My wife's grandfather enlisted with the USAAF in 1942, and the only stories I had heard was that he was a mechanic in England, working on Mosquitos. His memory was pretty poor, but I don't know that you'd forget the type of plane you worked on (but what do I know).
At any rate, as far as I can tell, the USAAF did not operate Mosquitos, so it would mean that he worked on RAF equipment. Was this sort of "cross-pollination" among national forces common? How were assignments determined?
I'm still in the early stages of researching his service, but I thought I'd ask this here. Thanks in advance for any responses.
At any rate, as far as I can tell, the USAAF did not operate Mosquitos, so it would mean that he worked on RAF equipment. Was this sort of "cross-pollination" among national forces common?
In a tangentially related note, there were also American Spitfire pilots, particularly the reconnaissance version of the plane. Here is a fascinating short documentary on one such pilot. It's under 15 minutes long and well worth the watch.
There weren't very many, but the USAAF did operate a few Mosquito squadrons; one of Mk XXX night fighters in Italy, and two squadrons in England:
"Starting in April 1944, two squadrons of the 25th Bomb Group operated specially equipped versions of the Mosquito PR Mk XVI in support of Eighth Air Force operations. Based at Watton in Norfolk, the 653rd Bomb Squadron (Light) was tasked with weather reconnaissance, and the 654th Bomb Squadron (Special Purpose) with photo reconnaissance/electronic warfare."
Combat in the Sky: The Art of Air Warfare, Philip Handleman