The photo below shows a North American P-51D Mustang receiving extensive maintenance from no less than 7 ground crew members on Iwo Jima. Neat photo that could be used for the basis a very busy diorama. You can make out the plane’s serial in the photo, which is 44-63959. This was a P-51D-20NA Mustang assigned to 462nd Fighter Squadron, 506th Fighter Group. I received the photo from Richard Smith, who is the son of Captain Lawrence S. Smith. Captain Smith was one of pilots lost during the infamous June 1, 1945, “Black Friday” mission.

The plane’s fuselage number was 644. Please note that the stubs for carrying 5-inch high velocity aircraft rockets (HVARs) have been installed on 644. These were a field modification as the stubs were not factory installed on Block 20 Mustangs.

644 was flown by Flight Officer Harry Reese who named the plane, “Sandra Leigh”. Flight Officer Reese was not credited with any aerial or ground victories.

Below is a nice photo of Flight Officer Reese with a 20 mission crush on his cap.

There are no aftermarket decals in any scale for 644 “Sandra Leigh”. Thanks to Richard Smith for providing me with the top photo.