The group first activated in August 1942 as the 325th Fighter Group at Mitchel Field, New York. After training, the group moved to North Africa in 1943, where it flew combat missions with the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation for actions over Sardinia for engaging a superior force of enemy aircraft and destroying more than half of them. The group was withdrawn from combat in the fall of 1943 and re-equipped with the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. After moving to Italy, the group re-entered combat, earning a second Distinguished Unit Citation in January 1944. The group continued in combat until VE Day, returning to the United States in the fall for inactivation.
If you had or knew anyone in the 325th, HERE is a link to their organizational webpage.
The lineage still exists, as this unit flys today as the 325th Operations Group out of Tyndall Field in Florida, flying the F-22.
The P-40’s were iconic warbirds. In the early war, they were about the best we had. Despite the performance of Axis airpower, they accounted themselves well in Africa, in China with the AVG and elsewhere. The art (above) is worthy of hanging on any wall.
LL- That it is! And they DID get the job done!
When I was in the Air Force, we could go to the Special Services office and get, free, drawings, photos, and paintings of aviation art for our offices. A few of mine never made it to the office.
Hey Old NFO;
The P40 is an iconic airplane and the .50’s on the wing would do a lot of damage to the top of the panzers….
Thank-you for sharing this piece of history
I was fond of the P40 as a kid.
Model airplanes a pictures, etc.
This is cool.
All- Thanks for the comments!
Posted from my iPhone.
I had a tiger-shark P-40 model airplane when I was a yout’ and it was extremely iconic and inspiring, but I later came to appreciate the massive awesomeness of the P-47 Thunderbolt too.