loss to Audrey. It was the beginning of years of loss and grief for them, as it had been and would be increasingly for entire world. On October 17, 1942, Harry flew a P-38 in a flight test against a Japanese Zero fighter that had been captured, rebuilt by the Navy and brought to California for study. Within his report, he mentions that the Zero, though more maneuverable, was underpowered compared to the Lightening. Harry could out-fly his flight commanders by feeling just when he was short of stalling and thereby being able to make tighter turns. The Group received orders to ship out with their P-38s in November, ultimately for England. First arriving at Camp Kilmer in New Jersey on November 14, 1942, they prepared for their departure from the States. The 'Queen Elizabeth' ocean linerrequisitioned for military transport-took them to Europe; they left the docks on a cold and rainy morning on November 21. While crossing the Atlantic, German radio reported that the "Queen Elizabeth" was sunk by submarines, which gave them all a good laugh. On November 29, the green coast of Scotland was sighted and the 'Lizzie' was buzzed by Spitfires as a welcome. Their first station was at Goxhill, England, where life in Quonset huts was frugal. Their P-38s arrived by December 15 and the group began flying. In January of 1943, the group flew practice missions escorting B-17 'Flying Fortress' Bombers and increasingly grew anxious to enter the fight. In February, ready for action, the group was broken up; all men but the squadron and flight C.O.s were sent to Africa, along with the P-38 fighter planes. Replacement pilots and P-47 Thunderbolt fighters arrived slowly. Later in the war, Harry flew the P-51 Mustang fighter, but most of his combat was in the P-47 T-bolt, or 'Milk Jug', as the British called it. In April, the group was moved to the base at Duxford, England. In March, Harry was promoted to major. Sometimes the officers would visit the RAF bases for two to three days. There were also training missions to other squads of Free Poles, as well as Free French and Free Czechs operating from England. The group got friendly with a number of Free Polish fighter pilots. They thought them tough, excellent flyers and fiercely determined to fightthe Poles' planes had to be locked down at night and guarded to prevent them from taking to the air on their own to seek out enemy aircraft. American fighters adopted the strategy of the Polish fighters, flying in groups of four in a V rather than the line formation of the RAF. Harry led his squadron as the group flew their first operational mission on April 13, 1943, flying with fighters from the 'Eagle' and 56th Fighter Groups. They crossed the English coast at 1842 hours at 25,000 feet and the French coast at Le Touquet at 31,000 feet. Visibility was good, but no enemy aircraft were sighted. In their second mission on April 15, six Folke-Wulf 190 fighters were spotted and Col. Chesley Peterson of the Eagle Group shot one down. Harry comments on the amazing sight of P-47s all over the sky. From this time, the group began flying combat missions regularly, including fighter interceptions of German bombers and, increasingly, Allied bomber escorts over the English Channel into Belgium, Holland and France and, eventually, with the advent of fuel 'drop tanks', into Germany. Strafing and 'small bomb' bombing raids also became common. Often missions followed one day after another. Often bad weather grounded the fighters for days on end. The primary enemy aircraft engaged were, the Folke-Wulf 190 and the Messerschmitt 109. The Allied bombers they escorted were primarily the B-17 and B-24. On April 24, 1943, Harry received word that he was the father of an 8 lb. baby boy, (followed later in his life with four more boys). The British General Montgomery was inspecting U.S. planes at Duxford on May 17, 1943, and began climbing on Harry's P-47 fighter (named after his wife, 'Mackie'). At first, Harry didn't know who it was and came close to curtly ordering him down, thinking he was a nosey 'paddle foot' or ground officer. On May 21, 1943, the King and Queen of England made a visit to Duxford, which was closed all day for the occasion. Harry spoke with the Queen for a few minutes, answering her questions with 'Yes, Ma'am' or 'No, Ma'am' and, later, he led the 78th Fighter Group in an aerial review for the royal guests. On June 4, 1943, he flew a revue for Generals Hunter and Eaker and British Secretary for Air. During this year, he saw Bob Hope and Francis Langford in a USO show, met Jimmy Stewart in a British Pub, and was interviewed for a BBC radio broadcast on June 24, 1943. On July 15, 1943, on a visit to Bomber Command at Bassingbourn, Harry was briefed by General Doolittle and spoke personally with General Curtis Lemay. Excerpt from Harry J. Dayhuff's war diary, dated Friday, July 30, 1943: Went inside German border for about 50 miles -furtherest any single engine fighter have been in. Approx. 