Special Collections

    

Richard Mansfield Collection

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Richard Mansfield
    Richard Mansfield was an assistant crew chief in 336.  Working with crew chief John Ferra, his crew was responsible for the care and maintenance of kites coded VF-T.  Among the pilots whose planes Mansfield helped maintain were Don Gentile and Francis "Lefty" Grove.  His photos are mainly of the crews assigned to B Flight.  Richard had a unique background for an assistant crew chief, even by Debden standards.  He had earned a bachelor's degree at Ohio Wesleyan University and a masters degree at Boston University before joining the Army Air Force.  Original captions from photos used when possible, and appear in quotations. 

    Photographs provided courtesy of Lee Mansfield

C. George Anderson Collection

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George Anderson
    C. George Anderson or "Andy" as he was called by his Debden friends, was a crew chief in 336.  He started out as an assistant crew chief in 334, working on QP-K with crew chief Don Allen.  Later he moved over to 336 and became the crew chief of kites coded VF-A, taking care of the Mustangs of Franklin Young and James McMahon.  Luckily for us, George was quite handy with a camera, and his photos give us great insight to the world of the A Flight ground crews of 336.  Original captions from photos used when possible, and appear in quotations.

    Photographs provided courtesy of Jennifer Hartschuh Cellarius

Donald Peterson Collection

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Donald Peterson
    Donald Peterson was a pilot in 335.  At Debden from 27 July 1944 to 24 April 1945, Peterson flew 64 missions and completed a 300 hour combat tour.  He also did a stint as an instructor in the squadron OTU when his tour was up.  Peterson's photographs give us a glimpse of the goings-on in 335, perhaps the least documented squadron (in photos) of the three that made up the 4th.  Original captions from photos used when possible, and appear in quotations.

    Photographs provided courtesy of Mark Peterson