1/72 Corgi (US32215) North American P51D (Serial Unknown) "Creamer's Dream" flown by Lt. Charles White 301st FS/332nd FG "Tuskegee Airmen" Italy 1945 (Limited Edition #1674 of ONLY 2100)
1/72 Corgi (US32215) North American P51D (Serial Unknown) "Creamer's Dream" flown by Lt. Charles White 301st FS/332nd FG "Tuskegee Airmen" Italy 1945 (Limited Edition #1674 of Only 2100)
Captain Charles L. White flew with the 301st Fighter Squadron from the autumn of 1944 until the end of the war. White was accepted into the "Tuskegee Experiment" pilot program and trained at Moton Field on the campus of Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama. After graduating he was rated as a fighter pilot with the rank of second lieutenant and sent overseas. He was assigned to the 332nd Fighter Group base at Ramitelli air field in southern Italy. Upon arrival in September 1944 he was assigned to the 301st Fighter Squadron and began flying combat missions.
On 1 April 1945 during a mission to escort B-24s of the 47th Bombardment Wing on a raid to the St. Polten marshalling yards seven members of the 301st Fighter Squadron shot down 12 enemy aeroplanes. Pilots scoring kills were 1st Lt Harry T. Stewart, 3 FW-190s, 1st Lt. Charles L. White, 2 Me-109s, 2d Lt Carl E. Carey, 2 FW-190s, 2d Lt John E. Edwards, 2 Me-109s, 2d Lts Walter P. Manning and Harold M. Morris, each shot down one FW-190, and Flight Officer James H. Fisher, who shot down another FW-190. Two of the 332d Fighter Group P-51 pilots were reported missing: 2d Lt. Walter P. Manning and Flight Officer William P. Armstrong, both of the 301st Fighter Squadron, at 1400 over Wels, Austria, after encountering enemy aircraft. For their heroic actions on this date, 1st Lt. Charles L. White, 1st Lt. John E. Edwards, 1st Lt. Harry T. Stewart Jr., and 2nd Lt. Carl E. Carey, all of the 301st Fighter Squadron, each earned a Distinguished Flying Cross.
White received a battlefield promotion to Captain. His decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with seven oak clusters for meritorious achievement and seven Bronze Stars. After returning to the States following WWII Charles worked for 42 years in the St. Louis Public School System. He died on 25 February 2007.
