drome was hit pretty good. The group also scored hits on the west end of the E-W runway at G-R. Summary of Gentile's combat flight time as of the end of Jan 1944: Total Operational Time - 228:05; Total Operational Sorties - 153; Total P-47 Time - 247:30.]

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Feb 2....P-47/T....Free Lance - Lille....2:25

Feb 3....P-47/T....Ramrod - Emden....1:05....Returned - Radio U/S

Feb 4....P-47/T....Ramrod - Frankfort [sic]....2:45

Feb 5....P-47/T....Free Lance - Lille, Paris....2:50

[Don awarded 2^nd OLC to his DFC this date for "skillful and zealous fighting."]

Feb 6....P-47/T....Ramrod - Beauvais....2:50

Feb 8....P-47/T....Ramrod - St. Vith Area....2:50

Feb 9....P-51/G-4G....Experimental Testing....0:35

[Don's first P-51 flight. From 335's history: "Some local flying was done this afternoon. One matter of note: another Mustang (note 1) is here at this field and Lt. McKennon has been delegated to fly it and set forth certain experiments (note 2) on it. He handled it well and it was a pleasure to see him flit through the sky and beat up the field. Whenever the noise of the P-51 was heard all the pilots would dash outside to see what was going on. Some pilots say we are going to have P-51s soon while others are still doubtful but hopeful."

(Note 1: Was the "other" one - implied, but not mentioned in the squadron histories - "G4-G" assigned to 336, with Gentile flying it?); (Note 2: This involved testing the new "Anti-G" suit - photos exist of Mac McKennon wearing one - it looked very similar to the ones used in modern fighters today). Based on these logbook entries, I believe that more than one P-51 was at Debden at this time, and Gentile was also involved in testing the "G-suit" and other experiments.]

Feb 10....P-51/G-4G....Experimental Testing....1:05

[335's history explained today what McKennon (and Gentile?) was doing with the P-51s: "Lt. McKennon again flew the Mustang. It is learned that he is testing certain apparatus and instruments under the direction of the Medical Corps. It is supposedly experiments designated to note the pilots reaction to violent maneuvers or to improve his condition because of it. It is a treat to see Mac tearing about in this P-51."

Feb 11....P-51/G-4G....Experimental Testing....0:45

Feb 12....P-51/G-4G....Experimental Testing....1:40

Feb 13....P-51/G-4G....Experimental Testing....0:40

[Don probably meant "G4-G", which was a 357 FG (based at Leiston) squadron code. He got to fly the P-51 because he was "A Flight" commander (responsible for 15 assigned pilots). Borrowing from their RAF days, the 4th FG used familiar British terms for aircraft formations: a "Section" was the basic operating unit - 4 airplanes. Sections were named "Red", "Blue", "Green", "Purple", etc. A "Flight" consisted of two sections - 8 airplanes. Two flights made up a Fighter Squadron - 16 airplanes; three squadrons made up a Fighter Group. Five or six fighter groups made up a Fighter Wing; and one fighter wing was co-assigned, along with four Combat Bomb (Bomber) Wings, to each Air Division. The 8^th Air Force was made up of three Air Divisions: 1st AD was all B-17-centered. 2nd AD was B-24-centered, and the 3rd AD featured a mix of B-17s and B-24s at any one given time. "Air Forces", like the "8th", were divided into major geographical areas of operation. England was the primary operating area for the "Mighty Eighth" for the duration of the war. This collection of numbered Air Forces was collectively known as The Army Air Forces - so named in June 1941.

The 357th FG, by the way, was the first 8^th AF group to get Mustangs. The real "Pioneer Mustang Group", the 354^th Fighter Group at Boxted, belonged to the 9^th Air Force, but was administratively assigned to the 8^th AF until just before the D-Day invasion of France, June 6, 1944. In fact, Lt Col Don Blakeslee, later commander of the 4^th, led the 354^th on its first Mustang missions because of his experience. Blakeslee flew his Mustang back to Debden on several occasions and loved to watch his pilots drool over this new "wizard kite".

The 4^th finally got their P-51s in mid-February, and we all know the legend of how the 4th's pilots all checked out between missions in the new fighters in about 30 minutes, then "on the way to the targets". Sources say that the average was about 45 minutes to one hour per pilot at the time of the first P-51 mission (on Feb 28^th). The official squadron histories confirm the exact day the first three Mustangs assigned to the group [one for each squadron] actually arrived at Debden. 334's history says that Feb. 13^th was the day (in fact, they name it: serial number 43-12412); the next day, Feb. 14^th, 335's history says this: "Last night the hoped-for event finally came about. Three P-51 Mustangs made their appearance and each squadron on the field was assigned one of them." I bring this up because only Speer's book mentions the correct day the first assigned P-51s arrived at Debden. Most other sources say it was Feb. 14^th. 336's history makes no mention of P-51s until the Feb. 24^th entry, when they say, "Our first shipment of Mustangs arrived today totaling ten." This must mean that they received 9 Mustangs on 2/24, in addition to the one they got on the night of 2/13. These first three Mustangs were devoid of markings except the serial number.  They were in a brown-tone Dark Olive Drab with Neutral Gray undersurfaces.]

