I would like to express my sincere thanks to all my friends who have given help and encouragement in the preparation of this book; and particularly to Danny Morris, author of Aces and Wingmen, Roger Freeman, author of The Mighty Eighth and to Leroy Nitschke, of the Association of the Fourth Fighter Group for putting their photographic collections at my disposal; to Colonel Richard Uppstrom and his staff at the Air Force Museum, Wright Field, and particularly to Charles Worman of the Research Division; to William Hess of the American Fighter Aces Association, Barrett Tillman of the Champlin Fighter Museum in Mesa, Arizona; Garry Fry, Keith Braybrooke, Harry Holmes, Thomas Foxworth, Len Morgan and Ann Tilbury, for their help with research and photographs; and to Sandra Scotford for all her hard work in the manuscript preparation. And, of course, to Pete Grover Hall, for his careful record of the life and times of the Fourth Fighter Group.
Above all, my thanks to Brian Harpur, author and ‘happy warrior’ in his own right, without whose friendship and inspiration this book would never have been produced.
And finally, to Gwen and Jamie, thanks for everything.
J.A.G.