WELCOME
40th FIGHTER /
FLIGHT TEST SQUADRON ASSOCIATION

The 40th Pursuit Squadron was activated at Selfridge Field, MI on 22 December 1939 as part of the 31st Pursuit Group with the 39th and 41st Squadrons. In the Fall of 1941 the squadron was flying P-39s and the Red Devil was emblazoned on the doors of the aircraft. On 7 December 1941 the squadron was based at Baer Field, Fort Wayne, IN and, three days later, they were headed to Port Angeles, WA. The 31st Group was recalled to Selfridge and took half of the 40th to become the 308th Squadron. The remaining 40th cadre shipped from San Francisco for Australia and landed there on 25 February 1942.

The Squadron, now designated the 40th Fighter Squadron of the 35th Fighter Group under 5th Air Force, was ordered on 2 June 1942 to Papua and began flying missions over New Guinea. Late in July the squadron rotated back to Australia to recoup and re-arm. In November they returned to Port Moresby, Papua and later received the Presidential Unit Citation for their role in aerial support of the Papuan Campaign.

They received their second unit citation for their work on 6 February 1943 while covering C-47s supplying troops at Wau. A flight of eight 40th P-39s ran into a large group of Japanese aircraft and shot down 12 with no losses to themselves.

From April to June 1943 the 40th handled routine patrol, air support for bombers, and escort for transports. They then moved to Tsili Tsili, a secret, landlocked airstrip 200 miles north of Port Moresby, with flying made hazardous by cloud buildup over the mountains. They escorted their first C-47s there on 14 August. When the first Japanese raid came in the next day, Lts. Dick Schmalz and Bob Yaeger downed one and two Japanese planes, respectively.

When the 40th moved to Nadzab in October 1943, they were able to cover Allied landings at Finschafen. On 27 October 40th planes intercepted Japanese bombers over Finschafen and downed two. Other Japanese planes fell in other raids over the area.

The 40th began its transition to P-47 Thunderbolts in December 1943, a big change from the P-39s. They moved in February 1944 to a base near the Ramu River which put them in striking range of the Japanese around Wewak. In April and May the 40th flew support for the Hollandia battle, then moved back to the Nadzab for recuperation. They flew their longest dive bombing mission in September, carrying 500 lb. bombs from Noemfoor Island to the Halmahera Islands. Then in October they flew two missions from Morotai to Balikpapan - a round trip of 1600 miles and the longest ever for the 5th Fighter Command at that time - to support heavy bombers raiding the oil refineries. For these two missions they won their third Presidential Unit Citation.

The 40th was active in the Philippines in late 1944, where they conducted many escort missions over open water. On 21 November the squadron came upon a Japanese bomber flight and shot down six enemy planes. On 14 December they shot down another 14 enemy bombers over Negros.

The squadron headed for the Lingayen Gulf and landed on Luzon 18 January 1945. Despite shooting down several enemy planes over Formosa, the 40th had a bad month. Five pilots were shot down by ground fire on bombing and strafing missions. On 21 March the 40th flew its last P-47 mission from Mangaldan strip. They received new P-51Ds and moved to Clark Field where flying mainly consisted of close support for U.S. Army troops on Luzon.

In July 1945 the 40th flew into Yontan airstrip on Okinawa, setting up camp on the beach near Machinato. They took 16 aircraft in their first sweep over Kyushu, Japan the next day while flying high cover for the 35th Group, with no enemy contact. However, on 5 July the 40th shot down four Japanese George-type fighters south of Sasebo - ending the air-to-air combat in World War II.

In all, the 40th destroyed 113 Japanese planes; 51 shot down by P-39s, 55 by P-47s, and seven by P-51s. Five aces led the way: Captain Bill Strand with seven, Lt. Ellis Baker with six, and Major Bill McDonough and Captains Al Hunter and Robert Yaeger, Jr. with five each.

In October 1945, the 40th flew their P-51s from Machinato AB to Irumagawa, a small base on Honshu near Tokyo. This became Johnson AB during the post-war years. At Yokota AB in April 1950 the 40th Fighter Squadron converted to jets, the P-80 Shooting Star. When the Korean War broke out on 27 June 1950, the 40th moved to Ashiya AB.

Part of the squadron was sent to Itazuke AB to set up a P-51 unit (called Bout One) to train ROK fliers. They flew their first training mission on 28 June, and the next day the first combat mission was flown from Taegu (K-2), Korea, in ROK P-51s.

Due to lack of loiter time in the P-80s for close air support, the 40th FS was reassigned P-51s and relocated to Pohang on 16 July 1950. This base was evacuated in August, and the squadron operated out of Tsuiki AB, Japan until Pohang became available again.

