Jack Ilfrey talks about friendships forged in combat.

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  Ilfrey was sent back to the E.T.O. (European Theater of Operations) in April of 1944, as the Operations Officer, (on June 14th. he became the Squadron Commander,) of the 79th. Fighter Squadron, 20th. Fighter Group, based out of Kings Cliffe, England. This group also flew P-38s.

Soon he was back in form, and on May 24th., during a "hairy dog" mission to Berlin, he was credited with downing two Messerscmitt Bf-109s. One of the enemy aircraft he had been credited with had actually collided with Ilfrey's Lightning and had sheared nearly four and a half to five feet of Ilfrey's right wing off. The enemy pilot did not recover from the subsequent spin, but Ilfrey's skill kept him from joining his foe's fate. In fact, Jack managed to bring the P-38 back home, even though many of his squadronmates had given up on him making it back.

  As D-Day approached, and the Invasion stripes were added to the squadrons' mounts, the 20th.FG readied itself for some intense action. Ilfrey flew three patrols over Normandy on June 6th.(D-Day) as the largest invasion force to ever cross the English Channel fought below him on the beaches of Normandy. Jack's total combat hours that single day totaled ten.

On June 13th., after sucessfully dive bombing a railway bridge over the Loire river, near Angers, France, Jack was shot down while strafing a nearby train. He was over 200 miles below the front line, but with the help of the French civilians he managed to evade capture dressed as a French farmer Jacques Robert' and was back in England within six days.This story was chronicled in Eric Hammel's excellent book, "Aces Against Germany" (ISBN 0-671-52907-2.)


  In late July, the 20th. Fighter Group converted from their P-38 Lightnings to the newly arrived North American P-51D Mustang and within days the group were involved in "Operation Frantic IV", a shuttle mission to Russia, Italy and back to England. It was around this time that Ilfrey was promoted to Major, however the celebration of this promotion wound up with him being busted back to a 2nd. Lt. for infractions of the rules. He was still left in command of the squadron, however, and his claim to fame...or infamy... is that he was the only 2nd. Lt. Commanding Officer of a Combat Squadron during the war. His return to the rank of Capt. quickly began again as once again Gen. James Doolittle, C.O. of the 8th.AF was persuaded to overlook the infraction by the Commanding Officer of the 20th. FG, Col. Cy Wilson.

  The remainder of Ilfrey's second tour of duty in the E.T.O. remained fairly uneventful until November 20th., when he landed behind enemy lines, near the front, in Maastrick, Holland and successfully retrieved his downed wingman. Ilfrey and his wingman squeezed into the cockpit of the P-51 (designed for only one person,) and flew a short trip to Brussels.

On December 9, 1944, after a total of 70 missions, 320 hours of combat flying and 2 enemy aircraft downed, Ilfrey was reassigned to the US, where he became a Troop Commander at McChord Air Force Base. He left the USAAF with the final rank of Major in December of 1945.

In two tours of duty Ilfrey completed a total of 142 missions, 528 combat hours(two complete tours,) downed seven and a half enemy aircraft (all air victories), damaged two more and destroyed two enemy trains on the ground.

-Maj. Jack M. Ilfrey's Notable Decorations-

-Victory Medal-

-Silver Star-

-Distinguished Flying Cross with Five Oak Leaf Clusters-

-Air Medal with Twelve Oak Leaf Clusters-

  In 1946, Ilfrey wrote his autobiography, "Happy Jack's Go Buggy", a WW II fighter pilot's personal document. The foreward to this book was written by none other than Gen. Eddie Rickenbacker. It won acclaim from many, including Gen. James Doolittle, Gen. William H. Simpson, Senator Barry Goldwater and Gen. Ira Eaker. It is now available through Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. (For information e-mail Schifferbk@aol.com)but original copies can still be located in some of the finer used book stores.