They Too Served: 496th Fighter Training Group, 1943-45

By Major David H. Kelley USAF

In-theater combat crew replacement centers (CCRC) represented a brief but important stop for aircrews training as replacements for personnel lost in the European theater during World War II. The Eighth Air Force’s 496th Fighter Training Group operated a fighter CCRC at Goxhill, England, and illustrated the unique challenges and successes of the CCRC mission. The 496th Fighter Training Group overcame maintenance shortfalls, aircraft shortages, and persistent morale issues to train more than 2,400 fighter pilots for combat duty in the Lockheed P-38 Lightning and North American P-51 Mustang.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lucknow Books
• Release date: Nov 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9781786250551

Major David H. Kelley USAF

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Text originally published in 2001 under the same title.

© Pickle Partners Publishing 2014, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Publisher’s Note

Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

They Too Served — 496th Fighter Training Group, 1943-45

David H. Kelley Major, USAF

Air Command and Staff College — Wright Flyer Paper No. 13

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

Foreword 5

Preface 6

Abstract 6

PART I — Historical Background 7

Introduction 7

Purpose 7

Methodology 7

Historical Background 8

The Case for Long-Range Escort 8

Eighth Air Force—Early Fighter Crew Training 9

Combat Crew Replacement Center 10

PART II —496th Fighter Training Group Story 12

Activation—1943 12

Evolution and Operations—1944 14

Capabilities and Challenges 14

Training for Eighth and Ninth Air Forces 15

Mission Execution 16

Ground School. 17

Flying Training. 18

P-38 Lightning. 18

P-51 Mustang. 20

Preparation for Combat. 21

Support and Maintenance. 22

Wartime in Goxhill 24

Recreation and Morale. 25

Anxiety and Confidence—Operation Overlord 27

P-38 Lightning Operations End—August 27

Command Realignments 27

CCRC Operations End—October 28

Farewell to Goxhill—November-December 28

Endgame—1945 29

Late Operations 29

Inactivation 30

Contributions 30

Trained Combat Crew 30

Accidents and Losses 31

Observations 31

The Big Picture 34

PART III — Glossary and Bibliography 36

Glossary 36

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 37

Bibliography 38

Primary Sources 38

Secondary Sources 39

Foreword

It is my great pleasure to present another of the Wright Flyer Papers series. In this series, Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) recognizes and publishes the best of the best student research projects from the prior academic year. The ACSC research program encourages our students to move beyond the school’s core curriculum in their own professional development and in advancing aerospace power. The series title reflects our desire to perpetuate the pioneering spirit embodied in earlier generations of airmen. Projects selected for publication combine solid research, innovative thought, and lucid presentation in exploring war at the operational level. With this broad perspective, the Wright Flyer Papers engage an eclectic range of doctrinal, technological, organizational, and operational questions. Some of these studies provide new solutions to familiar problems. Others encourage us to leave the familiar behind in pursuing new possibilities. By making these research studies available in the Wright Flyer Papers, ACSC hopes to encourage critical examination of the findings and to stimulate further research in these areas.

John T. Sheridan, Brig Gen (Sel)

Commandant

Preface

In 1944 a young man from Nahant, Massachusetts, experienced World War II as an unsung corporal assigned to an unheralded unit near an obscure English village. Few history books recall his war. But he and his unit personified a brand of service seldom newsworthy, often tedious, always selfless that underpinned Allied victory. This man was my father. This research paper is his unit’s story.

I thank the staff of the Air Force Historical Research Agency, especially Donna Billingsley and Deanna Kendrick, for their cheerful and patient assistance during my research. Diana Simpson, Judy Osborne, and the staff of the Air University Library were universally helpful. Pam Hollabaugh’s template wizardry and dynamism were wonderful. Thanks to Ron Parker, native of Goxhill, England, for his heartfelt leadership in successfully preserving memories of Anglo-American brotherhood in Goxhill before it was too late.

Dr. Richard R. Muller, dean of Education and Curriculum, thank you for your guidance and contagious sense of wonder in events long past. Finally, my appreciation to the anonymous adjutants, clerks, and executive officers who recorded a glimpse of life in the 496th Fighter Training Group.

Abstract

In-theater combat crew replacement centers (CCRC) represented a brief but important stop for aircrews training as replacements for personnel lost in the European theater