Feb 15....P-47/T....Dive Bombing - Chievres....2:20

Feb 19....P-47/T....Squadron Balboa....0:15

["Balboa", or "Balbo" was a big squadron formation for practice.]

Feb 20....P-47/T Ramrod - Leipzeig....3:30

Feb 21....P-47/T....Air Test....0:15

Feb 21....P-47/T....Ramrod - Brunswick....3:20

Feb 22....P-47/T....Ramrod - SW Germany....3:00

Feb 23.....P-47/L....Local....0:20

Feb 24....P-47/T....Ramrod - Schweinfurt....2:50....1 FW 190 (Probable)

[Don's callsign: Shirtblue Blue 1. First big batch of Mustangs for 336 arrived today - they now have ten total. 334 got ten more today - 6 B-7s; 3 B-1s and 1 B-5. Hangar and armament crews working night and day getting these a/c ready for operational missions.]

Feb 25....P-47/T....Ramrod - Stutgart [sic]....3:05....+ 1 FW 190

[Shirtblue Red 1. Kill no. 7 - 1240 . . . last P-47 flight for Don, at least in the UK. Five more P-51s assigned to 336. On the 26^th, fifteen more Mustangs were assigned to 336, making a total of thirty. On the night of the 25^th, the 334 history states, squadron lettering (QP-WD-VF) was applied to all Mustangs assigned to the group.  On Feb. 27^th, a representative from Rolls-Royce was on hand to answer technical questions on the Merlin engine. Lt Col Blakeslee, group commander, held a discussion afterwards about flying problems with the new P-51s.]

Feb 28....P-51/P....Local Formation....0:15

["P" subsequently assigned to Godfrey]

Feb 28....P-51/P....Local Formation....0:45

[same day, same plane]

Feb 28....P-51/F....Free Lance - Compiegne....0:40....Returned, wing tank U/S [unserviceable]

[Feb. 28^th was the first official P-51 mission for the 4^th. 336 led by Captain Jim Goodson. Don flew VF-F 43-6696. Twelve a/c took part with good results. Metal 75 gallon drop tanks were used, but there were several aborts for mechanical reasons - tanks not feeding properly, glycol leaks, carburetor trouble, etc. These first Mustangs all had the definite brown tone to the OD paint. Modelers should add a drop or two of Insignia Red to the paint mix to replicate this.  These P-51s also featured the standard white ETO bands on the nose, wings and tail surfaces. Data markings were stenciled black.]

Feb 29....P-51/R....Ramrod - Brunswick....4:20

[VF-R was 43-7005. Don's summary for Feb 1944: Total operational time - 264:10; Total operational sorties - 165; Total P-47 time - 281:10; Total P-51 time - 11:00. Don also signed his own logbook this time as the "Officer in Charge of the Squadron" verifying the times given for February 1944. Don is not listed as ever being 336 commander, but, as Fry points out, actual circumstances of command often varied from the official listing. During this period, Jim Goodson was 336 CO, but was sometimes away in Italy to educate 15AF Mustang groups while they broke in their P-51s. Goodson was vying for a command slot, maybe with the 4^th after "Col. Don" left, and getting leadership time with other groups was a good education. As it was, Goodson was shot down in mid-1944 and never got the chance to lead the group. "Claib" Kinnard and others finally succeeded Blakeslee in the fall. If Don's logbook is an example, all 4FG pilots logs were signed each month by the pilots flight commander and "O. C. Sqdn."]

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Mar 1....P-51/W....Local....0:55

Mar 1....P-51/Q....Local....1:30

Mar 2....P-51/T....Target Support - Frankfort [sic]....4:15

[First flight in P-51 VF-T, which became Shangri-La. When exactly the artwork was applied is lost to the ages. While at the October 2001 4^th Fighter Group reunion I asked Don Allen, well known nose artist and crew chief with 334, if he knew who did it/when the Shangri-La art was done, and he had no idea.  It is thought that a "Sgt. Fred Rice" was the "Don Allen" of 336, so maybe Rice did the artwork on Don's plane as well as the other few good pieces of art on 336 birds. As a general rule, 334 had the best and most prolific art, thanks to Don Allen. 336 was a little behind 334 in the count and quality. 335 was way in the back with only a few quality nose art jobs. As of this date, there are still a few kinks with the virtually new P-51s:  mainly drop tank feed, propeller and engine cooling system problems.]

Mar 3....P-51/W....Target Support - Hamburg....7:00....+ + 2 FW 190s

[Shirtblue Red 1. Kills #8 and #9 - 1130-1150. 1 DO-217 damaged also on this mission. Longest mission listed. On return, Don landed at Hurn airdrome on the English coast as he was almost out of gas and couldn't make Debden.]

Mar 3....P-51/W....Hurn to Debden....0:40

[Same day return flight to Debden after refueling]

Mar 5....P-51/T....Target Support - Bordeaux....1:35....Returned - engine rough

[When you examine these entries, it seems VF-T, like a lot of the other European Theatre P-51s at this time, had a relatively troublesome engine - look how often he flew other "kites". The cold temps in England were but one source of troubles for the Mustangs.]

