Fighter Pilot in the 364th Fighter Group of the
384th Fighter Squadron, Based in Honington, England
John L Grimshaw
John L. Grimshaw was born in Milford, Utah in 1922 and served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II. He was a fighter pilot who flew P-38 and P-51 aircraft out of Honington Air Base in the southeast part of England. One of his first combat assignments after arriving in England was to fly cover for the Normandy invasion on D-Day, June 6, 1944. On November 21, 1944, he filed an "Encounter Report" in which he claimed to have shot down a German fighter, an FW-190, and to have damaged another, an ME-109.
After the war, John apparently returned to Utah, where he passed away in Bountiful in 2001. He worked for the Union Pacific Railroad for 38 years before retiring. John Grimshaw is descended from the Duckworth Grimshaw line. Duckworth emigrated from England to Beaver, Utah in 1862 and is described on a companion webpage.
Photo Including Lt. John L. Grimshaw
John L Grimshaw's Encounter Report
Description of 364th Fighter Group and 384th Fighter Squadron
Focke-Wulf 190 and Messerschmitt 109, German Fighters Engaged by John Grimshaw
Van Nuys, California, Training Base for the 384th Fighter Squadron
Honington, England, 384th Fighter Squadron Base of Operations
University of Utah Honors John Grimshaw, Veterans' Day, 2000
 | Webpage Credits |
Thanks go to the University of Utah for posting information on the Veterans' Day award given to John Grimshaw in 2000.
| Photo Including Lt. John L. Grimshaw |
John Grimshaw is the left-most standing individual in the following picture. The fighter aircraft behind the group is a P-51 Mustang. The source of the photo is shown below the image.
Capt. Bruce C Ward. 384th Fighter Squadron. P-51D 44-14032 5Y-W "My Norma".
Photographed with "My Norma" are (L-R) Standing: Lt. John L Grimshaw; Lt. Lawrence E Muskavitch; Capt. George Z Schroeder; Capt. Ward; Lt. Harry C Schwartz; & Capt. Richard L Stiefvater. Kneeling: Capt. Daniel L Leftwich & Lt. William E Randolph.
Photo: Paul Miller
| John L Grimshaw's Encounter Report |
John filed the following "Encounter Report", claiming to have shot down one enemy aircraft and damaged another, in November 1944.
Note the similarity of the serial number to that of "My Norma" above (44-14148 vs. 44-14032). Perhaps John's aircraft came off the assembly line 116 planes after "My Norma".
What happened to John's aircraft? The following information indicates that not long after John filed his Encounter Report on November 21, his P-51 (Serial Number 44-14848) may have been shot down while being flown by another pilot (Lt. Lawrence Visconti), who was killed in action on December 12, 1944.
| 44-14147 | P-51D | 384 | 5Y-A | |||||
| 44-14148 | P-51D | 384 | 5Y-M | Visconti | Lt. Lawrence | Laurie's Eleanor | Lost in this a/c 12 Dec 44 - KIA | 10883 |
| 44-14174 | P-51D | 384 | 5Y- | Lost 11 Sept 44 - Lt. Alfred A Albrecht KIA | 8785 |
| Description of 364th Fighter Group and 384th Fighter Squadron |
Considerable detail on John Grimshaw's unit, the 364th, is available on a website and is provided below.
THE 364th FIGHTER GROUP
8th AIR FORCE
The 364th Fighter Group had one of the best records in the E.T.O. despite the fact that they were activated late and arrived in England after most of the fighter groups were there. The Group flew combat missions from 2 March 1944 to 6 May 1945. During that time 455 enemy planes were destroyed, 24 were probably destroyed, and 282 were damaged.
The Group was activated 1 June 1943 and General Order #14 was issued at March Field, California 8 June 1943. The Group was organized at Army Airdrome, Glendale, California and assigned to the Los Angeles Air Defense Wing lV Fighter Command 10 June 1942
The 383rd Fighter Squadron trained at Oxnard, CA Air Base under the command of Captain Robert B. Wilson. The 384th Fighter Squadron trained at Ontario, CA Air Base under the Command of Captain John H. Lowell. The 385th Squadron trained at the Santa Maria, CA Air Base under the command of Captain Richard D. Neece Jr. The 364th Fighter Group Headquarters was at the Ontario Air Base. Major Frederick C. Grambo became the Group Commander 12 June 1943.
