P-51 MUSTANG DOUBLE TROUBLE

COL. BILL BAILEY, 353RD FG, 352ND FS

“When I first arrived in England, I was assigned a P-47 Thunderbolt that I named Butch— it was short for ‘Butcher’ as that was what I intended to use it for against the Luftwaffe. When our group switched over to P-51 Mustangs, I was dating two girls at the same time. Of course, neither of them knew of the other one, so I named my Mustang Double Trouble. And had the girls found out, it probably would have been worse than fighting a FW 190!”

Maj. Bill Bailey, commanding officer of the 352nd FS, poses with his ground crew by their P-51D in Raydon, England, in 1944. (Photo courtesy of Stan Piet)