Mar 6....P-51/OS-M....Steeple Morden to Debden....0:15

Mar 6....P-51/OS-M....Target Support - Berlin....1:10 Returned - engine cut out

[Gentile and a few of his fellow pilots on this mission were rousted out of bed at 0400 to be driven by G.I. truck to Steeple-Morden (home of the 355 FG) early today to pick up some P-51s due to the 4th FG's lack of spare aircraft.  As his logbook states, he then flew OS-M back to Debden for this Mar 6^th mission, but, as we see, he wasn't having much luck since he had to abort once again. Several other OS kites were borrowed due to the 4th's birds being in poor shape. These 355th birds weren't in much better shape!  Whether he landed back at S-M (to return the kite), or returned to Debden (plane transferred to the 4^th, or flown back to S-M later by another pilot) is not clear. This confirms what the books say about the new P-51s being "temperamental thoroughbreds".

The 4^th FG had the same teething problems when the P-47s were new. The Mustang engine ills were somewhat cured by replacing the American spark plugs with British ones. Sources say that the plugs (24 of them per engine!) were pulled, cleaned, and re-gapped after every long mission due to the high Lead (anti-detonation) compound added to raise the octane rating of the inferior British fuel used. The group's airplanes are being shuffled among the three squadrons to make mission quotas due to many aircraft down for maintenance.]

Mar 7....P-51/T....Air Test....1:30

[This would be "slow timing" VF-T's engine after maintenance.]

Mar 8....P-51/T....Target Support - Berlin....5:20....++++ 4 Me 109s

[Callsign: Shirtblue Red 1. Kills #10, #11, #12, and #13 (one of these was officially credited as 1/2 kill) - 1350-1420. A big day on the outskirts of Berlin! This day is seen as the start of the very public "Ace race" between Gentile and Beeson to see who will be first to break Eddie Rickenbacker's WW1 score of 26. A series of photos were taken of Gentile and "Bee" to publicize the competition between the two. The overflow of journalists in England anticipating the invasion of European continent ensured that sessions of this type glorifying the "publicity-mad" 8^th Air Force fighter and bomber airmen were staged often - much to the consternation of MacArthur's headquarters in the Pacific! In reality, however, most airmen, especially bomber crews, were simply glad to be able to see another day's fighting - one day "closer to home". Beeson, the serious and studious ace if there ever was one, was subsequently shot down and made a POW on April 5, and Don was not long after heralded as the first pilot to break "Capt. Eddie's" record.]

Mar 9....P-51/T....Target Support - Berlin....1:55....Returned - engine rough

[The period 13-15 March saw all ETO P-51s grounded. The "Fifty-One's", wizard kites that they were, were very new in this theatre and had been troublesome beasts with rough engines, oil leaks, engine mount attachment bolt problems, and wing tank feed and attachment problems.  Sometimes the tanks would fall off the wing pylon just sitting on the hardstand!  All wing bolts were replaced at this time with new sets rushed from North American after several were found defective. Propeller and engine problems also contributed to low sortie rates. During this period, the pilots were given time off for a well deserved rest, but most stayed on the station and helped the mechanics with the checking and servicing of the aircraft. On March 15 the group's Mustangs received their famous bright red noses per Group Materiel verbal order. The red was sprayed on, and masking was usually done with approx. 2" wide bands of greased newspapers as masking tapes were in very short supply, if available at all.]

Mar 16....P-51/T....Target Support - Munich....1:50 Returned - engine rough

Mar 17....P-51/T....Weather Test....0:30

Mar 17....P-51/T....Formation Flying....1:35

[This is probably the day Shangri-La's red spinner was peeled back down to the "ETO white".]

Mar 18....P-51/T....Target Support - Munich....5:20....+ 1 FW-190

[Shirtblue White 3. Kill #14 - 1425-1445. Don flew as Col. Blakeslee's element leader (White 3). Gentile later teamed up with the Colonel after they had become separated from the rest of the squadron after an attack. Seems everybody dropped their wing tanks prematurely on a bogus signal - all except for Don and the colonel. Blakeslee asked, "Who's still got their tanks?", and Don was the only one to reply in the affirmative. They went off by themselves and attacked six FW 190s, each bagging one. This was also Don's last flight in "T" for a little while, because ". . . 2 long-nosed FW 190s (yellow noses) came astern of me and hit me in the engine."]

Mar 20....P-51/N....Target Support - Frankfort....3:00....Early return w/ Goodson.

[Escort "service" for Jim Goodson back to Debden. Don flying VF-N, 43-6572.]

Mar 22....P-51/N....Target Support - Berlin....5:15

[Very first Natural Metal Finish P-51s assigned to the 4^th began arriving about now. These Mustangs had black ETO bands in place of the white ones. The old heads gave them to the rookies since the OD Mustangs were harder to see against the ground!]

