Meyer’s “Petie 3rd”/ Wood’s “Ricky”
North American, P-51D-15 (Mustang), Serial number 44-15041
Flown by Meyer
487th Fighter Squadron, 352nd Fighter Group, 8th Air Force, Bodney, England and Asch (Y-29), Belgium, early Nov1944 to 1st Jan1945
Flown by the deputy commander of the 352nd Fighter Group, commander of the 487th Fighter Squadron, Lieutenant Colonel John Charles Meyer. (An Ace with 24 aerial victories in WW2, plus 1 probable, plus 13 planes destroyed on the ground, (plus 2 more aerial victories during the Korean war))
“Petie 3rd” was an airplane that J.C. Meyer began flying in combat in early November 1944. It replaced “Petie 2nd” after Petie 2nd was damaged by a reversing jeep in late 1944. It is rumoured that Meyer didn’t know about this accident and that Petie’s crew chief S/Sgt Bill Conkey replaced the airplane in secret, during the night, with the airplane which became “Petie 3rd”. [1]
“Petie 3rd" was the last airplane flown by Meyer in WW2 and it proved to be quite a lucky machine for him (in contrast to “Petie 2nd”) since he went on to score 10 (and some sources claim 11.5) victories in it, helping to cement Meyer’s place in history as one of the greatest fighter Aces of all time.
Starting from November 21st, these 10 victories were ( beginning with Meyer’s 14th aerial victory) [2]:
14/15/16) Nov 21st.1944 3 x FW-190 SW of Merseburg (Germany)
17) Nov 27th.1944 1 x Me-109 E of Münster (Germany)
18) Dec 26th.1944 1.5 x Me-109 vicinity of Ollheim (Germany)
19) Dec 26th.1944 1 x Me-109 vicinity of Uxhein (Germany?)
20/21) Dec 27th.1944 2 x FW-190 SW of Bonn (Germany)
Dec 27th.1944 2 x FW-190 (Damaged) SW of Bonn (Germany)
22) Dec 31st.1944 (328th FS) 1 x Ar-234 vicinity of Euskirchen (Germany)
23/24) Jan1st.1945 2 x FW-190 N of Liège (Belgium)
The first three victories in the list above, the ones on the 21st of November, occurred in the same mission when the Eighth Air Force paid a return visit to the petroleum facilities around Merseburg, tasked with destroying them. In this mission, their force consisted of a whopping 700 bombers and 650 fighters! The 352nd FG which took off from their usual airfield at Bodney in England to escort the bombers, was split into A and B Groups, each with a slightly different assignment. A Group (the 328th FS), remained with the bombers when it encountered enemy fighters just before reaching the target area in Germany, but the B Group was further off, on a freelance sweep, when it came across a formation of over 50 FW-190s, with another large gaggle positioned as top cover, near Leipzig.
The spearhead of B Group was a flight of eight Mustangs of the 487th FS, led by “Petie 3rd”, with Lt Col J. C. Meyer at the controls. Realising that the enemy fighters were positioning themselves for an immediate attack on the allied bombers, Meyer led his flight after the enemy and tore into the German formation. This attack decimated the Germans. By the end of it 12 enemy aircraft had been shot out of the sky . Three FW-190s were shot down by Meyer alone. Five more (plus two probables) were shot down by Capt. Bill Whisner in his “Moonbeam McSWINE” Mustang . In this mission, the Bluenosers* shot down 19.5 enemy planes, plus 2 probables and 6 damaged, without the loss of any of their own pilots. [3]
Most of the remaining victories scored in “Petie 3rd” were scored during the Battle of the Bulge (Ardennes Offensive) which began in mid-December 1944. The three last victories are especially noteworthy. The one on the 31st of December is noteworthy because it was a victory against Germany’s new twin-engined jet bomber, the Arado Ar-234. In this encounter Lt. Col. Meyer and Capt. Don Bryan came across two Ar-234 bombers during a patrol. Capt. Don Bryan attacked one of the bombers but was forced to break away due to the approach of the second jet bomber. Lt.Col. Meyer then attacked the second bomber and after a long chase, managed to shot it down.