By 27 December 1943 the squadrons moved to Santa Maria for final staging. Group Headquarters had preceded them on 7 December 1943. On 29 December the POM inspectors started inspecting the squadrons. Because the units had been so well trained the inspection was finished in two days.
On 13 January 1944 the big question, of whether the 364th was going to the Pacific or the Atlantic War Theater, was answered when orders were received stating that the Group would move to Camp Shanks, New York via troop train on the 14th. The Group arrived at Camp Shanks on 19 January 1944. Overseas physicals started within a day or so after arrival. On 30 January 1944 Captain Robert Wilson, Commanding Officer of the 383rd, was found to have a spot on lung and was not allowed to go overseas, His Executive Officer, Captain Joseph B. McManus replaced him as the 383rd C.O.
On 1 February 1944 the Group was loaded on the luxury liner, Queen Elizabeth, and started the journey to England the next day. On 8 February the "Queen" arrived at Glasgow, Scotland and the next day was sent to Honington Air Base near Bury St. Edmunds. The base was a former Royal Air Force Base. The rest of February was spent receiving aircraft and testing them, setting up equipment and getting organized, Both pilots and ground crews were sent to other bases to enhance their skills. During this period Lt. Col. Grambo and Captain McManus went to the 20th Fighter Group for mission orientation. McManus completed three successful flights but Col. Grambo was shot down over Holland on his second mission and lost his life. He never had the opportunity to lead the 364th on a mission. Lt. Col. Roy W. Osborn left the 352nd Fighter Group to take command of the 364th
On 2 March 1944 the Group flew its first mission supplying withdrawal for bombers returning from Germany. The first four missions were led by Major Mark Shipman, C.O. of the 38th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group. Col. Osborn led mission No.5 and Shipman No. 6 and then returned to the 55th. On mission 5 on the way out, seven Me-109's attacked the bombers. Captain John Lowell shot down two of the enemy and Lt. Sam Phillips damaged one, These were the first victories for the 364th. Lt. Larry Ferguson was lost when a P-38 was seen going down with a parachutist nearby. Though several books and articles have been written saying that the P-38 did not have the range to fly to Berlin, several of the 364th's early missions were to the Berlin area.
On July 1944 some P-51's appeared at Honington. Pilots were instructed to check out in them when they had spare time. By 1 August 1944 the 364th had become a P-51 Group.. The difference between the P-38 and the P-51 is shown in the ratio between enemy planes destroyed versus 364th pilots lost. The P-38 was flown approximately five months and had a ratio 1.3. The P-51 was flown approximately nine months and had a ratio of 5.0. It is interesting that in the 67th Fighter Wing the 364th was the last Group to become active, yet finished second in planes destroyed. The Group destroyed 261 planes in the air, had 24 probables and 106 damaged. On the ground 194 planes were destroyed and 282 damaged. Records on train cars, engines, buildings, flak towers, troops etc., were not available.
The pilots earned:
Air Medals 1586
DFC's 176
DSC' 4
Silver Stars 16
Purple Hearts 6
Croix de Guerre 4
British DFC 1
The Group was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for the 27 December 1944 mission when the 47 pilots on the mission sighted 200 FW-190's and Me-109's. They aggressively attacked the enemy and destroyed 28. The Group lost one pilot.
Col. J. Bradley McManus and Col. John Lowell both served a short period as Commanding Officer of the Group while Col. Roy Osborn was in the Zone of Interior. In January 1945 Col. Eugene Roberts replaced Col. Osborn and served until the Group returned to the States and was deactivated.
The 364th left England on 4 November 1945 on the Queen Mary. Landing in New York, the men were sent to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. Most of the men were sent to bases around the country for discharge, Others were given furloughs. On 10 November 1945 the 364th Fighter Group was deactivated.