Mar 23....P-51/N....Target Support - Brunswick....3:30....+ + 2 ME-109s

[Callsign: Shirtblue White 3. Kills #15 and #16 - 1115. On this date, all Olive Drab aircraft had their white horizontal and vertical tail surface white ETO bands (and serial numbers on several aircraft!) painted out with Olive Drab and/or RAF Dark Green camouflage paint. This was to improve the tail silhouette. Some kites showed a distinct darker stripe where the white tail bands had been. 6913's tail appears fairly even-toned. The white 15" wing bands remained. Nothing but flying lately. Very little rest for anybody due to high losses and high ops tempo. However, the group is meeting the challenge.]

Mar 24....P-51/N....Target Support - Schwfurt....5:00

[Don led 336 today.]

Mar 27....P-51/N....Bomber Escort -Bordeaux....5:25....+ + 2 ME-110s

[Shirtblue Blue 1. Kills #17 and #18. Both on an airdrome parked close together. In his combat report, Don said they were both "burning nicely".]

Mar 28....P-51/N....Target Support - Chateaudun....3:20

Mar 29....P-51/N....Target Support - Brunswick....4:25....+++ 2 FW 290s & 1 Me109

[Don was flying as Shirtblue Blue 1. Kills #19, #20, and #21 - 1330. Yes, he wrote "FW 290s", but his squadron combat report correctly called them FW 190s, and that's what he was given credit for.]

Mar 30....P-51/T....Slow Time....1:15

[Flying Shangri-La again after prolonged maintenance and repair of damage to the engine compartment.]

Mar 31....P-51/T....Slow Time....0:25 

[Summary for March: Total operational time - 314:25; Total operational sorties - 176; Total P-47 time - 281:10; Total P-51 time - 76:20.]

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Apr 1....P-51/N....Ludwigshaven - Mannheim....5:25....+ 1 ME109

[Kill #22 - 1015.]

Apr 4....P-51/T....Air Test....0:30

Apr 5....P-51/N....Fighter Sweep - Strafing....4:45....5 kills*

[*Don wrote, "+ + + + 3 ½ JU88s Destroyed (and) + + 2 shared(??)" - the last word does not show on my copy of the logbook. This would imply six kills (all ground kills). Indeed, six swastikas are drawn in the logbook, but he was only awarded 3 JU88, ½ JU88, and another ½ JU88 on this mission (counted as 5 victories) bringing him up to 27. These last kills subsequently painted on Shangri-La late on April 7 - 27 crosses showing on scoreboard on the April 8 mission (as in my painting). After this mission, the lid blew off big time and Gentile was widely hailed in headlines as America's new "Ace of Aces". This time period was the 4th's zenith, and while there was plenty of glory to go around for the pilots, the operations tempo was brutal on aircraft and their ground crews.]

Apr 8....P-51/T....Free Lance - Brunswick....4:05....+ + + 3 FW190s

[Last 3 kills (all aerial) - 1350.  These three kills fill out the final total of 30 crosses applied to Shangri-La. Don led the squadron today and got the DSC (awarded April 11) for his actions. This is the date of my painting, One-Man Air Force, which shows Shangri-La with 27 victories.]

Apr 9 - - - Johnny Godfrey flew Shangri-La on today's mission . . . shot down a Me-410 and shared in the destruction of 3 JU-88s on the ground. Johnny’s regular mount, 43-6765, was "down" due to damage. Squadron history shows Don sat out the 3 missions from the 9^th to 11th.  Wouldn't be good to get hacked (shot down), and stand up the Supreme Allied Commander, not to mention the empty scrapbook pages in your album!

Apr 10....P-51/N....Air Test....0:30

Apr 11 - - - Col. Blakeslee, Gentile and the 56th's Robert Johnson were each awarded DSCs by Gen. Eisenhower in a ceremony at Debden on April 11. It was here that Gen. Eisenhower remarked upon meeting Gentile, "You seem to be a one-man air force!" While this ceremony was going on, Johnny Godfrey flew VF-T again, but aborted - rough engine! Johnny was given 7 days leave after this mission, and was thus away when Don literally bounced Shangri-La off the ground right in front of 336's dispersal area - and the press!

Apr 13....P-51/T....Target Support - Schweinfurt....4:55

[This was his last scheduled mission before his stateside tour (and eventual return to combat - he hoped). Don was behind some "easy meat" victories, but broke off to help a comrade with Jerries on his tail. So, no victories claimed on this mission. As it turned out, this show wrapped up Don's combat days for good since, as described in the next section, he pranged his beautiful VF-T on return to Debden trying to almost literally fly in the face of movie and still cameras stationed around the southwest 336 FS dispersal area waiting for his return.

Among other things, Don's "mistake" probably cost him the Congressional Medal of Honor, despite his remarkable record of service - the winds were certainly blowing that way. For sure, it cost him any further combat assignments. The military is funny in those ways . . .

 "The Crash Narrative"

(Written before I knew of the existence of the OFFICIAL Accident Report - see below for highlights of the official report.  I actually came pretty darn close, not really missing any of the general details; but then I had talked to people who witnessed the event, and I walked the area myself in 2002.)

