P-47D serial 42-26044 "Silver Lady" HV-Z of the 61st Fighter Squadron, 56th FG. Thunderbolt flown by Maj Leslie Smith

The P-47s ability to absorb battle damage and still get make it back to base is legendary, and many pilots owe their lives to the rugged construction of the Thunderbolt and the reliability of the air cooled Pratt +Whitney R 2800 engine.

Flying P-47 Thunderbolts throughout their time stationed in England, the Group, known as "the Wolfpack", had more ace pilots than any other Eighth Air Force Fighter Group. The 56th Fighter Group also destroyed more enemy aircraft in air combat than any other.

The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bomber in the ground-attack role.

2018年7月4日 · Object Number - FRE 2698 - A P-47 Thunderbolt (UN-Z, serial number 42-26413) of the 56th Fighter Group, flown by Colonel Hubert Zemke, strafes a marshalling yard near Paris, 16...

2024年5月29日 · Mahurin in the cockpit of his aircraft, which displays 11 victory markings. Mahurin would go on to claim a total of 19.75 Luftwaffe aircraft before being shot down by defensive fire from a Do 217. He bailed out of his stricken Thunderbolt and evaded capture. (IWM)

P-47D-25 42-26641 “Hairless Joe” of the 56th Fighter Group, 62nd FS with Nose Art . Pilot: Col. David C. Schilling

P-47D-22 42-26060 LM-C 62nd FS, 56th FG Kornelimünster, Germany 1944

Colonel Hubert Zemke, commander of the famous U.S. 56th Fighter Group in Europe, examines one of the .50-caliber machine guns placed in the wings of his P-47 Thunderbolt fighter.

2025年1月6日 · Initially Flying from Horsham St. Faith and later Halesworth and Boxsted, the 56th flew P-47s throughout the war while other P-47 fighter groups transitioned to P-51 Mustangs. From its first operational mission on April 13 th, 1943, through the end of the war in Europe the 56th scored 677 German aircraft destroyed in air-to-air combat.