Browse Items (7 total)

P47_Razorback.JPG
The original versions of the P-47 that were sent to the 362nd Fighter Group had the Razorback canopy. Pilots of the 362nd credit Colonel Laughlin with the change to the Bubble Top canopy, a positive change for visibility and accessibility. This…

P47_bomb_under_wing_left.JPG
In addition to the .50-caliber machine guns, the P-47 was able to hold multiple kinds of bombs. This P-47 decorated as the one flown by Colonel Joseph Laughlin has 500-lb bombs attached under each wing. The planes were also capable of holding…

Damaged_P47.JPG
The heavy P-47 Thunderbolt was built to withstand a lot of damage. According the the National Museum of the USAF, this P-47 from the Ninth Air Force landed with a hung up 500-lb bomb. The force of the landing made it detached and the explosion…

bomb_and_50cal_guns_left.JPG
The bombs were positioned just to the outside of the last machine gun, which was also where the bullets to the machine guns were stored in the wings. That made the wings the most vulnerable part of the plane, especially if the bombs had not been…

1000lb_bomb_front.JPG
P-47s were durable, easy to maneuver, and versatile. Its' versatility was in both the types of missions it could fly and the armament it could carry. For the bombing missions that involved large targets, like storage depots and ships, the 1,000-lb…

Newspaper_Laughlin_March_1945(2).JPG
In this article, Colonel Laughlin describes what he sees on the ground after his 362nd Fighter Group bombed and strafed a region outside Mainz in Germany.

German_fortress_Brest.JPG
The German army fortified many of the port cities in France, and none were attacked with such ferocity as Brest. The photo shows the leftover rubble of one of these strongholds at Brest, which was bombed by pilots of the Ninth Air Force.
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