Eagle Squadrons - Individual Pilots

Individual Pilots

The first three members of the Eagle Squadron obtained their transfers to No. 71 Squadron RAF in September 1940. They were:

• Vernon Charles "Shorty" Keough, service number 81620
• Andrew B. Mamedoff, service number 81621
• Eugene Quimby "Red" Tobin, service number 81622

All three men were Battle of Britain veterans, having served together in No. 609 Squadron RAF, at RAF Middle Wallop.
They had joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) together (receiving consecutive service numbers), having been posted to 609 Squadron together, having fought the Battle of Britain together, and having transferred to 71 Squadron together. The trio had also all been killed by the time of the transfer of the Eagle Squadrons to the USAAF in 1942 (from the database of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC):

• Pilot Officer Keough was killed in February 1941 – age 29. CWGC record
• Flight Lieutenant Mamedoff was killed in October 1941 – age 29, by then transferred, with a promotion to be a Flight Commander in another Eagle Sqn., No. 133 Squadron RAF. CWGC record
• Flying Officer Tobin was killed in September 1941 – age 24. CWGC record

Another Battle of Britain veteran was Phillip Howard Leckrone, service number 84653. He had served in another squadron with an Auxiliary Air Force heritage: No. 616 Squadron RAF. He was also killed before the USAAF took charge of the Eagle Squadrons:

• Pilot Officer Leckrone was killed in January 1941 – age 28. CWGC record

The lives of these four pilots have been described in THE FEW by Alex Kershaw.

It is reported that Pilot Officer Art Donahue DFC stayed with the Eagle Squadron only a short time before requesting a transfer back to his original RAF unit. He did not appreciate the unruly behavior of many of the American pilots. He was KIA in 1942.

Captain Don Gentile, USAAF, was a pilot with 133 Squadron, claiming 2 air victories, and by March 1944 became the 4th FG's top ace in World War II with 22 aerial kills.

Colonel Chesley 'Pete' Peterson had 130 sorties with the Eagle Squadrons, he then became the youngest Squadron Commander in the RAF. When the Eagle Squadrons were transferred to the USAAC 4th Fighter Group, Peterson became the group's executive officer, succeeding to command of the group in April 1943, and at 23 years of age the youngest (at the time) Colonel in the US Army Air Forces.

Colonel Donald Blakeslee was a pilot in 121 and 133 Squadrons during 1942, making 120 sorties and claiming 3 air kills. He became deputy commander of the 4th Fighter Group under Chesley Peterson, then commanded the group from January to October 1944. Blakeslee flew briefly with the 354th and 357th Fighter Groups in January 1944 when the P-51 Mustang was introduced to combat in Europe and immediately became the driving force behind conversion of all but one of the Eighth Air Force fighter groups to the Mustang. His insistence on converting to the Mustang resulted in a rapid turnover of airplanes, with the former Eagle squadrons flying their first Mustang mission on February 24, 1944.

FltLt Charles A. Cook Jr. was a member of 133 Squadron. Shot down in September 1942, he was a prisoner of war at Stalag Luft III until 1945 and was a member of what was known as "The Long March", when German forces decided to empty the Allied POW camps in the face of the Soviet advance.