The last two victories (the ones on the 1st of Jan, 1945)are noteworthy because they were scored during one of America’s most successful air battles in Europe, the battle which became known as the “Legend of Y-29”. Here is how it happened:
At about 8 AM on the morning of the 1st Jan 1945, three Gruppen of Jagdgeschwader 11 took off from Darmstadt-Griesheim, Gross-Ostheim and Zellhausen, as part of a secret mission codenamed Operation Bodenplatte (baseplate), aimed at striking Allied airfields in parts of France, Belgium and Netherlands [4]. JG 11 was assigned with striking Y-29, the airfield in Asch where Meyer’s squadron was stationed for the past 10 days (since 22nd Dec.) . The low-flying formation of Luftwaffe fighters consisted of about 31 FW-190s of Gruppen III./JG 11, 20 BF-109s of Gruppen II./JG11, 6 FW-190s of Gruppen I./JG 11, and 4 Stab JG 11 FW-190s, led by JG 11’s commander, Major Günther Specht. 61 fighters in total. (Other sources say that the formation consisted of some 65 fighters [4]).
Meyer sensed that the Germans might strike on the morning of the 1st of Jan, relying on the Americans to be hung over after the New Year’s eve party, and therefore he ordered that the New Year’s celebrations should be postponed. Instead of partying on the New Year’s eve, Meyer’s men went to sleep early and were ready for a patrol sortie the next morning. At about 9 Am, Meyer and 11 of his men in their P-51s were lined up on the runway for the take-off just as, unbeknown to Meyer’s men, the first fighters of the approaching enemy formation were about to strike. The clash that ensued became a legend. “Petie 3rd” was the first Mustang to get airborne and before it even had a chance to raise its landing gear (according to some accounts) its blazing guns sent one FW-190 down in a flaming explosion. Here is how Meyer described it later on, rather humbly:
“Leading twelve ships of the 487th squadron taking off to the northeast from Y-29, Belgium. Immediately upon getting my wheels up I spotted 15-plus 190s headed towards the field from the east. I attacked one getting a good two-second burst at 300 yards, 30-degree deflection, getting good hits on the wing roots” [4]
From the ground, capt. Richard De Bruin (352nd supply officer) described Meyer’s victory as follows:
J.C. (Meyer) was gaining speed as he passed me and I turned ninety degrees right to watch his takeoff. He was starting his climb and his wheels were not fully retracted. To my astonishment and disbelief I saw an enemy fighter plane on the deck flying directly across the path of J.C.’s takeoff. J.C. immediately fired his weapons and hit the fighter which was a German FW-190. It crashed in flames in the middle of our airfield….Before, I could only imagine what our pilots did while in air battle. Now, I was a spectator watching in person from the ground one of the greatest fighter air battles. [5]
After having downed the first FW-190, Meyer attacked the second almost immediately , pursuing his target for about 10 miles until it was destroyed. Describing it as follows:
“On my first attack I got good hits at 10 degrees 250 yards. The E/A half-rolled and recovered just on top of the trees. I attacked but periodically had to break off because of intense friendly ground fire. At least on three occasions, I got good hits on the 190, and on the last attack the E/A started smoking profusely and then crashed into the ground. Out of ammunition, I returned to the field, but could not land as the field was under attack” [6]
The air battle of Asch, later known as the "Legend of Y-29", was a disaster for JG 11. The U.S. fighters of the 352nd Fighter Group were credited with 23 aircraft shot down and 1 damaged that day [7] . JG 11 is said to have lost 28 aircraft overall, some of which were shot down before they got to Y-29. 25 pilots of JG 11 were killed…. accounting for some 40 percent of the JG 11’s pilots. On the other hand, the Americans lost only four P-51s in the attack but their pilots survived. One P-47 and one P-51 were shot up on the ground. [8]
For his foresight and leadership, which helped the 352nd FG avoid a disaster, Meyer received a Distinguished Service Cross, his third.
It is worth taking this opportunity to write a little bit about J.C.Meyer himself:
Meyer was the only American fighter Ace who went on to earn a four-star rank of a General. He was a strict and intelligent pilot with great leadership and flying skills. Though he humbly admitted to not being “a good shot”, his aggressive flying style and ability to position his plane for the kill from close range, made up for his lack in marksmanship.
