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E2-S belonged to the famous YellowJackets, the 375th FSq/361st FGp based at
Bottisham England. Over the years she has become one of the most controversial and infamous P-51's of WWII. Her
fame is mostly due to the now settled debate over the true color of the upper surfaces of the 375th aircraft. For
a time, many believed the aircraft of the 375th were painted insignia blue. However, that theory has been put to
rest by those who were actually a part of the unit.
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The Bottisham Four
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Publicity Photo
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I looked around the internet trying to find out who piloted this beautiful aircraft
in combat. I was almost convinced the pilot was Urban Drew, the famous ace that shot down two Me262's on a single
mission. I found out it was Drew who piloted E2-S for the above Photo, but he was not her combat pilot. I kept
looking and found that E2-S was the assigned mount of Abe Rosenberger. I was fortunate enough to find the email
address of his grandson, Mike Peck. The following is contributed by Mike.
Abe Price Rosenberger was born
in 1919 and raised in Souderton, Pennsylvania. He was inducted into active service on March 31, 1941 as a Private
in the Army ground forces in the Ordnance area. Abe had a driving desire to be a pilot, but most of those being
accepted as Air Cadets were college educated while he was not. He asked for his family to send him text books for
self-study and eventually was able to pass the entrance tests and receive an appointment as an aviation cadet.
He was reassigned and graduated from the A.A.F. flying school at Foster Field Texas, was commissioned as a 2nd
Lieutenant, and joined the 361st Fighter Group in Richmond, VA in April of 1943.
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Lt. Abe Rosenberger
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In Nov 1943 the group shipped over sea via the Queen Elizabeth and arrived in Bottisham, England. Abe first flew
over England on 12/24/43 and then flew his first combat mission on 1/21/44. It was an area support mission over
Amiens, France and during this mission he achieved his 500th flight hour. Throughout February he flew combat missions
in P-47s mostly involving bomber escort and ground support. Later in March he was reassigned to the RAF Central
Gunnery School where he flew the Spitfire Mark II and V, completing a Gunnery Instructors Course, and rejoined
the group in April. The group began to receive their Mustangs in May he first flew the P-51B on 5/3/44. The plane
officially assigned to him was serial number 42-106677, markings E2-S.
He continued to fly missions in the P-51B over the next few months. On one of his more eventful flights, he had
to bail out over the North Sea , returning from an escort mission over Posen Poland on 5/29/44. Engine damage caused
by flak and FW190s resulted in a coolant leak which covered the canopy in coolant and soot. He flew back towards
England blind, getting 30miles off the coast of Poland before the engine seized and caught fire. He was forced
to bail out at 8000ft. The impact of the chute opening lost him his life raft and he was left to float in the North
Sea with only his Mae West barely keeping his head above water. Fortunately, other returning pilots saw him bail
out and called Air/Sea Rescue who were able to pick him up within an hour. After warming back up at a hospital
he returned to the squadron the next day. Two weeks later he had some time to go track down the ASR guys who saved
his life and buy them a drink, but found that they had been lost to enemy fire while searching for another pilot.
In the days before D-Day he flew one-plane missions in a stripped down P-51 to spot and record bomb damage to the
coastal guns at Omaha Beach. On the 6th he flew air-ground support during the troop landings at Omaha. He continued
flying combat missions over the next few months. As the group began upgrading to P-51Ds he was assigned serial
number 44-13926, also with the E2-S markings.
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Lt. Abe Rosenberger
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He flew his last combat mission on 10/30/44 for a total of 72 before returning home at the completion of his tour.
He was discharged with the rank of Captain and returned to Souderton, PA, married and raised three daughters. He
was a community leader and served on the town council and was president of the local school board. He opened an
appliance store named Crystal Sales where he sold and repaired radios, refrigerators, washers, and eventually helped
usher in the era of televisions to the town. He worked there his whole life, retiring a few years before his death
in 1983.
My grandfather was my best friend as I was growing up. We went out to breakfast every Sunday morning, just him
and me, and when school was out in the summer we would spend weeks at a time camping, fishing, and going to the
New Jersey beaches. He never spoke much about his service. The North Sea adventure was one of the few stories I
ever heard, but oddly he never spoke of the combat that had resulted in the damage to his plane. It wasn’t until
years later that I learned the cause from just three words on the line in his Flight Log…”Flak and 190s”. I know
his service as a pilot was something he was deeply proud of, but I also think the loss of comrades and the very
nature of combat was very personal to him. He died when I was 14 and I will always cherish the time we had.
- Mike Peck
E2-S was piloted on occasion by Lt. Bill Kemp, a six plane ace from Arizona. After the war, Kemp returned to Arizona
and flew in the Arizona Air Guard and was employed as a crop duster in the late fifties. Kemp was killed in an
automobile accident in the early sixties.
At one point E2-S was flown by Lt. Urban Drew. Like Kemp, Drew was also a six plane ace. On October 6th, 1944,
while flying "Detroit Miss", Drew bagged a pair of Me262s as they took off from their base at Achmer.
He was the first Allied pilot to shoot down two jet fighters.
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