At about 1635 hours on April 13, as the group was landing after the Schweinfurt mission, Gentile decided to give the 336 FS dispersal area a real treat by "cutting their hair" with a couple of real low passes. There was a large crowd gathered around his parking spot in front of the dispersal shacks. The press was there as well - this was to be his last mission before a short break back to the States, and everybody was out in full force to watch him come back. He gave the dispersal a real rattling on his first pass, but after spotting the rather large crowd, he decided to make his next one something nobody would forget. Circling around, he set up his second pass by diving down from the eastern side of the field. Don lined up, put his nose down and leveled off just feet off the ground.  He would have crossed just north of 334's hangar as he leveled off from his shallow dive. He was seen flying extremely low on a southwesterly heading driving straight for the cameras set up around his parking spot. At this point, Debden has a considerable "rise" or "hump" effect in the middle of the field due to the sloping southern portions of the airfield (the area is surprisingly hilly as I found out in July 2002), and Don was so low at the beginning of his run that he disappeared from view to those at the 336 dispersal at the southwest corner of the field - he reappeared just before he crossed the southern part of the N-S runway. He crossed the runway right on the deck, and then, witnesses said, the plane seemed to settle and Shangri-La's prop struck the grassy area about 100 yards in front of the 336 dispersal. They later found numerous "chop" marks where the prop had dug into the ground.

I've studied the site myself, and my semi-educated opinion is that as he tried to "fly down" the other side of the airfield's "hump" to maintain the same relative altitude above the ground, Don was going so fast that he didn't allow for the ground's gentle "rise" as it gradually leveled off again.  In other words, he flew into the ground as it rose to meet him. Maybe in a moment of looking at the blur of the crowd and cameras . . . just a second's lapse in awareness would be all it took at his blistering speed.

After he felt those first unmistakable jolts, Don immediately pulled the kite up, and sailed right over the heads of the assembled crowd and the squadron's dispersal shacks, nearly hitting them. Witnesses recalled that the plane seemed to "bounce", which can be explained by Gentile's reflexive "jerk" back on the stick. His prop was slowly windmilling, they say, and horribly bent as he flew/glided west-southwesterly for about half a mile, gently arcing slightly right (more westward) as he spotted and aimed for Debden Common - a good flat set of open fields. Not quite making the Common, he did manage to squeak his glide just barely over the pork chop-shaped Howe Wood, a large stand of trees, then hit hard and slid to a stop in the northwest corner of one of Mr. Tetlow's Brick House Farm fields - see Then and Now pictures of the crash site here. Shangri-La broke her back when she "landed", and was a total write-off as pictures show. In addition to a bruised ego, Don survived with only a few minor kinks, further cementing the belief many held that "The Publicity Kid" was indeed leading a charmed life.

Those who witnessed the event then sped to the scene were shocked and surprised, but of course very happy, to find Gentile still alive. TSgt. Dorn Painter, a 336 FS maintenance flight chief, was in his jeep and the first one to arrive on the scene.  He found Don leaning against the fuselage. "What did Gentile say?”, I asked Dorn at the 2001 4th Fighter Group reunion. "Don said, 'I think I farbed up!'". 

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This forever ended Don's combat days - Blakeslee almost literally kicked him out of the 4th Fighter Group, and he never again saw combat.  Don was banned from flying with the 4^th until he left for the States - even practice flights. Col. Blakeslee had his unbreakable rule that anybody who bent a kite "flat hatting" was out of the group for good. I asked the Colonel about this at the October 2001 4^th FG reunion, and he told me that after Gentile ". . . broke the rules", either he or Blakeslee would have to leave, and, as he told me while looking straight through me with those famous gray-blue eyes, “. . . it wasn't going to be me!" Don was reportedly planning to bring Shangri-La with him to the States as a publicity tool (wouldn't it be great to be able to go to the Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum and see it today?).  Col. Blakeslee has commented on the matter:

. . . I've been accused of ruining his chances to be the top ace because I kicked him out of the Group. Well, it was SOP that no one would buzz up the field or do victory rolls because of the possibility of battle damage. Gentile knew that but did it anyway. People say that I knew it was Gentile when it happened. That's not true. I was over by my plane when I saw this plane coming in low. He bounced and hit the ground directly in front of the photographers who were there to film the buzz just missing them and the Operations Hut, breaking the back of the plane. They say that I said 'Gentile will never fly for me again' right at that point. I had no idea who it was. What I actually said was 'that pilot will never fly for me again'. I only found out it was Gentile later.

It was time for Gentile to go home anyway. He had been flying combat missions practically nonstop for almost two years - his first combat mission, after RAF "Clobber College" training, was in June 1942 with the RAF's 133 (Eagle) Squadron. He had requested and received time-extensions to his combat tour three times already. The wreck was carted off to the blister hangars of the 4th's 45th Air Engineering "Heavy Maintenance" Squadron, located immediately south of the base and over approximately a three week period was slowly stripped of all usable parts.

