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A1C Christopher Carter
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Carter, James, Col.
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Contact Info
Home Town Pullman, WA
Last Address las Cruces, NM
Date of Passing Apr 06, 1996
Location of Interment Fort Bliss National Cemetery (VA) - Fort Bliss, Texas
Colonel Carter was born May 2, 1919 in the small town of Pullman Washington. He studied mechanical engineering at Washington State University and pre-medicine at the University of North Carolina. He joined the United States Army Air Force on September 30, 1941. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on July 3, 1942. He was first assigned to Stat Fighter Squadrons 56th Fighter group at Stratford Connecticut for six months training in the P-47B. The fighter group sailed for England on January 6, 1943. The group flew its first combat mission in April 1943. The 56th FIghter Group known as Zemke's Wolfpack was one of the most decorated fighter groups of World War II and had the two leading Aces in the European theater, Robert S. Johnson and Francis Gabreski. Colonel Carter was stationed in Halesworth, Suffolk, then to Boxted in Colchester. He was promoted to flight leader of the 61st Squadron,then to Deputy Group Operatrions Leader under Francis Gabreski, then to Commander of the 61sr Fighter Squadron in December 1944. Major Carter became a Fighter Ace on July 4, 1944. He flew the test which resulted in less fuel consumption and helped enable increased range for the P-47 fighter. He dropped the first bombs from a P-47 and took the first bomb-strike photos from a P-47 using a K-17 camera installed in the radio compartment. He piloted a two seat P-47 flying General Kepner, Commander 8th Air Force Fighter Command, on the General's first combat mission. At a later date in the same two-seater he made a "Radar" intercept of a German 7Me-26Z jet, probably the only such intercept by a P-47. At the end of the war he became the Scholl's Officer and established the Technical Training Institute at Headdquarters for U.S. Air Force- Europe Wiesbaden Germany. Colonel Carter was reassigned to the States as Commander 56th Fighter Group Selfridge Air Force Base. He attended Squadron Officers Scholl at Tyndall Air Force Base, and graduated from the University of Florida as an Aeronautical Engineer. He was then assigned as Chief , Air Defense DIvision of the Air Proving Ground Command in Eglin, Florida. He attended Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base and was promoted to Colonel. Colonel Carter served as Director Operations and Training Alaskan Command, Chief, then to the Pentagon as Chief, Air Defense DIvision, Directorate of Requirements, U.S. Air Force Headquarters, then as Commander ,Tactical Reconnaissance Combat Training Group, Shaw Air Force Base in south Carolina. Colonel Carter's last flying assignment was as DIrector for Operations 7th/13th Air Forces, Udorn, Thailand and as supervisor of air-rescue Operations in North VIetnam. Colonel Carter's last military assignment was as Chief of the Athena Test Field Office of the Space and Missile Systems Organization, at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.There his group tested in one- tenth scale, the payloads for the Polaris, Poseidon, and Minuteman missiles. Colonel Carter retired from the military in July 1968 after 27 years of service.
AFSC/MOS AAF MOS 1055-Pilot, Single-Engine Fighter
Base, Station or City
RAF Kings Cliffe, RAF Horsham St Faith, RAF Halesworth, & RAF Boxted, England
State/Country
Not Specified
Patch
56th Fighter Group Details
Assigned 8th AAF: 12 Jan 1943
Wing/Command Assignment
VIII FC 12 Jan 1943
VIII FC, 4 ADW 30 Jun 1943
VIII FC, 65 FW 7 Aug 1943
2 BD, 65 FW 15 Sep 1944
2 AD, 65 FW 1 Jan 1945
Combat Aircraft:
P-47C 5 Feb 1943 to Apr 1943
P-47D Jan 1943 to Mar 1945
P-47M Jan 1945 to Sep 1945
Stations
KINGS CLIFFE 13 Jan 1943 to 5 Apr 1943
HORSHAM ST FAITH 5 Apr 1943 to 8 Jul 1943
HALESWORTH 8 Jul 1943 to 18 Apr 1944
BOXTED 18 Apr 1944 to 9 Sep 1945
LITTLE WALDEN 9 Sep 1945 to 10 Oct 1945
Group COs
Col Hubert Zemke 1 Sep 1942 to 30 Oct 1943
Col Robert B. Landry 30 October 1943 to 11 Jan 1944
Col Hubert Zemke 19 Jan 1944 to 12 Aug 1944
Col. David C. Schilling 12 Aug 1944 to 27 Jan 1945
Lt. Col. Lucian A. Dade Jr. 27 Jan 1945 to Aug 1945
Lt. Col. Donald D. Renwick Aug 1945 to Oct 1945
First Mission: 13 Apr 1943
Last Mission: 21 Apr 1945
Total missions: 447
Aircraft MIA: 128
Claims: Air 674 Ground 311.
Major Awards:
Two Distinguished Unit Citation:
20 Feb 1944 to 9 Mar 1944 foe destroying 98 enemy aircraft
18 Sep 1944 invasion of Holland in support of airborne forces
Unit Claims to Fame
Destroyed more enemy aircraft than any other 8th AF fighter Group.
Had more fighter aces than any other Fighter Group
Top Scoring fighter aces Francis Gabreski, and Robert Johnson flew with the 56th Fighter Group
First USAAF group to fly P-47
Only 8AF Group to fly P-47 throughout the War
Early History:
Activated on the 15th of January 1941 at Savannah AAB, Ga. Expansion of the Group began after the move to Charlotte AAB, NC in May of 1941 when they were equipped with a small number of P-39 and P-40 aircraft. IIntensive training at Charleston MAP, SC in Dec 1941 and from Jan to Jun 1942 at airfields in New York, at area headquarters at Mitchel field, NY. Here they flew on air defence patrols. Selected to train with the new P-47B they received the first aircraft in June of 1942. The group then moved to Bridgeport MAP, Conn on 7 July 1942 and continued testing and training with early P-47s. Alerted for overseas duty in December of 1942 they sailed on the Queen Elizabeth on the 6th of January 1943 and arrived in Gourock on the 11th of January 1943. The 647 aerial victories placed the group on the top of the 8th AF in that category and they finished second only to the 4th Fighter Group in combined air and ground victories. The group finished with a eight to one kill ratio.
Subsequent History:
Aircraft went to depots on September 1945. The remainder of the personnel went to Little Walden. they returned to the States on October 1945, sailing on the Queen Mary on the 11th of October 1945, and arriving in New York on the 16th of October 1945. The group was established at Selfridge field, Michigan and flew P-47s and P-51s until 1947, then they transitioned to P-80s and moved to O'Hare IAP, Ill on August 1955 and were equipped with F-86Ds, then they were reestablished as the 62 Fighter Intercepter Squadron with the F-101 Vodoos until 1969. Then the designation was given to a special operations wing in Thailand in 1967.
Radio Callsign: YARDSTICK (A Group) and ASHLAND (B Group)
These changed on April 22nd 1944 to FAIRBANK (A Group), SUBWAY (B Group)
and (C Group) PANTILE
In the middle of July 1944, 61st Fighter Squadron commander (and leading scorer of the 56th Fighter Group) LTC Francis S. Gabreski bounces an ME-109 for his final victory of the war. Within two weeks he would make himself a prisoner of war when, during a strafing run on an enemy airfield, he got too low and caught his propeller on the ground.
Francis "Gabby" Gabreski of the 56th Fighter Group
