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Cranston Fine Arts  Aviation Art and Artists World War Two Squadrons United States 339th Fighter Group to 385th Bomb Group  375th Fighter Squadron |
| 375th Fighter Squadron Aviation Art Prints, Paintings and Drawings Aviation Prints |
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| Text for the above items : |
Urban 'Ben' Drew - Aerial Hat-Trick by Brian Bateman. (P) On 11th September 1944, Urban Ben Drew claimed his third aerial victory claiming another Me109 in his P-51 Mustang. |
Sitting Duck by David Pentland. Lake Schaal, Northern Germany, 18th September 1944. Squadron Leader Urban Drew of 375th Fighter Squadron leading a flight of 3 P-51 Mustangs caught and destroyed the giant BV 238 Flying boat prototype undergoing flight trials on Lake Schaal. |
Take Him, Blue Two by Brian Bateman. (P) Urban Ben Drew scores his second victory, and his first aerial victory, as he claims a Bf109G over Lisieux, France in 1944. His wing leader, Martin Johnson, had his guns jammed as the twisting turning low level dogfight took place, so the frustrated leader quipped to Ben - take him Blue Two. With all four guns in working order Ben took over and shot him down as they passed over a French farmhouse. |
A Big Victory by Stan Stokes. On September 18, 1944 P-51 pilots of the 375th Fighter Squadron of the 361st Fighter Group, based at Little Walden in Essex, were assigned the mission of escorting B-17s on a shuttle mission to Russia. The Mustangs would accompany the bombers to the south of Sweden where they would be picked up by an escort of Russian fighters. Urban Drew, flying a 51-D named Detroit Miss, was one of the USAAF pilots on this mission. Just before breaking off the escort Drew spotted a twin-engine German aircraft flying very low to the water. He broke off with two wingman and went down after the German plane. It turned out to be an He-111, most likely a courier plane from Scandinavia. He opened fire hitting the top gun position, circled around, and with his second burst set the aircraft afire. It tumbled into the Baltic. As Drew and his two wingman climbed back to altitude to rejoin their flight, he looked off to the right and spotted an enormous flying boat moored at a sea plane base on a lake. Drew called to his wingman and said, get lined astern immediately, and we will make one pass, and one pass only... lets see if we can burn and sink this mother. The three Mustangs commenced their attack with the element of surprise to their advantage. The three Mustangs poured about 1200 rounds of 50 caliber ammo into the behemoth, and as the third aircraft pulled up black smoke and flames were pouring from the target. It was not until that moment that anti-aircraft batteries opened fire, but the P-51s were quickly out of range. During the debriefing it was determined that their target was probably a Blohm and Voss BV-222. Years later, in 1974, while Drew was living in London, he was contacted by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) which wanted to do a documentary. It was only then that Drew found out that the aircraft he destroyed at the Bug Seaplane Base on Lake Schaal was actually the BV-238, the largest aircraft to see service in WW II. Development work on the Blohm and Voss BV-238 began in 1940. This was planned to be a very large overseas transport aircraft, and was powered by six 1900-HP Daimler-Benz inverted V-12 engines. It would be considerably larger than the BV-222 with a wingspan of nearly 200 feet, a height of nearly 44 feet, and an empty weight of more than 110,000 pounds. Although two other aircraft, the Douglas B-19 and the Soviet ANT.20, had longer wingspans, the BV-238 was the heaviest and most powerful aircraft developed during WW II. It was during the testing phase of this aircraft at Lake Schall in 1944 that the BV-238 was strafed and destroyed by a flight of three P-51s lead by Eighth Air Force ace Urban Drew. |
Detroit Miss by Brian Bateman. (P) Urban Ben Drew in his P-51 Mustang Detroit Miss claiming his fifth victory to become an Ace. The German Heinkel He111 was over the Baltic Sea on 18th September 1944 when it was spotted by Ben. Attempting to escape Ben and the two other Mustangs with him, the German aircraft made for the coast, but was shot down and plunged into the sea before making landfall. |
Major Urban 'Ben' Drew - First Victory by Brian Bateman. (P) Urban Ben Drew claims his first victory in his Mustang as he makes a strafing run of a Luftwaffe JU-52 transport at Toussus-Le-Noble in France in mid 1944. |
Historic Victory by Brian Bateman. (P) Urban Ben Drew in his P-51 Mustang makes his strafing run on the monster German BV-238 flying boat. A one of a kind prototype, the BV-238 was strafed and sunk on Lake Schaal by the three Mustangs led by Drew on 18th September 1944. When it first flew earlier in 1944, the BV-238 was the heaviest aircraft ever to have flown, and was the largest axis aircraft of the war. After being destroyed by the Mustangs, it was the single largest aircraft to have been destroyed in the war. |
Shooting Swallows by Brian Bateman. (P) Ben Drew shot down two Me262s in October of 1944. The painting shows the second Me262 as the main subject with Ben's Detroit Miss peeling off at full speed after he showered the aircraft with the fatal bullets. The shoot down action was so quick in occurring, (31 seconds), that Drew never saw what had actually happened to the pilot, Oblt. Paul Bley, who slipped over the side in time to live to fight again. As fate would have it Oblt. Bley was killed 2 weeks later when his 262 developed trouble while taking off and he plowed into a tractor at the end of the field. |
