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 Crew Chief Torrey marking up Haviland's pair of air victories on November 26, 1944. |
Born: March 24, 1915. |
Birthplace: Tampa, FL. Rank at Retirement: Major Unit(s): – 355th Fighter Group — 357th Fighter Squadron Theatre(s): ETO Decoration: – DFCx5, AMx7 Victories: – 6 Aerial (+2 damaged) – 6 Ground (+3 damaged) Aircraft Flown: – P-51B-5 43-6640 OS-H Barbara – P-51C-15 42-103753 OS-H Barbara – P-51D-10 44-14402 OS-H Barbara |
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Fred Haviland Jr joined the Army before Pearl Harbor and graduated from flight school as a Second Lieutenant May 20, 1942. He served in Training Command until finally breaking loose for England in May, 1944 after accumulating over 900 hours flying time. He was assigned to 357FS/355FG on June 11th, 1944. His flight experience paid off and he shot down his first Me 109 N of Magdeburg on June 21st followed by 2 Me 410's destroyed plus an Fw 190 over the next two weeks. Haviland was not to score in the air again until the big November 26, 1944 air battle between Hanover and Gardlingen trying to protect 2AD B-24's from attacks by 150+ German fighters in that are. He nailed an Fw 190 and a Me 109 in the fight to become the 355th FG's 15 ace. He also destroyed 6 on the ground in his tour with the 355th and transferred to 65 Fighter Wing HQ in February, 1945 for the rest of the war.
His final tally was 6 destroyed, 2 damaged in the air and 6 destroyed 3 damaged on the ground finishing tied for second (with Olson) as the 357FS top scorer in the air behind Elder. |
Profile compiled by Bill Marshall - Photo courtesy Bill Marshall.