Meyer is generally considered to be the 4th highest-scoring American Ace in Europe and 11th highest-scoring American Ace of WW2 (based on aerial victories only). Though his rankings change substantially in Meyer’s favour if we’ll take into account the 13 planes destroyed by him in strafing attacks. With Meyer’s overall victory tally of 37 destroyed enemy planes in total (Plus 1 probable, plus 2 damaged) in WW2, he can qualify for the title of the highest-scoring American Fighter Ace in Europe !(Though this title is usually attributed to “Gabby” Gabriski who racked up 28 aerial kills in WW2 vs. Meyer’s 24), and for the title of the highest-scoring Mustang Ace of WW2! (although this title is usually attributed to G. Preddy who was under Meyer’s command and who racked up 26 aerial kills vs. Meyer’s 24).
Flown by Wood
487th Fighter Squadron, 352nd Fighter Group, 8th Air Force, Chiévres (Y-84), Belgium, Feb 1945 to (Unknown)
Flown by Lieutenant Colonel James N. Wood. (A pilot with 3 aerial victories plus 1 unconfirmed, plus 1 on the ground,)
The illustration above shows what “Petie 3rd” might have looked like in early February 1945 when it was flown by J.N.Woods. “Petie 3rd” was the first “bubble canopy” Mustang assigned to Woods.
Just over a week after the battle at Y-29, on January 9th 1945 Meyer received a severe leg injury when the staff car that he was in suffered an accident, requiring him to return to the United States for recuperation. Due to this, Petie 3rd was assigned to James N.Wood, a pilot from the 487th squadron who was previously the wingman of the aforementioned fighter Ace Maj. George Preddy who perished in action only a couple of months prior. Wood had the code of “Petie 3rd” changed from HO-M to HO-Z to reflect the code of his previous Mustang - “The Fox”. Wood flew “Petie 3rd” (with the “Z” on the fin) in February1945 from an airfield near Chiévres, as can be seen in a photo of “Petie 3rd” from around this time. 352nd FG moved from Y-29 to this new airfield in Chiévres (codenamed Y-84) after January 27th and the first mission flown from Chiévres was on the 2nd of February. On the 6th Wood claimed an unconfirmed victory. In terms of air victories, the time between the 2nd and 22nd of February was rather uneventful for the 352nd FG except for Wood’s unconfirmed kill. [9]
Not long after, J.Wood personalised “Petie 3rd” by repainting it into “Ricky” (named after his infant nephew), as can be seen in this photo (Signed by J.Wood)*. Wood had his name replace Meyer’s on the canopy rail and had Meyer’s victory markings erased leaving only 5 of them to reflect Wood’s own victory score - 3 confirmed air victories, 1 strafing kill and his 1 unconfirmed kill which was allegedly scored from behind the controls of “Petie 3rd”.
“Ricky” / ”Ex. Petie 3rd” was eventually sold to Sweden[10].
(It’s worth noting that I have also read in one of the sources listed at the bottom of the page that after being assigned to Wood “Ricky” was actually assigned to Lt. Carlo A. Ricci who renamed it into “Ron-Marie”. However this doesn’t seem likely because “Ron-Marie” was an airplane with a different serial number (44-72389)).
Noteworthy Visual Characteristics
While flown by J.C.Meyer
1) The swept-back ‘Blue Nose’ was the identification marking of the 352nd Fighter Group. It made its first appearance on the group’s Mustangs in late April 1944. Because of this marking the unit and its airplanes were often called the ‘Bluenosers’. Sometimes the 352nd Fighter Group is even referred to as the ‘Blue-nosed Bastards of Bodney’. The latter name is based on the rumour that that when the unit’s mustangs with their distinctive blue noses made their first appearance over Germany, the head of the Luftwaffe, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, reportedly said: ‘I knew the war was lost when I saw the “Bluenosed Bastards of Bodney” over Berlin’! [11] In reality there is no evidence that Göring actually said this and the name ‘Blue-nosed Bastards of Bodney’ was most likely made up some time after the war.
