Aircraft
Lockheed P-38J Lightning “My Dad”
Pilot & Markings
James M. Morris – 77th FS/20th FG, RAF Kings Cliffe 1944
Scale & Kit
1/72 Hasegawa Scale Model
History
James M. Morris was from Detroit, MI and the Eighth Air Force’s first P-38 ace. He was credited with 7.333 victories. Four of these happened on a single sortie, February 8, 1944, when he shot down two Fw 190s and two Bf 109Gs. This set a P-38 record at the time for the European theater of operations. By shooting down an Me 410, Morris achieved his last kill on July 7, 1944. During the dogfight, his fighter was badly shot up by the Me 410’s waist guns forcing Morris to bail out. He spent the rest of the war as a POW.
Jim Morris was part of the USAAF 77th Fighter Squadron in the 20th Fighter Group. His squadron was based at RAF Kings Cliffe, UK which was also base to the 347th Fighter Squadron and 56th Fighter Group. James M. Morris flew several P-38s, but his aircraft was named ”My Dad” (42-67717) and was emblazoned with his impressive tally. The ”My Dad” nose art was on the port fuselage with ”Til we meet again” painted inside of a black spade on the starboard side.
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