P51D Mustang 44 13761 MCI Happy Jacks Go Buggy Capt Jack M Ilfrey 79th FS 20th FG Kings Clif 1944
<p>North American P-51D Mustang (Early) 44-13761 / MC-I, ‘Happy Jack’s Go Buggy’, Capt. Jack M Ilfrey,<br>79th Fighter Squadron, 20th Fighter Group, US Eighth Air Force, Kings Cliffe USAAF Station 367, August 1944<br>With ace pilot Jack Ilfrey having been shot down over France just six days after D-Day, but luckily managing to avoid capture thanks to the efforts of the French<br>resistance network, he soon found himself in London being interrogated by Allied intelligence officers. It was highly unusual to allow a downed airman to resume<br>combat operations in the same theatre of operations following a successful repatriation, as they were at risk of both placing his helpers in danger and being shot<br>as a spy if brought down again. Despite this, after a short spell touring USAAF airfields to recount his experiences to fellow pilots, Ilfrey found himself back at<br>Kings Cliffe airfield, the commanding officer of his old squadron. The unit had recently traded their twin engined P-38 Lightnings for North American P-51D<br>Mustangs, with the P-38s transferring to the Nineth Air Force for use in ground support operations. With his Mustang receiving the same ‘Happy Jack’s Go<br>Buggy’ nose artwork as his previous fighter, Ilfrey would not score any further victories flying the Mustang, but he would use it as an unlikely wartime flying taxi.<br>On the way home from completing an escort mission to Berlin, Ilfrey’s wingman was hit by flak and forced to make a hasty landing at an abandoned airstrip in<br>Holland. Unwilling to leave the young airman to an uncertain fate, Ilfrey landed his ‘Go Buggy’ at the same airfield, beckoned his wingman into the cockpit and<br>took off again sat on his lap – he described this as an extremely uncomfortable, but memorable flight back to Kings Cliffe for the pair.</p>