With all the fame surrounding the ‘Bluenosers’ I had difficulties finding out which shade of blue was used by the unit exactly. Turns out that possibly various shades of blue were used. The very early examples of the blue that was used on the noses of the unit’s airplanes which were painted in Olive Drab was a very light shade of blue. However the colour became darker medium blue once the “aluminium’ coloured Mustangs started to arrive to the unit. The exact paint name of this ‘medium blue’ is unknown as far as I could find in my research. I have also read that later the colour “RAF Deep Sky Blue” was sometimes used for the noses too, which was darker yet again. Below are some examples of colour photos of the Bluenosers. Here are some additional links to colour photos of the Bluenosers from WW2:
https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/media/media-400726jpg
https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/media/media-387702jpg Not that the two Bluenosers in this image have a different shade of blue on the nose.
https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/media/media-388403jpg
Because the tone of “‘Petie 3rd”’s nose appears to be slightly lighter than the insignia in the b/w photos, I chose to use a slightly lighter/brighter blue colour in my artwork also.
The photos above are low resolution screen grabs taken from copyright-free images on Wikipedia. To find the original high resolution photos please go to these pages:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/352nd_Fighter_Group
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Bodney
2) The swasticas represent Meyer’s victories (aerial and ground combined) at around the end of Nov/beginning of Dec, 1944. The three swastikas added on the left/front were his latest kills at that time.
Based on the photo reference it appears that the different swastikas might have been painted with varying mixes of yellow/orange.
3) ‘HO’ is the identification code of the 487th Fighter Squadron
4) ‘M’ on the tail was the identification code of Meyer’s airplane.
5)”Petie”, was most likely a reference to Meyer’s wife. Meyer had just married during his one month leave to USA and upon returning to the front he named his new bubble-canopy Mustang “Petie 2nd” (The mustang he flew before his leave was called “Lambie 2”). “Petie 3rd” continued in the naming line of “Petie 2nd”. The name probably appeared on the port side of the nose only.
6) Indicates the names of the airplane’s crew - Crew Chief, Assistant and Armourer. Based on low resolution photo it appears that the names of the Crew Chief and his assistant are missing on “Petie 3rd”.
7) “The Little Bastard” was the emblem of the 487th Fighter Squadron. Meyer, being the commander of the squadron, prohibited others from painting this emblem on their airplanes, therefore Meyer’s plane was the only fighter in the squadron which had this emblem painted on it. First it was painted on “Petie 2nd” and then on “Petie 3rd”.
It appears that the emblem on “Petie 3rd” might have been outlined with Black and Yellow based on the photo reference, unlike the emblem on “Petie 2nd” which was fully coloured in.
8) The ‘Invasion/D-Day stripes’, these remained on many Allied airplanes after the Normandy landings, until the start of 1945. Their purpose was to help in identifying friend from foe.
9) The blue rudder was an identification marking of the 487th Fighter Squadron.
10) Identification stripes. The single black stripe on the wings was apparently about 15 inches wide, slightly thinner than the black and white ‘Invasion stripes’/’D-Day stripes’ which were about 18inches in width each.
11) The invasion stripes might not have been painted on the bottom of the fuselage. This is a presumption, but it is based on images of actual WW2 Mustangs which show that the tripes didn’t wrap around the bottom of the fuselage, possibly because they were painted while the planes were standing on the ground and the crew simply didn’t bother to reach all the way under the fuselage to paint them. As can be seen HERE and HERE.
12) Note that the antenna wire seems to be missing, as on many Mustangs of the 352nd FG.
13) The antena mast appears to be darker than the rest of the airplane on many mustangs (but not all) of the 487th squadron, including “Petie 3rd”. It’s possible that it was painted with some ‘non-glare’ paint or possibly with the same colour as the nose. I chose the same colour as the nose in my artwork.
While flown by J.N.Wood
1) Note that the background behind the name “Petie 3rd” appears to be darker in the photo reference. This part of the plane might have been touched up with darker blue paint.
Or maybe it this might have been due to the rest of the plane being slightly frosted over (it was European winter after all) while the area around the name started to warm up because of the running engine and some of the frosting melted away. Or maybe because the plane was dusted over and someone wiped off the dust in the area of the name so it can be seen better. Of course, it could always simply be a defect in the photo itself.
2) Note that on “Ricky” the names of the Crew Chief and Assistant seem to be present, while they seem to be missing on “Petie 3rd”. I couldn’t find who exactly was the Crew Chief, Assistant and Armourer, so I have used the names of the individuals who worked on “Petie 2nd”. Remember, it’s the Crew Chief William (Bill) Conkey who is said to have replaced “Petie 2nd” with “Petie 3rd”, so it’s quite likely that the same crew and crew chief continued to take care of “Petie 3rd” , and then “Ricky” also. But this is just a speculation on my part. The illustration of this part of the airplane is hypothetical. If you know the names of “Ricky”s crew then please let me know.