Aces were (scores in the group only- some scored victories while flying in other groups):
Lt. William F. Wilson (5); Maj. Ernest Bankey (1)HQ: Maj. Ernest Bankey (7½)
383rd FS: Lt/Col. George F. Ceuleers (10½); Major Samuel Wicker (7); Maj. Ernest Bankey (1)
384th FS: Capt. James M. Fowle (8); Lt/Col John Lowell (7½)
385th FS: Captain Gilbert L. Jamison (7); Capt. James J Pascoe (5½);
Air Force Assigned to: 8th AF (Jan. '44 - end WWII)
Stations flown from: Honington, England (Feb '44 - end WWII)
Campaigns:
Air Offensive, Europe
Normandy
Northern France
Rhineland
Arnennes-Alsace
Central Europe
Decorations: Distinguished Unit Citation: Frankfurt, Germany, 27 Dec. '44
Source: http://www.web-birds.com/8th/364/364.html
Additional information was found on another website and is shown below.
The 364th Fighter Group
Station: Honington 10 February 1944 to 3 November 1945
Station Callsign: Outside
Group Callsign:
Sunhat (A Group)
Weekday (B Group)
Harlop (C Group)
(No Squadron Callsigns in C Group)
384th Fighter Squadron
Code: 5Y
Symbol: Square
Callsign:
Goldfish (A Group)
Zeeta (B Group)
Logo of the 384th Fighter Squadron,
364th Fighter Group, 8th U.S. Army Air Force
Source: http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/364thfg.php?searchString=grim&Submit=Search
| P51 Mustang Description |
Excellent descriptions of the P-51 Mustang have been located on the Internet and are shown below.
Source: http://www.jetplanes.co.uk/vintageaircraft/p51mustang.html
P51 Mustang
The legendary North American P51 Mustang single engined piston fighter of ww2 started life as a British requirement for a high performance fighter aircraft in 1940.
The aircraft was designed and the first prototype manufactured in under 4 months. An amazing accomplishment for such an advanced aircraft.
The early Mustangs were powered by Allison in-line aero engines producing around 1,100 hp.
First delivery of the Mustang was made in 1942 to British RAF squadrons. The machine lacked the performance required due to the Allison engine originally fitted. To overcome this lack of performance the aircraft was experimentally re-engined by the British with the excellent Roll-Royce Merlin engine which had proven itself in the Spitfire and Hurricane. The plane was transformed into the superb machine that would become the legend.
Back in America the P51 was redesigned to accomodate the Merlin and production examples from then on used Packard built Merlins.
Merlin powered P51B and P51C Mustangs were issued to both RAF and USAAF squadrons.
The finest of the Mustangs was however the P51D powered by a Packard built V12 Merlin which produced nearly 1,700 hp. This machine could do about 440 mph in level flight, carried six heavy machine guns in the laminer-flow wing and could be fitted with rockets or 2,000lbs of ordnance for ground attack missions.
This machine when fitted with drop tanks could escort the US heavy bomber formations all the way to the targets and back, a feat no other single engined fighter could adequately manage. The Mustang was also a supremely capable dog-fighter which could take on any fighter aircraft put up to intercept the formations (until the appearance of ME262 jets and rocket propelled ME163 aircraft).
| Engine | Packard built V12 Merlin. Nearly 1,700 hp |
| Top Speed | 439 mph |
| Weight | Approx. 9,800 lb |
| Length | 32.25 ft |
| Wingspan | Approx. 37 ft |
| Weapons | 6x Browning half inch machine guns in the wings of the aircraft. 2,000lb external ordnance including rocket capability. |
| Crew | One |
| Country | USA |
Source: http://www.jetplanes.co.uk/vintageaircraft/p51mustang.html
| Focke-Wulf 190 and Messerschmitt 109 (aka Bf 109), German Fighters Engaged by John Grimshaw |
Excellent photos and descriptions of the two fighter aircraft claimed by John Grimshaw were found on the internet and are provided below.
Focke-Wulf 190