There the 40th flew close air support missions alongside the 39th FS in some of the most daring and devastating bombing and strafing actions on record. When the 40th FS moved up to Yonpo in November 1950, they had to retreat two weeks later when the Chinese Communist forces broke through the defenses.

The 40th continued to support United Nations ground forces in Korea until it was transferred without personnel and equipment to Misawa AB, Japan in May 1951. Soon thereafter, new people and P-51s were in operation out of Johnson AB and the designation was changed to Fighter Interceptor Squadron. Later in 1954, the 40th converted to F-86D interceptors and moved to Yokota AB. The last interceptor aircraft was the F-102, which the 40th flew until 1965 when the squadron was deactivated and returned to the United States.

The 40th Pursuit Squadron was activated at Selfridge Field, MI on 22 Dec 1939 as part of the 31st Pursuit Group with the 39th and 41st Squadrons. One of the early Commanders, Captain (now Lt General,ret) Albert P. Clark, designed the first Red Devil insignia to fit on the anticipated P-40s. Later in 1941 when the squadron was under 1st Lt. (now Lt General, ret) Fred M. Dean, the Red Devil was re-designed to fit on the cockpit doors of the new P-39s which were flown on the Summer-Fall maneuvers in the southeastern USA.

The squadron was at Baer Field, Fort Wayne, IN 7 Dec 1941. On 10 Dec the ground echelon headed for Port Angeles, WA and the pilots and crews took the P-39s via the southern route to avoid the winter weather enroute to Paine Field at Everett, WA. The 31st Group was recalled to Selfridge Field and took half of the 40th to become the 308th Squadron. The remaining 40th cadre of 14 officers and 76 enlisted men along with 39th and 41st cadres shipped from San Francisco aboard the USAT ANCON on 31 Jan 1942 for Australia. They disembarked at Brisbane 25 Feb 1942. 1st Lt. Stephen M. Smith was the 40th Commander during this period.

WW II - S W P A

The squadron settled at Mt. Gambier, SA by 16 March and were then ordered to a new air strip 16 miles from Townsville, QLD called Antil Plains. After six weeks of training new people and securing P-400s and P-39s, the 40th was ordered to Port Moresby, Papua on 2 June 1942 as the 40th Fighter Squadron. Lt. Harvey J. Scandrett had scored the first victory for the 40th while on TDY with another unit on 17 May. Lt. B. J. Oliver scored the 2nd victory on an intercept over Salamaua on 16 June but Lts. William L. Hutcheson, Stanley F. Rice, and P. J. Magre were MIA. Lts. Robert S. Johnson and Stephen M. Smith were wounded. Capt Hubert I. Egenes, a Java veteran, took over the command.

On 11 July 1942 on an intercept over Port Moresby Lts. Robert W. Shick, Chester E. Trout, Garth B. Cottam, Clarence M. Wilmarth, and Philip K. Shriver scored victories. Lt. O. A. Kirtland was MIA and Lt. Ed J. Gignac was injured in a forced landing. Late in July the squadron rotated back to Antil Plains to re-coup and re-arm. On 21 Nov the 40th moved to Port Moresby and based at Berry Field (12 mile). Capt. Malcolm A. Moore was the commander. The 40th received the Presidential Unit Citation for its role in aerial support for the Papuan Campaign.

On 7 Dec 1942 in an air battle over Buna, Capt. Moore and Lts. Wilmarth and Charles A. Klein each downed a Zeke. On 6 Feb 1943 while covering C-47s supplying troops at Wau, a flight of eight 40th P-39s ran into a large group of Japanese aircraft and shot down twelve with no losses to themselves. Victors were Lt. Gene De Boer (1), Lt. Bill McDonough (2), Lt. Lewis Raines (1), Lt. Bill Shick (2), Lt. Lee Taylor (1), Capt. Tom Winburn (2), and Lt. Ed Schneider (3). This feat earned the 40th a second Presidential Unit Citation.

On 12 April 1943 on an intercept over Port Moresby Lts. Klein, Lou Nagy, Hauser Wilson, and Gene Heinz scored one victory each, while Capt. Bill Davitt got two. For the next three months the missions were routine patrol, air support for bombers, and escort for transports. Then came the move to Tsili-Tsili, a higly-secret, landlocked strip 200 miles north of Port Moresby. The first escort of C-47s began on 14 August. On the 15th, Lts. Dick Schamlz and Bob Yaeger tacked onto a 41st flight which got to the Tsili-Tsili area just as the first Japanese raid came in. Lt. Schmalz got one victory and Lt. Yaeger got two. The 40th moved to Tsili-Tsili on 25 Aug 1943 for some of the most rugged and severe flying and living conditions. Fuel, food and munitions supply could only come in by C-47. Mud and heat prevailed in the extremes, and cloud build-up over the surrounding mountains made every flight hazardous. The 40th covered the Lae landings of Allied troops and also participated in the airborne assault of the Nadzab area. The 40th moved to Nadzab in October 1943 and were able to cover Allied landings at Finschhafen. Major Thomas H. Winburn (now Lt Col, ret) was commander during this period.

