389th Fighter Squadron, 366th Group. Painted leather. Made in England. (Named to Lt. Edwin Pole --- a P-47 pilot.)
The Group moved in England over the New Year of 1944, setting up home first at Membury and then at Thruxton. The pilots' first mission was a fighter sweep of the French coast in March 1944 and from then until D-Day that June the ground supported Allied preparations for the invasion of France, taking out German military sites and equipment in northern France. The Group were awarded a DUC for quite a singular action: when supporting infantry in the St. Lo area on 11 July 1944, the pilots discovered a column of enemy tanks as yet unknown to the infantry. Despite coming under intense fire, the Group, as well as striking nearby pillboxes, the intended target of the mission, attacked this column. This put many of the German tanks out of action before they engaged the infantry. The Group carried out armed reconnaissance missions during the Battle of the Bulge.
