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Colonel Billy Gene Edens
Born on January 21st, 1923, in Cassbille, Mo., Billy Edens graduated form school on June 1st, 1942, and on the 27th of June Billy Edens joined the Army Air Corp. On May 3rd 1943 Edens became an aviation cadet and received all his flight training in Alabama, receiving his wings and commission on November 3rd 1943. Second Lieutenant Edens was assigned to the 62nd Fighter Squadron of the 56th Fighter Group in England in April 1944. On the 8th of June 1944, while defending flight leader Mark Moseley, Edens destroyed two Me109s and an Fw190 to earn a triple in one day. On 10th September 1944 during his 89th and final mission Edens was hit by flak over France and shot down (for the fourth time) while strafing the Seligenstadt Airdrome and became a POW at Stalag Luft I in Barth, Germany for the remainder of the war. Edens wouold go on to fly F-84s during the Korean War, where he would again be shot down but not captured. That was the end of his flying during the Korean war but, Eden, who had flown 153 missions, went on to fly F-100s in Vietnam, becoming a full colonel during his second tour. Col. Billy G. Edens received the Silver Star, DFC with 3 OLCs, Bronze Star, Purple Heart with one OLC, and the Air Medal with 15 OLCs.
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The Wolfpack by Robert Taylor. The 56th Fighter Group was led by some of Americas greatest fighter leaders of World War II and was home to many of its leading fighter Aces. Under successive commanders Hub Zemke, Robert Landry and David Schilling, the 56th destroyed more enemy aircraft in combat than any other fighter group in the Eighth Air Force. Arriving in England in January 1943 under the command of Colonel Hub Zemke, a master tactician and fearless leader, the 56th quickly emerged as an outstanding fighting unit. The only Eighth Air Force Group to fly P-47 Thunderbolts throughout the war, the 56th spawned more fighter Aces than any other USAAF group - legends such as Gabby Gabreski, Robert Johnson and the colourful Ace Walker Bud Mahurin. Under Hub Zemkes mercurial leadership they became known and feared as Zemkes Wolfpack. On 26 November, 1943, the P-47s of the 56th Fighter Group were tasked to escort B-24 Liberators of the 392nd Bomb Group on a dangerous mission to attack the heavily defended industrial and dockyard facilities in the German port of Bremen. Zemke knew the Luftwaffe would be waiting for them as they approached the target, and they were - in force! It was to become a day of high drama. With the Luftwaffe throwing all the fighters they could muster at the American heavy bombers, a massive aerial battle ensued. In the running dogfights high over Bremen, the Wolfpack claimed their most successful action of the war with 23 confirmed kills, 3 probables, and 9 damaged, creating an all-time record in the European Theatre. The 392nds B-24 Liberators could not have been in safer hands on that eventful day. |
| Colonel Billy Gene Edens Aircraft details |
| Colonel Billy Gene Edens Squadron details |
56th Fighter Group Country : US | 56th Fighter Group |
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