The Heavy Maintenance hangars were where they did major repair work and refitting. Nobody remembers or knows for sure if there was anything tangible left of Shangri-La after the stripping. Rumors have circulated for years that the remains were bulldozed into a pond or ravine, but there is absolutely no evidence of this. In fact, at the 2001 4^th Fighter Group reunion in Savannah, Georgia, I personally talked to several mechanics who worked in the 45th Air Engineering "Heavy Maintenance" Squadron about this very subject, and they remembered Shangri-La well - and how she was stripped of all usable parts, but none of them recall any kind of pond or ravine or anywhere where the 4th dumped their "junk" - and these men would be the ones to know! They don't recall throwing anything away. Their recollection is that their Sergeant in charge kept everything for possible use in aircraft repair work. Finally, I talked to Edward Tetlow, former owner of "the pond in question", and he left no doubt that, ". . . there's nothing here." I'm sure the rumors will continue, though!  

"The Official Crash Report"

Here are some highlights of the "REPORT OF AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT" received by HQ USAAF on 12 May 1944:

Place:  1/2 mile west of AAF Sta-F-356.  Date:  13 April 1944.  Time:  1634 hours.  Type Aircraft:  P-51B-7-NA.  A. F. No:  43-6913.

Name:  Gentile, Don S., Capt.  Original Rating:  Pilot.  Dated:  15 Sep 1942.  First Pilot Hours:  Type:  672:10;  This Model:  94:55;  Last 90 Days:  157:05;  Total:  707:45.

Aircraft Damage:  Aircraft, Engine(s), Propeller(s):  Complete Wreck.

WX at Time of Accident:  Vis 2 to 3 miles.  5/10 Low Cloud at 3500 ft.  Wind Easterly 6 mph.

Pilot's Mission:  Operational Ramrod.  Nature of Accident:  Crash-Landed.  Cause of Accident:  Flew too low over field, scraping propeller and air-scoop.

Narrative:  Captain Gentile was returning from an operational mission and as pre-arranged with the press, he made a "beat up" of his dispersal and came in too low, striking his propeller and air-scoop on the ground.  He then climbed to 400 or 500 feet but having no power he had to crash land in a plowed field nearby.  Captain Gentile was to have been photographed in his landing and interviewed afterwards for publicity purposes and it is believed that he became over-anxious to put on a "good show" and over did the beat up.

CAUSAL ANALYSIS:  100% Personnel Error.  100% Pilot Error, Carelessness.

/s/  James A. Clark, Jr.  Lt Col.

 /s/  George Carpenter, Maj.

/s/  Winslow M. Sobanski, Capt.

Report Dated:  18 April 1944.

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Pilot's Statement:  On the 13 April 1944 I was coming back from a sweep and flew a little low over the field when I hit the ground.  I pulled up and managed to get about 400 to 500 feet.  I didn't have any power and was dropping fast.  I tried again and again to get it running, but with no success.  I put flaps down at the last possible moment so that I could clear the woods.  I cut all switches and set it down in a field near the woods.  It was necessary to put flaps down at the last moment because I had to clear the woods and if I had put them down immediately I would not have cleared the woods.  /S/  Don S. Gentile, Pilot.

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Statement of Senior FLYING CONTROL OFFICER 1Lt. John T. Simpson:

To:  Operations Officer, 4th Fighter Group, 14 April 1944.

1.  At 1633 hours, 13 April 1944, Capt. Gentile, 336 Sq., in a P-51 aircraft, returning from operations, came over the field and peeled off, coming down from the east toward his own dispersal.

2.  The plane was coming down at a terrific speed getting lower and lower until his propeller hit the ground.  He started pulling up but due to the damaged propeller, the plane lost power and started settling down.

3.  The ambulance and crash tender were immediately dispatched to the scene of the crash.  The plane had landed in a plowed field on its belly and the pilot was out of the plane, laying on the wing in a dazed condition.

4.  The plane was very badly damaged and all concerned were notified. 

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Final Logbook Summary for April 1944 and Don's combat career: Total operational time - 333:35; Total operational sorties - 184; Total P-47 time - 281:10; Total P-51 time - 96:30. Don had a grand total of 3036:10 hours of logged flight time as of April 13, 1944. This is a heck of a lot more than your average WWII pilot plucked off the streets and run through the USAAF training mill. As most of you know, Don did a lot (and I do mean a LOT) of civilian flying in Piqua, Ohio before he went overseas with the RAF and the Eagle Squadrons. We don't know how much, but Don did pad his logbook before applying for the RAF. But that's another story for another time . . .

Hey . . . , what happened to the cowling panels that had the artwork?! Somebody somewhere has these things, or at least that's what I'd like to think. On the other hand, and more likely, back then maybe nobody but Gentile and his crew chief John Ferra thought the art was worth anything, so there's a better than even chance that the panels were "recycled" and used on some other 336 FS P-51Bs.  We know that Shangri-La's panels were pulled off soon after his prang on April 13th as shown by pictures. There are several cases I know of where a "famous" P-51 had its personal art stripped off, and the plane renamed after the pilot left the unit due to tour completion or being shot down in another ship. This very thing happened to Cripes A' Mighty III, George Preddy's famous 352nd FG P-51D, after he went home on leave and the aircraft was reassigned to another pilot.] 