On 27 Oct planes led by Capt. John Clapper intercepted Japanese bombers over Finschhafen. He and Lts. Carl E. Nelson, Nathan Smith, Schneider, Phil Wolf, and Robert G. Allison each downed a bomber. However, the Japanese also raided Nadzab at random and on 7 Nov 1943 Lts. John E. Doordan, Ben J. Ewers, Nelson, Walter S. Thayer, and William H. Strand each scored. Again on 9 Nov Capt. Clapper got 2 victories, Lts. Jack A. Grimm and John M. Davis got one each. In late November over Saidor Lts. Francis J. Vetort, Grimm, and Nelson got single victories, and Lt. Alvaro J. Hunter got two.

P-47 ERA

In late December 1943 with Capt. Joseph E. Lamphere as commander the 40th began transition into P-47 Thunderbolts, a big change from P-39s. In January 1944 the 40th flight line was bombed and strafed several times, but no big damage was done. Then in Feb 1944 the 40th moved up the Markham river to the Ramu river valley base called Gusap. It had cool air and cold water and put the squadron within the range of the Japanese bases around Wewak. Major Bill McDonough got two P-47 victories over Wewak on 15 Feb and another over Gusap on 4 March as Japanese Tony's followed our flights back from Wewak. On 11 Mar 1944 Capt. Robert Yaeger, Jr. got 3 scores over Wewak. Later he was the 40th Commander from 21 April to 5 May 1944.

The 40th continued to fly support missions for the Hollandia battle during April and May. They moved back to Nadzab June 1st for training and recuperation. The ground echelon loaded twice for Biak. Delays prevailed. Finally on 4 Aug the air echelon moved to Noemfoor Island. The squadron covered the Sansapor area during August and in September flew their longest dive bombing mission with 500 lb. bombs to Halmahera Island. Capt. John R. Young was commander during this period. On 10 Oct flying out of Morotai he led the 40th on the first Balikpapan mission - a 1600 mile round trip - the longest ever for 5th Ftr Cmnd at that time. Capt. Young led ten others flying P-47D28s (bubble canopied) aircraft. He scored two victories, Capt. Bill Strand got 3, Capts.Thomas F. Powell, Linsfield W. Poteet, and Charles D. Clark got 2 each, and Lt. Hilton S. Kessel got 1. On 14 Oct with Capt. Young leading eight P-47s he scored one more victory, Capts. Strand, Hunter, and Lt. Henry G. Wilkes got two each. Capt. D. J. Laird, Phil Thomas and Lt. Jack E. Simonini each got one victory. For this feat the 40th Fighter Squadron was awarded its third Presidential Unit Citation.

On 8 Nov 1944 Capt. John Young transferred to 35th Group Operations and was replaced by Capt. Al Hunter. Capt. Daniel Cherry replaced Hunter on 8 Dec.

THE PHILIPPINES AREA

In November and December 1944 there were many escort missions requiring a lot of open water flying to targets over Negros Island. On 5 Nov Lt. Robert Powers got a victory over Bacolod and on 6 Nov Lt. Wilkes and Lt. Jack L. Marvin each got victories at the same place. On 21 Nov Capt. Strand got a victory there. Then on 24 Nov over Alicante the squadron came upon a Japanese bomber flight and shot down six. Victors were Warren Wycoff (2), Bob Steffy, Ellis Baker, Graydon Franklin, Alvaro Hunter and Jack Gautreaux each (1). Bill Colsh had a victory over Mindanao on 6 Dec. Then on 14 Dec the 40th had another big day, 14 Japanese bombers shot down. The victors were Harold Vaughn (1), Warren Wycoff, Ellis Baker, James Meeks, and Bill Colsh (2) each, Roger Howe and Robert Haigh (1) each, and Bob Steffy (3).

The 40th headed for the Lingayen Gulf and landed on Luzon 18 January 1945. On 30 Jan Ellis Baker destroyed a Zeke over Formosa. On 27 Feb 1945 Capt. Darrel Laird (now Lt Col, ret) leading a 4 plane fighter sweep over Formosa destroyed three enemy "Frank" fighters. It was a bad month for the squadron though, since five pilots were shot down by ground fire on bombing and strafing missions. On 21 March the 40th flew its last P-47 mission from Mangaldan strip. On 3 April 1945 Capt. Tony Faikus lead a four-plane P-51 flight over Formosa when they sighted two Zekes and one Nick. The victors were Capt. Faikus, Lt. William L. Colsh, and Lt. Irving C. Pine. On the 19th the 40th moved to Clark Field where they occupied a camp originally set up by the 475th Group. Living at Clark Field was great compared to all the other places in the past. Flying consisted mainly of close support for U S Army troops on Luzon with a few strafing missions to Formosa. In May Capt. Daniel Cherry returned to the USA and he was replaced by Capt. Carlos Dannacher (now Col, ret) who had a previous tour with the 40th in New Guinea.

