Don Gentile

About an hour north of where I grew up it the small city of Piqua, Ohio. Its name derives from Othath-He-Waugh-Pe-Qua, a Shawnee term meaning "he has risen from the ashes." The name is associated with one of the five septs of the Shawnee nation, the Pekowi. Ironically, it is not the first Shawnee town with that name - as white settlement kept pushing the Shawnee west, the new towns they established took on the name of the previous town that was abandoned or burned down by white raids, rising from the ashes to build a new town. The high school mascot are the Indians, and in this case a term fitting as a tribute to the areas first permanent settlers.

Gentile's Spitfire while with 133 Squadron

On December 6, 1920, Dominic Gentile was born to Italian immigrant parents. Gentile, going by the more acceptable American name of Don, starred as a halfback on the Piqua Indians football squad, and by the summer of 1941 had logged over three hundred hours of flying time, mostly on an Aerosport biplane. In July of that year Gentile tried to join the United States Army Air Corps but the requirement of two years of college for pilots meant that Gentile, with no additional education beyond his high school years, did not qualify. Instead, Gentile found an avenue with the Royal Canadian Air Force, and was posted to the United Kingdom in December 1941 as a pilot officer. After training he would be assigned to 133 Squadron, one of the three American Eagle squadrons. Gentile was fly the Spitfire Mk V, and on August 19, 1942, he would begin his victory tally by downing two German aircraft (a Junkers Ju 88 and an FW 190). These first kills occurred during Operation Jubilee, better known as the Dieppe Raid.

Updated with American markings (note missing underwing roundel)

The 133 Squadron would transition into the 336th Fighter Squadron the following month, still flying their nimble Spitfires, but now with American roundels painted over the British. The 336th would utilize the British aircraft into 1943. It must have been an interesting day the first time Gentile climbed into the cockpit of a P-47, which the squadron started to receive in March. It is unclear if he was flying a Spitfire or the powerful Jug but on March 13th Gentile shot down another Fw 190 (he received claim for 1/3 of a Junkers Ju 88 in December 1942). The squadron flew the Thunderbolt for a year, and during that time Gentile had another six victories. His P-47 started with the white star in a blue circle, with the fuselage marking encircled by the previous British yellow ring, before later converting to the star and bars insignia in all positions, first with red outline, then blue.

First this...

...ending with this

Once the 336th made the change to the sleek Mustang, Gentile would rack up 16.5 more victories. Gentile's most iconic airplane was the P-51B named Shangri La, which he crashed on April 13, 1944 while beating up the field at Debden. He was grounded, and sent home for a war bond tour, and did not return to combat. His total of victories is still somewhat cloudy, but most records give him a final tally of 19.83 victories in the air, with three additional damaged, and six destroyed on the ground. 

Gentile's P-51B

Gentile would marry in November 1944 and have three sons. He would be assigned to Wright Field as a test pilot, and be killed on January 28, 1951 while flying a T-33A over Maryland. 

Miniatures - Flight Deck Decals makes the Spitfire Mk Vc, a P-47C, and the P-51B. The first two are very close proxies and should work fine. Raiden have the specific Spitfire Mk Vb and the P-47D Razorback.

To come...scenarios featuring Gentile's actions during the war.