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Bottisham Four, The by Carter.
On a warm July morning in 1944, Colonel Thomas J.J. Christian, C.O. of the 361st Fighter Group, 8th Air Force, then based at Bottisham Air Field near Cambridge, Englandstrode purposefully into the Nissan hut that served as the officers mes, near the sleepy village of Bottisham. It was a "stand down" day for the group, and most of the pilots had already left the base either on a 24-hour pass to London, or to go into nearby cambridge where dances were regularly held.
As luck would have it, two young captains and a 1st Lt. were lare in leaving the base. "The Army Air Forces photography section wants some publicity photos of P-51s in various formations," Christian said, "and they have picked the 361st Fighter Group as the subject. They have got themselves a B-17 to use as a camera ship, and have taken out the waist guns, to enable them to mount their cameras...you guys just vollunteered for flight...take off is at 1400."
Thus the scene was set for the most famous set of publicity photographs ever taken of any aircraft, past or present. Hardly a book that deals with aviation history or that of World War II, fails to reproduce one of the pictures taken on the July afternoon over Cambridgeshire. The three young pilots who flew the formation with Colonel Christian were:
1st Lt. Urban Drew
Capt. Bruce W. Rowlett
Capt. Francis T. Glanker
All survived the war, with one, Lt. Urban Drew becoming an "ace" and achieving fame as the first Allied pilot to shoot down two Me262 jet aircraft in air to air combat on one mission, October 7, 1844.
Sadly, les than three weeks after the famous photographic mission, Colonel Thomas Christian was killed in E2-C "Lou IV", while divebombing marshalling yars near Chartres, france. 1st Lt. Urban Drew was flying "chanell relay" that day, channel relay beinf one Mustang assigned to patrol back and forth down the English channel to relay messages from the group to the base at Bottisham....it was Drew who radioed the group base that their beloved commander was not coming home that day or ever.
As a postscript to the photographic session, in 1986, the citizens of Bottisham dedicated a street to be names "Christian Way", in formal ceremonies, to commemorate the memory of the young fighter group commander. Col. Christian, at the time he commanded the 361st Fighter Group, was the only West Point graduate commanding a fighter group in the 8th Air Force in England.
Signatures on the print:
1st Lt. Urban Drew
Capt. Bruce W. Rowlett
Capt. Francis T. Glanker
Some prints have addtional signtures:
Lt. Dale Spencer 375th Fighter Group
Lt. Colonel Joe Kruzel
Edition size: 750 signed and numbered
Print size: 31"w x 26"h
