This P-51D, "The Enchantress",
Flown by 2nd Lt. William Saks of the 457th FS, 506th FG out of North Field, Airfield #3, Iwo Jima in June of 1945.
2nd Lt. Saks flew in the 457th Fighter Squadron of the 506th FG in the Pacific Theatre and was lost in his P-51D Mustang on 1 June 1945, when he failed to return to Iwo Jima due to very bad weather conditions. The 506th operated fr om Iwo Jima in the summer of 1945, providing long range escort coverage for the B-29 raids reaching deep into Japan. These missions stretched the Mustang’s range lim it, and resulted in some of the longest escort missions of the war.
On June 1st, the 506th was tasked alongside the 15th and 21st Fighter Groups, in escorting 400 B-29 Superfortresses from the XXI Bomber Command, in conducting a strike against Osaka. Due to terrible weather conditions en route, out of the 200 Mustangs sent out to escort, ONLY 27 succeeding in reaching Osaka!
The 457th lost five pilots on that flight, Lieutenants James Best, Robert Griffith, Leonard Kleiber, Robert Klipped and William Saks.
The mission was deemed "aborted" and a failure.
This fateful day was to be called "Black Friday"...
