P-47D-1-RE, 42-7890, Maj. Duane W “Bee” Beeson, 4th Fighter Group, 334th Fighter Squadron, USAAF. Debden, England, December 1943.

Duane W. Beeson flew with the RAF’s No. 71 (Eagle) Squadron before transfering to the USAAF 8th Air Force in September of 1942. One month later in October he became the 4th Fighter Group’s first ace. Beeson was shot down while engaging the Luftwaffe on April 5th, 1944 and became a POW until he was liberated in April 1945. His final air-to-air score was 17.3 kills (12 in P-47C/Ds and 5.3 in P-51Bs) making him one of only ten USAAF pilots to become an ace in two different types of aircraft.

Profile notes: This aircraft is a D-1, but it has the later production style rear-edge cutaway on the lower two cowl flaps. As it has these retrofitted, it is also likely it was fitted with the deeper keel fuselage modification for a centerline drop tank which was a common update on early D’s. While it is not 100% certain, the aircraft most likely had a depot-applied U.S. insignia under the port wing (60″ version shown, but could be 55″). Also, this aircraft had a British Mk.II gunsight installed.

Click the gallery thumbnail below for a larger view.