200 forts were being attacked. Had a hell of a good day - 78th got 16 destroyed - several probables & 6 or 7 damaged. I got a 109 - just pulled in on him and let him have it till he blew up. Gene got 3, London two more - is now an ace. Sited two 190's & took some shots but he 20 was in a turn & didn't go down. Jim got another. Morning mission with belly tanks bring Forts out of Germany. Coming out Lehmon had engine failure & bailed out over channel. I circled him down & gave fix on him & circled him in dinghy till gas was low - had to land at coast drome. Lost Graff - don't know what happened to him. We lost McNickle - seems we are tough on group C.O.'s. Also lost 84th boy - one pilot shot up train & Flak tower coming out on deck [tree topping]. Flak was damn accurate over Rotterdam. Really made history for the group today. On Tuesday, August 3 Harry was made executive officer of the 78th F.G., second in command to the new CO., Jim Stone, who replaced Arman Peterson when he was killed in action. Jake Oberhansley was made CO. of Harry's 82nd Squadron. Harry was promoted to lieutenant colonel in September of 1943 at the age of 25. By October, he had 78 combat missions under his belt, which was to rise to 108 over the remainder of the war. Harry had the opportunity to fly P-38s in combat that fall, when, because of his experience, he was briefly assigned to lead newly formed P-38 squadrons of the 55th Fighter Group in their first combat missions; therefore, he led the first P-38 missions across the English Channel. His 78th Fighter Group was provided with the more advanced P-51 Fighter planes and Harry flew and led missions in Mustangs for nine months. The French were considering buying the Mustang after the D-Day invasion. Harry was acquainted with the Free French squadron; and when the colonel heading the French Air Force arrived, Harry checked out the colonel in the Mustang. Towards the end of 1944, Harry was assigned to become Group Commander of the 4th Fighter Group the former 'Eagle' squadrons of American volunteers to the RAF - where he served from December 7, 1944 to February 21, 1945; afterwards, he moved back to the 78th. Harry, had his first leave to visit his wife and meet his infant son in May of 1944, and was in the States during the D-Day invasion. Prior to the invasion he had led many strafing and bombing missions, softening German communication and supply lines. Having flown 108 combat missions, Harry was transferred to 8th Air Force Command headquarters as an aid to Operations under General Kepner. He was involved with mapping and served as a combat advisor from June 1944 to the spring of 1945. During his career, Harry not only flew combat missions in the P-38, P-47 and P-51, he also had early experience with the P-40, flew the C-47 transport, a British Spitfire, as well as briefly handling the controls of a B-17 bomber. The 78th Fighter Group flew a total of 450 missions, claimed 338 enemy aircraft killed in the air and 358 on the ground, and had 167 of its own fighters destroyed or MIA. Harry was awarded a number of medals, including the Silver Star for leading escort missions deep into Germany, the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Medal with six Oak Leaf Clusters, and the French "Croix de Guerre", awarded in January of 1945 by Le General d'Armee Juin on behalf of Le General de Gaulle. He was credited with two confirmed kills during his career, one FW 190 and one ME 109, and was known for his skills as a pilot who could train and lead newer pilots to better survive combat-the inexperienced pilots usually being easy prey for seasoned German fighters. John Edmund Dayhuff and Harry Dayhuff A story from the Ogden Standard-Examiner of August 2, 1942 leads with these words: Two sons of Mr. and Mrs. Huston Dayhuff, 3638 Grant, are in the front lines of Uncle Sam's fighting forces, both wearing the wings of the Army Air Corps. The youngest, John Edmund Dayhuff, received his commission as a second lieutenant July 23 [1942] following completion of training at the advanced flying school at Williams Field, Chandler, Ariz. ... He graduated from Weber High School in 1938 and from Weber College in 1940. He took an active part in club work at the college . . . [and] is a past master councilor of the Ogden DeMolay chapter. Harry J. Dayhuff was recently promoted to the rank of captain and is stationed at San Diego. The elder Dayhuff brother was also a Weber College graduate. The two brothers followed similar career paths into the military. Harry rose quickly through the officer ranks of Air Corps. Press reports and military correspondence indicate he was a lieutenant colonel in the fall of 1943. He commanded a fighter group and was credited with the destruction of several German airplanes. He was awarded the Air Medal with Three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Silver Star. One press report says he flew several missions over Berlin, at least some of them in dive bombing attacks in a P-47 Thunderbolt. John Edmund ('Eddie') kept a diary. Excerpts from it for the months of May and June of 1944 reveal a pilot who came to see his 21