OKINAWA

In October 1945 the 40th flew their P-51s from Machinato AB to Irumagawa, a small base on Honshu near Tokyo. This was to become Johnson AB during the post-war period. At Yokota AB in April 1950 the 40th FS converted to jets, the P-80 Shooting Star. Major James Kirkendall (later Maj General) was the 40th C.O. then. When the Korean War broke out on 27 June 1950 the 40th FS moved quickly to Ashiya AB.

Captains William K. Hook and Lts. Walter Bryan, Aleck Holet, George Edwards, A. L. Helseth, and David Grisham were sent to Itazuke AB to set up a P-51 unit (called Bout One) to train ROK fliers. The first training mission was flown on 28 June, and the next day the first combat mission was flown from Taegu (K-2) Korea in ROK P-51s. The first 40th FS air-to-air victory, a YAK-9, was scored by Lt. Edwards on his twenty-first mission from K-2. Lt. Bryan was the first Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) in Korea and he was assigned to Lt Gen William Dean, 24th Division Commander. While operating around Taejon 22 July 1950, a U.S. Army Captain reported to Lt. Bryan the kill made by Lt. Edwards. Unfortunately, this feat never made the official claims list.

Due to lack of loiter time in the P-80s for close air support, the 40th FS at Ashiya AB was re-assigned P-51s and re-located to Pohang on 16 July 1950. This base was evacuated in August and the squadron operated out of Tsuiki AB in Japan. When Allied advances made Pohang available again the 40th moved up on 7 Oct 1950. There the 40th flew close air support missions alongside the 39th Squadron in some of the most daring and devastating bombing and strafing actions on record. In Nov 1950 the 40th moved up to Yonpo, nearer the front lines, only to retreat two weeks later to Pusan AB when the Chinese Communist forces broke through the defenses.

The 40th continued to support United Nations ground forces in Korea until it was transferred without personnel and equipment to Misawa AB, Japan in May 1951. Soon thereafter new people and P-51s were in operation out of Johnson AB where it provided air defense for the central part of the Japanese Islands and the designation became Fighter Interceptor Squadron. Major J. C. Van Bloom (now Col, ret), Maj. Thomas F. Bailey(now Col, ret) and Lt Col. William D. Chalek (now Col, ret) were three of the Commanders during this period. Later in 1954 the 40th converted to F-86D interceptors and moved to Yokota AB. Lt. Colonel Lindell P. Tate, who had a combat tour with the 41st Squadron in WW II, was the C.O. at this time. The last interceptor aircraft was the F-102 which they flew until 1965 when the squadron was deactivated and returned to the USA.

Thus ended 23 years of dedicated service in war and in peace on the ramparts in the Pacific basin. A salute to those airmen who did not return and to the many others who passed through the squadron rolls and gave a part of their lives to insure the success of the 40th missions.

Addition to the 40th Fighter Squadron Beginning in July, 1965

The last commander of the 40th Fighter interceptor Squadron at Yokota AB Japan was Lt. Col. Wesley D. Kimball. The squadron deactivated June 15, 1965.

The 40th Tactical Fighter Squadron was reactivated at Eglin AFB, FL in July 1965 under the 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing. They were equipped with F-4s. Three times during the period up to May 10, 1969 they deployed to Southeast Asia leaving planes and aircrews and returning to Eglin AFB without people or equipment.

In May 25-29, 1967 flying F - 4Cs the 40th Fighter Squadron deployed to Udorn, Thailand to the 55th Tactical Fighter Squadron under Lt. Col. Edward Hilding. The 40th reorganized again at Eglin AFB and PCSd to Korat RTAFB, Thailand November 13-17, 1968 with F-4Es and aircrews to the 469th Tactical Fighter Squadron commanded by Lt. Col. Aubery C. Edinburgh. Aviation artist Keith Ferris flew with the 40th to Korat and immortalized the flight with the painting "Operation 47 Buck 9." Again the 40th reconstituted at Eglin AFB, built up to fighting strength and on May 7-10, 1969 turned its aircrews and F-4Es over to the 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Korat, RTAFB. The squadron had a new commander, Lt. Col. Joseph M. Potts.

Twice during these years at Eglin AFB under the 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing, the 40th TFS shared the Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards. After the return to Eglin AFB on May 11, 1969 the 40th TFS existed as a paper unit until its inactivation on October 15, 1970.