The Latin inscription, “Igne ferroque hostem armatum contere,” on a scroll beneath the shield, may be rendered, "With fire and steel crush the armed (or armored) foe." It is our understanding that Lt. Background colors are blue sky, and blood-red ground.
Wilson (Ex-507th Squadron S-2, Ex-Group PRO)ĭesigned in January 1945, the insignia of the 404th Fighter Group is a heraldic shield, showing a cracked shield, a fallen helmet and a broken sword being struck by a thunderbolt. For those of us who returned safely, it is our hope that this book will prove to be a worthwhile souvenir of that period in our lives when we were bound together through the accidents of military organization for one of the most violent periods in world history.
We trust the full account of the contribution toward victory in Europe made by their loved ones may compensate these families in some measure for the old sorrows which this book unavoidably will renew. Use of the officers' club fund accumulated by the Group in Europe has made it possible to send complimentary copies of this book to the families of those members of the 404th lost overseas. We intended no embarrassment to anyone, and trust that none is occasioned by anything in this book. We have included certain unflattering nicknames and anecdotes of individuals as supplied by their squadron mates because they provide the authentic flavor of the crude but good-natured humor that entertained us while we were members of the 404th. We have tried to mention by name most if not all of the members of the Group, somewhere in the book. Your editor completed the writing of the narrative, captioning of pictures and other associated editorial activities during the period September, 1945-December, 1948, while also engaged in expanding his family from one to three sons and pursuing normal peacetime employment in Buffalo, N. An important part of the general Group narrative including the Battle of the Ardennes Bulge was written at Stuttgart by your editor and Al Gelders. The squadron material was compiled by squadron personnel, under the direction of the squadron intelligence sections, while we were stationed at Stuttgart. Scores of individuals in the Group contributed in one way or another to this book it is the editor's regret that he knows only a few of the contributors by name, and virtually none of those who supplied the humorous anecdotes scattered through the sections devoted to the individual squadrons. It also includes a vast amount of photographic material organized to an extent that was impossible at the time the "official" histories of the Group were being prepared.
But it is as true and accurate a history as your editor could compile, based on the documents, notes and verbal testimony of those who prepared the "official" histories of the 404th Group and its squadrons, plus interviews by and personal notes of the editor which do not appear in any "official" history. It is not an "official" history in the accepted meaning of the term. This book is designed to give those who were members of the 404th Fighter Group during the period 1943-1945 some basis of fact around which they can weave their own fairy tales of personal wartime experience.
(Apologies to the popular song, “Amor, Amor,” vintage 1944) Leap down, leap down, leap down! Release we must, the target's dust– My tail is busted! Leap out, leap out, leap out! Now I'll be stuffed in Stalag Luft For the du-ra-tion! The formation's perfect with the planes all in place, The ships all in echelon are such a pretty sight The target is spotted and the flak's in our face, As the leader takes the Group down flight by flight. Leap off, leap off, leap off! The mission's rough, the flak is tough, But we are tougher! Leap off, leap off, leap off! The guns may puff, that's not enough, We'll make them suffer.