3)Note the change of the name on the canopy rail from Lt.Col.John C. Meyer to Lt.James N. Wood.
4) “Ricky” was the name given to the airplane by Wood. It was named after Wood’s newborn baby nephew.
5) J.Wood erased Meyer’s victories leaving only 5 swasticas to represent his own kill count.
It’s worth noting that it appears “Petie 3rd” flown by J.Wood still had the same number of ‘kills’ painted on it as the one flown by Meyer - 30 swasticas/kills. Meyer had 37 kills in total, 7 more than ever appeared on “Petty 3rd” ,based on what can be seen in the photo reference.
6) Note that the ‘D-Day/Invasion stripes’ have been rubbed out. By this time in the war (1945) they were not required anymore.
FOOTNOTES
[1] The info in this paragraph is based on “352nd Fighter Group”, by Thomas G. Ivie, published by Osprey Publishing in 2002, p.125. and on LtCol(Ret) Jay A. Stout’s book called “Fighter Group” (The 352nd “Blue-Nosed Bastards” in WW2), published by Stackpole Books in 1012, page 371-372. eBook ISBN:978-0-8117-4867-4
[2] The dates and victories are based on the book by Frank Olynyk called “Stars & Bars”, published by Grub Street in 1995, p.452.
According to Olynyk, Meyer scored 26 aerial victories in total (including the Korean war), plus 1 probable, plus 3 planes damaged, plus 13 destroyed on the ground.
It’s worth noting that in Olynyk’s book victories from Nov 21st-Dec-26th are clearly marked as having been scored in P-51D-15NA, 44-15041, HO-M. (in other words “Petie-3rd”) , but victories between Dec 27th - Jan 1st simply mention P-51D-15.
[3] The info in the two previous paragraphs is based on the book “352nd Fighter Group”, by Thomas G. Ivie, published by Osprey Publishing in 2002, p.97
[4] Encounter report, John C.Meyer, 487th Fighter Squadron, 352nd Fighter Group, 1st January 1945.
[5]Richard J.DeBruin, 352nd Fighter Group, 8th Air Force ‘The Blue Nosed Bastards of Bodney, Second to None:’ Y-29 Asch, Belgium, 23 December 1944-27 January 1945 (Self-published), 15.
[6] Based on LtCol(Ret) Jay A. Stout’s book called “Fighter Group” (The 352nd “Blue-Nosed Bastards” in WW2), published by Stackpole Books in 1012, page 346. eBook ISBN:978-0-8117-4867-4
[7] ‘Mustang Aces of the Eighth Air Force’, by Jerry Scutts. Published by Osprey Publishing in 1994, page 79
[8] Numbers are taken from the Wikipedia entry about JG 11 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagdgeschwader_11
[9] Info based on the book “352nd Fighter Group”, by Thomas G. Ivie, published by Osprey Publishing in 2002, p.114.
[10] Info taken from the book “352nd Fighter Group”, by Thomas G. Ivie, published by Osprey Publishing in 2002, p.126.
[11] Info taken from the book “352nd Fighter Group”, by Thomas G. Ivie, published by Osprey Publishing in 2002, p.6.
SUMMARY OF LINKS TO THE REFERENCE IMAGES AND VIDEOS
A good photo of “Petie 3rd” (though it might have been slightly photo retouched) can be found on this page https://imodeler.com/2022/03/john-c-meyers-petie-3rd-eduard-1-48/ , to go directly to the image click HERE
A photo of “Petie 3rd” marked HO-Z can be found here https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/attachments/petie-3rd-2-jpg.667606/
Photo reference for “Ricky” can be found on this page https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/james-wood-wwii-pilot-signed-8x10-3412327851
All the work presented on this is page is subject to updates and revisions in the light of new information which might present itself. If you have any new information relevant to this page or disagree with anything that's presented here, then please feel free to contact me through the Planes in Profile Facebook page. Thanks:)
Special thanks to Maciej Góralczyk for taking the time to make some valuable suggestions which helped to make the art look more accurate, as well as for providing some photo reference. Also thank you to everyone who helped in the ww2aircraft.net forum https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/j-c-meyers-petie-2nd-and-3rd.58314/, especially le_steph40 .