"References"

1. Don Gentile's wartime logbook, via son Joe Gentile.

2. Escort to Berlin, by Garry Fry and Jeff Ethell.

3. The Debden Warbirds, by 4th FG pilot Frank Speer.

4. 1000 Destroyed, by Grover C. Hall, Jr.

5. One Man Air Force (1944), by Ira Wolfert with Don Gentile.

6. Official USAAF 334, 335 and 336^th Fighter Squadron Daily Histories/Diaries (4th FG - WWII).

7. Don S. Gentile - Soldier of God and Country, by Dr. Mark M. Spagnuolo.

8. My trip to England/Debden in July 2002, and interviews with 4th FG alums.

9. Edward Tetlow (son of Mr. Tetlow, on whose field Don crashed on 4/13/44) and Keith Braybrooke.

10. The Look of Eagles, by 4th FG ace John T. Godfrey.

11.  Stars and Bars:  A Tribute to the American Fighter Ace 1920-1973, by Frank J. Olynyk.

12.  War Department/AAF Form 14.  Official USAAF Report of Aircraft Accident for Shangri-La, dated 18 Apr 1944.

13.  Donald's Story (Capt. Donald R. Emerson), by Sandra D. Merrill.

14.  USAAF (European Theater) Credits for the Destruction of Enemy Aircraft in Air-to-Air Combat - World War 2, by Frank J. Olynyk.

15.  Individual Aircraft Record Card:  P-51B-5-NA; USAAF serial 43-6913.

16.  Film footage of Shangri-La taken at Debden covering the period March 31 - April 11. 

"Miscellaneous Notes"

1. The popular Osprey book, Mustang Aces of the Eighth Air Force, states that Debden didn't have PSP parking spots - not true - PSP was quite prominent at Debden.

2. The Shangri-La crash sequence was filmed, according to witness Grover C. Hall, Jr., Group PRO and historian. Where is this film/pictures?!  Some sources say it was confiscated and destroyed.

3. Don makes no mention of the April 13 crash in his logbook. He only wrote, "Left England for the good old U. S. A." directly under the April 13 entry.

4.  Shangri-La was built at North American's Inglewood plant under Contract No. AC-30479.  The plane was accepted at Inglewood by the USAAF on 29 Nov 1943 as a P-51B-5-NA and officially "delivered" to the USAAF on 1 Dec 43.  She departed Palm Springs a week later and was flown via various stops to the modification center at Buffalo, NY for the addition of mods including the 85-gallon fuselage tank, the latter making 6913 a P-51B-7-NA.  The modification work took about 8 days to complete, and on 10 Jan 1944 she departed Buffalo and flew via Syracuse (where she had follow-up work done to remedy an unspecified "Mechanical Trouble" notation) to Newark, NJ for embarkation to the UK.  43-6913 departed the USA for England on 24 Jan 44.

Unofficial Mission Narratives written by Don Gentile in

the back of his WW II Logbook

From photocopies via Joe Gentile.

[ . . . ] indicates the word is not clear, and my comments in ( ) parentheses.

Saturday - March 4, 1944. Since this is a day of rest for me I feel that now is a good time to note, what I feel has been my roughest mission, so far, and hope the last of that kind - anyway. Yesterday morning I took off (Don was flying P-51B VF-W) in the roughest weather I have yet to see couldn't even see down the runway. We were scheduled to escort "Big Boys" to Hamburg, Germany. I took off with my wingman Johnny Godfrey and the rest of the flight was to join me (Don was "A" Flight commander at this time) but due to weather we never met. So Johnny and I set course for Hamburg hoping the rest would join us above overcast. While on course I could hear different boys calling on R.T. (Radio/Telephone: RAF slang for "radio") saying they were returning because of trouble one way or the other on their aircraft. Johnny and I continued on course hoping that when we broke overcast that at least a few planes would join us.

J. G. and I finally broke overcast at 33,000 feet after flying instruments for an hour with the gas slanging away at the tanks. I was ready to quit and return to base. After being on course for a couple hours still no one joined us. So we decided to continue on alone. As we were approximately 100 miles from target the weather seemed to clear up as if you would take a knife and cut it. Looking back now I wish the soup would have been all the way around the target and back. In the distance I spotted approximately 50 D.O. 217's in formation climbing for altitude and above them were about 100 F.W. 190's. They were getting ready to attack the "Big Boys" head on. I called Johnny on the R.T. and asked him if he wanted to go ahead and attack knowing there were no other friendly fighters in this area. So as usual Johnny said "You're the boss."

I then dove down to engage the D.O.s hoping to break up the German fighters formation, so the "Big Boys" could bomb before the German fighters could get organized again to attack, which they never did due to our breaking their formation. I began firing at tail end "Charlie" and the D.O.s started diving in formation for the deck. About this time Johnny started screaming that the 100+ F.W.s were coming down on us The D.O.s were cross-firing on us at the same time. I had one D.O. smoking badly when I had to break away due to the 100+ coming in on us. J. and I met them head on going through the complete German formation from then on all "hell" broke loose.

