8th PRS F-4 Delivery Sequence - THE LOCKHEED FILE

8th PRS LOCKHEED F-4 LIGHTNINGS

SEQ	SERIAL	SQN #	NAME	DEPARTED USA	ARRIVED AUST	AT	LOST	CONDEMNED	REMARKS
SHIPMENT #1 on S.S. President Coolidge
1	41-2123	23	Fainting Floozie II	19MAR42	07APR42	MELB.	28NOV42	-	KIA 28NOV42. (Lt. Phillip D. Lissner)
2	41-2124	-	unknown	19MAR42	07APR42	MELB.	-	31OCT44	8th PRS F-4 badly damaged in a forced landing near Garbutt on 04MAY42. (Lt. Ralph Watts) (Important See Note: 4)
3	41-2125	25	unknown	19MAR42	07APR42	MELB.	13AUG42	-	MIA Horn Is - Moresby 13AUG42. (Lt. Paul Staller)
4	41-2126	-	unknown	19MAR42	07APR42	MELB.	04MAY42	25AUG42	MIA Lae 04MAY42. (Capt Louis J. Connelly) (Important See Note: 4)
SHIPMENT #2 (also included 41-2158 & 41-2159 which were delivered directly to the RAAF as A55-1 & A55-2 resp.)
5	41-2098	-	unknown	15JUL42	12AUG42	CAC	-	14SEP42
6	41-2130	30	Malaria Mabel	15JUL42	12AUG42	CAC	-	09MAY44	Salvaged in Australia.
7	41-2137	37	Hellzapoppin Hepcat	15JUL42	19AUG42	CAC	26JUN43	-	Converted to two-seater 06DEC42. MIA 26JUN43 (1st Lt. Kenneth J. Murphy)
8	41-2139	-	Pouting Peggy	15JUL42	19AUG42	CAC	-	26SEP44	aka "Doris". Salvaged in Australia 26SEP44.
9	41-2140	-	unknown	15JUL42	19AUG42	CAC	16MAR43	-	MIA 16MAR43 (Lt. Morton) at sea NW of Fishermans Field, PNG.
10	41-2156	56	Limping Lizzie	15JUL42	19AUG42	CAC	-	26APR44	aka “Leaping Lizzie”. Salvaged in Australia 26APR44.
11	41-2177	77	Dotin’ Donna	15JUL42	19AUG42	CAC	21MAY43	-	KIA 21MAY43 (2nd Lt. Robert M. Blackard)
SHIPMENT #3
12	41-2217	17	unknown	04OCT42	NOV42	SUMAC	-	26SEP44	Salvaged in Australia
13	41-2220	220	unknown	04OCT42	NOV42	SUMAC	-	26SEP44	Received 8th PRS in "bad shape". Salvaged in Australia
SHIPMENT #4
14	41-2122	-	unknown	21NOV42	DEC42	SUMAC	05DEC43	-	MIA 05DEC43 near Hood Point (Lt Fred Cross)
15	41-2144	-	unknown	21NOV42	DEC42	SUMAC	-	08FEB44	To RAAF as A55-3 on 27FEB43.
16	41-2209	-	Alice the Goon	21NOV42	DEC42	SUMAC	30DEC43	-	Lost in the Coral Sea off PNG on 30DEC43.
17	41-2214	-	unknown-	21NOV42	DEC42	SUMAC	-	02AUG43	Salvaged in Australia.

It is believed that a total of 19 F-4s were delivered to the SWPA.
The table above lists 17 (plus 2 that went directly to the RAAF).
Therefore it is likely that the unallocated names in the following table belonged to the aircraft listed above.

*NAMES WITHOUT SERIAL NUMBERS (Source: The Eight Ballers)*
NAME	PAGE	DATE	REMARKS
Eager Beaver II	p. 22	unknown	Originally thought to be 41-2134, this F-4 did not come to the SWPA but rather went to the 5th PRS in North Africa. Although the aircraft is clearly an F-4 and carries the number "34" on the nose, close examination of a photograph reveals that the "3" is larger and apparently in fresher paint than the "4".
Baker's Bastard	p. 47	03FEB43	Refers to a single pilot photographic mission by the C.O.
Lackagas 37	p. 53	23FEB43	Appears to refer to a "low fuel" incident in Dotin' Donna (41-2177) so may be a typo and this name may not have been actually painted on the aircraft. 41-2137 is Hellzapoppin Hepcat.
Photo Joe	p. 57	07MAR43	Refers to a flight by the C.O. in the "renovated and soon-to-be-christened Photo Joe"
Map! Happy Pappy	p. 96	07MAR43	Photograph of nose art on an unidentified F-4. Is it an exclamation mark or a baseball bat after Map?

NOTES

Superceded by Issue #5.

Abbreviations:

SUMAC	5th Air Force, South West Pacific Area.
MELB	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
CAC	Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation, Melbourne.
MIA	Missing In Action.
KIA	Killed In Action.

On 13DEC42, the 8th PRS reported that it had 7 aircraft of which 1 was serviceable.

The identities of the two 8th PRS F-4s lost or damaged on 04MAY42 are unknown but through a process of elimination they were deduced to have been 41-2124 and 41-2126. Based on condemned dates, provisional identities were assigned but new evidence which emerged in January 2016 suggests that these provisional identities should be reversed and accordingly this has been done. This new evidence is nothing less than the data plate from 41-2124!

(Source: Emerson Rasmussen Collection)

The excellent condition of the data plate suggests that it was more likely from the aircraft that was badly damaged in a landing accident on 04MAY42 (#2 in the table above) rather than from an aircraft that was, and presumably still is, Missing In Action (#4 in the table above). However, it is important to note that these amended provisional identities are still subject to confirmation.

Thanks to Emerson Rasmussen for supplying this scan of the data plate in his collection.

Thanks also to Peter Dunn http://www.ozatwar.com/ozcrashes/qld86.htm

Aircraft names are derived principally from The Eight Ballers by John Stanaway and Bob Rocker.

Note that the 8th PRS also operated F-5 Lightnings (as well as other miscellaneous types) but these are outside the scope of this project because the RAAF did not operate F-5s. It is believed that the first F-5A delivered to the 8th PRS may have been 42-13037 on or about 24MAR43.

With thanks to Chuck Varney, Terry Geary, Bob Rocker and Gordon Birkett.

Issue	Date	Remarks
7	18APR21	Minor reformatting with no change to data.
6	22JAN16	Added new evidence in the form of the data plate from 41-2124. Thanks to Emerson Rasmussen.
5	18JAN16	Added the "Lost" column to separate dates of actual loss from condemned dates.
4	15AUG14	Departure dates ex USA for sequence 5-11 changed from 06JUL42 to 15JUL42.
3	15JUN14	Updated Note 5 with details of what may have been the first delivery of an F-5A to the 8th PRS.
2	13JUN14	Updated the details for Shipment #1 from known movements of the S.S. President Coolidge which sailed from San Francisco on 19MAR42 and docked in Melbourne on 07APR42. Personnel from "A" Flight of the 8th PRS also travelled on this voyage.
1	17MAY14	The table of 8th PRS F-4s was transferred to this stand-alone page and the contents updated. Thanks to Chuck Varney and Terry Geary. Added 41-2124 and 41-2125 to the list of known 8th PRS F-4s. Added a Delivery column to the table of known 8th PRS F-4s. Deleted 41-2134 as it was delivered to the 5th PRS in North Africa. Deleted 41-2193 as it is most probably F-5 42-13093 or 42-13293. Deleted 41-2325 as it is a P-38F. Deleted 41-2381 as it is most probably F-5B 42-67381

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