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Flea Market Finds: 12th Fighter Bomber


tbirdismypride
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tbirdismypride

post-1973-1230993667.jpg

This is my score for the weekend trip to the flea market. the 12th Fighter Bomber Squadron is by far the nicest and the oldest. I dont know much at all about the squadrons but the construction of the Foxy Few mug suggests its an older piece.

 

post-1973-1230993649.jpg

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tbirdismypride

Thanks for the comments guys! After a few quick searches I have found out that the 12th Foxy Few mug was by far the nicest. The 12th Fighter Bomber Squadron was only in existance for about 8 years from around 1950 to 1958 and was in volved in a lot of fighting in Korea. In 1958 it was redesignated the 12th Fighter Squadron. So this mug dates from back in the 50's

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tbirdismypride
Sweet mug. It probably dates from the period of 1950-52, the squadron converted to F-86F's in early 1953, Mark

 

Thanks TBMflyer,

Am I correct to assume the fighter on the mug is a P-51 still or did it have another designation by then???

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Yes it is a Mustang, they called it the F-51 then but the same old great bird. I have a color photo of a 12th bird, I'll get a pic to you tomorrow, Mark

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tbirdismypride
Yes it is a Mustang, they called it the F-51 then but the same old great bird. I have a color photo of a 12th bird, I'll get a pic to you tomorrow, Mark

 

That would be Great!!!! Thank You!!!! thumbsup.gif

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tbirdismypride
T-bird, here is the photo. Line up of F-51's in Korea in 1951, note the sharkmouth insignia. Enjoy, Markpost-527-1231096337.jpg

Very COOL!!!

Thanks for showing the photo.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Thanks for the comments guys! After a few quick searches I have found out that the 12th Foxy Few mug was by far the nicest. The 12th Fighter Bomber Squadron was only in existance for about 8 years from around 1950 to 1958 and was in volved in a lot of fighting in Korea. In 1958 it was redesignated the 12th Fighter Squadron. So this mug dates from back in the 50's

 

Nice Mug! My Grandfather was the intelligence officer in Korea 1951-52 I believe. My father has an identical mug which will be passed down to me...

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  • 2 years later...

I found one of these 12th Fighter Bomber Squadron mugs in a kitchen cabinet at an estate sale today:

 

12tha.jpg

 

12thb.jpg

 

As noted above, the 12th converted from F-51D's to F-86 Sabres in 1953, specifically in March 1953, according to a nice account of the transition here: http://sabre-pilots.org/classics/v21convert.htm

 

As for the shark's teeth on the F-51's - here's the explanation for that, from Air Force Fifty by The Air Force Association

 

12thrhee.jpg

 

It sounds like the 12th really was one of the first US fighter units in Korea, when they went there in June 1950 as a Provisional Squadron from the 18th Fighter Wing, flying Mustangs that had been in storage in Japan. The 18th was the last USAF unit to use Mustangs in combat.

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Cobrahistorian
Your Interceptor Squadron is 1960's era , I think they flew F-106's if memory serves me , nice one too !

Johnny

 

Yep, the 460th flew F-106s, however, the "McGhee-Tyson" denotes a much earlier period when the unit flew F-86Ds in the air defense role.

Here's a good page that's got the unit's history: http://www.tiger-lair.org/units/unitsDetail.asp?unitID=120

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nice his last name is on the one cup. kind of an usual name. .

 

 

i see you're from south carolina. maybe this mclees is your guy. he's from s.c. Name on records is robert, and one cup says ray, perhaps nickname or brother from the guy in these nada wwii records, link:

 

http://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail....amp;rid=5051601

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Johnny Signor
Yep, the 460th flew F-106s, however, the "McGhee-Tyson" denotes a much earlier period when the unit flew F-86Ds in the air defense role.

Here's a good page that's got the unit's history: http://www.tiger-lair.org/units/unitsDetail.asp?unitID=120

Yeah, "Doh" I missed that part , so it's for sure the F-86 era , even better !!!!!!!!!

Johnny

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  • 3 years later...

Hello!

 

I found this post and forum today looking up information about the 12thFBS/18thFBG at K-55 Osan in 1953. My father, who passed away in 1993, was an F-86 pilot in that unit.

 

I find it very intriguing that there would be coffee mugs with the unit emblems in 1953. Who would have made them? Were they made by Koreans and sold near the base? Or were they made in the US and brought back to K-55?

 

I would be very interested in either or both of the Foxy Few mugs, if either of you might be interested in a sale. If not, I understand completely.

 

Here's a photo of my father, standing outside Base Operations at K-55:

14487382077_91ef0b407d_o_d.jpg

You can see the fox mascot on the sign over the door. Note that he appears to be holding a bottle (more later). The "Foxy Few" emblem is also on the jacket of the sitting pilot with the cigarette. Somewhere in my family is a photo of my father with a similar jacket, although I have not been able to locate it

 

Here's a photo of an F-86 from his unit, but there are no notes on the photo. I can't read the pilot's name along the lower edge of the canopy, but my mother's name is not Peggy Ann. I think it's safe to say my father would not have had a reason to name an airplane "Peggy Ann".

14671510584_7960716aac_o_d.jpg

 

Here's a photo from the book "F-86 SABRE Fighter-Bomber Units over Korea" by Warren Thompson. I just happened to see this photo and found my father in it, third from left:

14670639501_4080b3c7b5_z_d.jpg

 

Here's a close-up scan. My father is not mentioned in the book.

14487176769_43f9a04d51_o_d.jpg

 

I found a "Foxy Few" patch for sale, but in it, the fox is holding a bomb, not a bottle.

14693720063_f1a08e5882_o_d.jpg

 

I did find another photo of a patch with the fox holding a bottle, but it still doesn't look like the emblem over the door or on the pilot's jacket.

14487164420_4776b912bb_o_d.jpg

 

I have more information on my father and his time in the 12th FBS which I will bring up later, inclduing all of his flight records and some gun camera film from his F-86, both in training and in Korea,

 

If you have read this far, thanks for paying attention and I hope the information was interesting.

 

To the owners of the Foxy Few mugs, please let me know if you are interested in a possible deal.

 

Regards,

Stephen Tinius

Myrtle Beach SC

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Just an FYI: The 2 patches you posted are not period originals, but modern day remakes. Period patches were handmade in Japan. The one with the bomb was designed by Daniel "Chappie" James about 1950. The one with the bottles was done later for fun. Both are unofficial but widely worn during the Korean War. Here's an original with the bottles. Hope this helps.

 

Randy

post-8832-0-41693800-1406036793.jpg

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Thanks for the info.

 

A fourth design shows up in the book "F-86 SABRE Fighter-Bomber Units over Korea" by Warren Thompson in a photo said to have been taken in 1953:

23k4004.jpg

 

I located my father's baseball cap from Korea. It was stored on his sailboat for many years and suffered from the moisture and mold:

2q3t075.jpg

 

The design looks like the one on the jacket above from 1953, when my father was at K-55 Osan.

14ryvo.jpg

 

And on the militaria.com auction site I found this version with an unside down bottle:

2s85rfp.jpg

 

Regards,

-stephen

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