Shooting Swallows by Brian Bateman. (P) Ben Drew shot down two Me262s in October of 1944. The painting shows the second Me262 as the main subject with Ben's Detroit Miss peeling off at full speed after he showered the aircraft with the fatal bullets. The shoot down action was so quick in occurring, (31 seconds), that Drew never saw what had actually happened to the pilot, Oblt. Paul Bley, who slipped over the side in time to live to fight again. As fate would have it Oblt. Bley was killed 2 weeks later when his 262 developed trouble while taking off and he plowed into a tractor at the end of the field. |
| 375th Fighter Squadron Aircraft details |
 Mustang Manufacturer : North American | Mustang The ubiquitous North American P-51 Mustang, which many consider to be the best all-around fighter of WW II, owes its origins to the British Air Ministry. Following Britains entry into WW II in 1939, the RAF was interested in purchasing additional fighter aircraft from American sources, particularly the Curtiss P-40. Curtiss, which was busy, was unable to guarantee timely delivery so the British approached North American Aviation as a possible second source for the P-40. North American chose to propose its own fighter design which would use the same Allison engine as the P-40. Utilizing new laminar flow wings, the North American fighter was expected to have performance better than the P-40. Developed in record time the new aircraft was designated as a Mustang I by the Brits, whereas the USAAF ordered two for evaluation which were designated XP-51 Apaches. Intrigued with the possibility of using this aircraft also as a dive bomber, North American proposed this to the USAAF which decided to order 500 of the P-51 aircraft to be modified for dive bombing use. Designated as the A-36 Invader, this version of the Mustang utilized dive flaps, and bomb racks under each wing. Some reinforcing of the structural members was also required because of the G-forces to be encountered in dive bombing. A-36s entered combat service with the USAAF prior to any P-51s. In early 1943 the 86th and 27th Fighter Bomber Groups of the 12th Air Force began flying A-36s out of Northern Africa. Despite some early problems with instability caused by the dive flaps, the A-36 was effective in light bombing and strafing roles. It was not, however, capable of dog fighting with German fighters, especially at higher altitudes. Despite these drawbacks one USAAF pilot, Captain Michael T. Russo, who served with the 16th Bomb Squadron of the 27th Fighter Bomber Group, was credited with five confirmed aerial victories in the A-36, thereby becoming the first mustang ace. | |
| 375th Fighter Squadron Pilot and aircrew signature details |
  Maj Urban L Drew USAF Our estimated value of this signature : £40 Died : 2013 | Maj Urban L Drew USAF Urban 'Ben' Drew was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1924. Three months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, at the age of eighteen, Drew joined the USAAF and commenced pilot training. He earned his wings and a commission at Mariana, Florida in October 1943. He remained in the States honing his flying skills as an instructor pilot for the North American P-51 Mustang at Bartow, Florida. In May of 1944 he received his first overseas combat assignment, sailing to England on the Queen Elizabeth. He was assigned to the 375th Fighter Squadron 'Yellowjackets' of the 361st Fighter Group based in at Bottisham in Cambridgeshire. Later his squadron would be relocated to Little Walden in Essex. During his combat tour Drew would fly a total of seventy-five combat missions, rising to command of X Flight and later to command of the 375th squadron. Drew would be officially credited with six aerial victories during his combat tour. Notable was his downing of two Me-262 jets on October 7, 1944. He was the first fighter pilot to down two of the German jets, and he received the Air Force Cross for this achievement. Also of note was the ace's destruction of the largest aircraft to fly in WW 11, the BV-238, which he destroyed in a strafing pass with two wingman on Lake Schaal on September 18, 1944. Following his successful combat tour, Drew returned to the States where he again served as a flight instructor. In 1945 he was assigned to the 412 th Fighter Squadron of the 414 th Fighter Group based at lwo Jima flying the P-47 Jug. Drew's final victory tally included 6 confirmed aerial victories, 1 damaged, and 1 additional aircraft destroyed on the ground. In addition to the Air Force Cross, Drew was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses and 14 Air Medals. Following the War Drew helped organize the 127 th Fighter Group of the Michigan National Guard. He became Deputy Group Commander and later was appointed the first Air Adjutant General of the State of Michigan. After his retirement from the Air Force with the rank of Major, he established an aviation business in Britain and South Africa. He currently resides in Southern California, and remains active in matters involving the American Fighter Aces Association. Sadly we have learned that Ben Drew passed away on 3rd April 2013. | |
| Aces for : 375th Fighter Squadron | ||
| A list of all Aces from our database who are known to have flown with this squadron. A profile page is available by clicking the pilots name. | ||
| Name | Victories | Info |
| Urban L Drew | 6.00 | The signature of Urban L Drew features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available. |
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