Planes were going up and down and every which way. F. W.'s were firing at us from all directions I thought this was it. In the midst of twisting and turning I managed to get on an F.W., who overshot me, and was lucky enough to get him. Johnny started to scream on the R.T. saying 50+ was coming in at 6:00, so I started to aileron roll for the deck. They were closing in so I had to pull up in a vertical climb into the F.W.s. At this time I noticed a brightly painted F.W. on my tail blazing away and Johnny screaming for me to break. I broke so hard that my plane started doing snap-rolls when I got the aircraft under control the F.W. was slightly ahead and above. So we ended up with me on his tail diving and twisting, which lasted a good ten minutes. I managed to get his aircraft on fire and noticed he had it, so I broke away. Johnny's and my ammo was expended so we tried to head for home but the F.W.'s kept coming in on us and we kept breaking into them each time we broke into them we got closer to the cloud bank my gas supply was getting so low, and also Johnny's, so we had to dive for the clouds with them on our tail, of course we were skidding at the same time by the grace of God we reached the cloud bank, and after flying instruments for a while we let down through (the bottom of the cloud deck). During the combat I lost my maps so I didn't know my position, and Johnny didn't know either so we took the general direction home.

When we hit the coast line, it didn't look familiar for we were supposed to come out over the Dutch coast. I finally recognized the Jersey Islands which meant we were 200 miles south of our course, and with only 20 gals. Gas left I thought I'd never make it, of course Johnny was in the same fix. I throttled back to nothing, just barely staying in the air. (We were) running out of gas on the English coast. Thus making a forced landing on Hurn Airdrome, after refueling I headed home. Thank God for a good wingman, or I wouldn't be able to write this today.

(A few days later . . .)

I was just notified that the brightly colored F.W. ------ couple of days ago (see above) was a German ace who had [ . . .] victories to his credit. Kurt Von Meyer. Thank God I didn't know it was him or I'd probably passed out. (This short entry was written with a shaky hand - Don probably just came from post-mission interrogation and was still pumped up with adrenalin).

(Another mission narrative . . .)

March 10, 1944.  Wednesday (March 8^th mission to Berlin) was another day of excitement for me because I stuck out my neck as usual and of course having the Good Lord on my side paid off. I know my prayers were being answered. It was a [ . . . ] day for a flight to Berlin, but the weather cleared off in the Berlin area.

We were escorting about 1000 Fortresses and Liberators. We - Johnny and I - didn't see any Jerries until about 40 miles from Berlin. We hit Berlin about noon flying about 28,000 feet. The Jerries all F.W.s and M.E.s struck just as we joined the "Big Boys" coming down from 30,000 in shallow head on dives. Johnny and I were covering the rear box of 300 "Big Boys". I saw a tiny speck flashing in the sunlight far ahead then I saw 12 to 15 of our bombers going down in flames and blowing up. Then the Jerries broke off to the left for another pass. Since there were no other friendly fighters in this area but Johnny and I, the question again came to my mind whether I should get in the same fix as a few days ago. Knowing our boys were depending on us and also wanting to return home in one piece, I said, "Come on Johnny, let's go up there - they're getting set for another pass." I managed to get in front of the oncoming Jerries to break up a head on pass, which consisted (of) about 60 or 80 (enemy aircraft). We both fired head on and latched onto them. Then it seemed the world came to an end, so as usual I asked the Good Lord not to forget me. 

I got two or three bursts onto an F.W. he went down, burning, at 20,000 feet without bailing. Johnny shot ahead, took the lead and [ . . . ] with another [ . . . ] we made a tight turn. The Jerry popped out of his blazing fuselage. We were down to 15,000 feet by then so we climbed twisting and turning breaking into F.W.s and M.E.s from getting on our tail. I saw two M.E.s flying abreast, and told Johnny to take the one on the right and I'll take the left one. As usual Johnny said "You're the boss, let's go". In a flash we were on the Jerries. Johnny's blew up and mine caught fire and began to disintegrate fast, so the pilot bailed out. No more than we finished with them when two more M.E.s were below us. Johnny turned and got his killed right away but I went round and round for at least five minutes. I kept clobbering him but I guess it was not enough. Suddenly he gave up and went in a vertical dive and that enabled me to blow him apart. Then I looked around and saw an M.E. coming around for Johnny's tail. I yelled "break into him Johnny" he did and the Jerry overshot. I got a few bursts in the Jerry but he snap rolled and got away from me, so Johnny got him smoking but his ammo was gone, so I climbed aboard again with the Jerry split S'ing and with a few more bursts he was burning viciously with flames shooting 15 feet in back of him he must have been tough for he continued fighting for a couple minutes with his craft a burning inferno but he finally rolled over on his back and bailed out. With my ammo practically gone we caught up with our "Big Boys" in the meantime breaking into Jerries who were attacking us. I noticed the bombers had dropped their load and the Jerries we broke up in formation hadn't reformed yet.

There was a crippled Fort staggering behind the rest so I suggested we join up and escort him home, so we covered him home, not that we could have done much for Johnny's ammo was gone and I with a few rounds left. We broke off a few attacks on this Fort but we managed to scare off the M.E. All the way back the boys in the Fort kept throwing kisses at us. Another mission like my last couple and I'll be ready for a pencil pushing job - if I can hold a pencil.

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