WOW568 Dayton Wright DH-4 ‘Mr Jiggs’

Description

WOW568 Dayton-Wright DH-4. 11th Aero Squadron (“Mr Jiggs” ), France, 1918

The Airco DH.4 was a British two-seat WW1 Bomber, designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and was the first British two-seat light day-bomber capable of defending itself without a fighter escort.
On 6th April 1917 when the US entered WW1 she was unprepared with no aircraft suitable for combat, leading to the deployment of American industry for the production of combat aircraft.  The Bolling Commission, was set up and dispatched to Europe to seek out the best available combat aircraft and to make arrangements to enable their production in the US.
There were 4 aircraft selected, the DH.4, Bristol F.2 Fighter, the SE5A and French SPAD S.XIII. On 27 July 1917.  A single DH.4 was sent to the US as a pattern aircraft. In 1918 that year the first American-built DH.4s came off the production line. Featuring over 1,000 modifications from the original British design, to equip the American air services.  American manufacturers received orders for 9,500 DH.4s, with 1,885 reaching France during WW1.  The American Liberty engine, which had proved suitable as a DH.4 power plant, was adopted by the British to power the DH.9A variant of the type.
The DH-4 was the only U.S. built aircraft to see combat during WWI and flew with 13 U.S. squadrons, by the end of 1918 aircrew operating the DH-4 aircrew were awarded 4 of the 6 Medals of Honor awarded to American aviators.

Two of these awards were as follows:

First Lieutenant Harold Ernest Goettler and Second Lieutenant Erwin R. Bleckley received posthumous awards after being killed on 12 October 1918 attempting to drop supplies to the Lost Battalion of the 77th Division, cut off by German troops during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.
Second Lieutenant Ralph Talbot and Gunnery Sergeant Robert G. Robinson of the US Marine Corps were awarded the Medal of Honor for beating off attacks from 12 German fighters during a bombing raid over Belgium on 8 October 1918.

After WW1 the US had a large surplus of DH-4s, with the improved DH-4B becoming available, none had been shipped to France. There was no point in returning aircraft across the Atlantic, so those remaining in France, together with other obsolete observation aircraft, were burned in what became known as the “Billion Dollar Bonfire”. With limited funds available in the US to develop and purchase replacements, the remaining DH-4s formed a major part of American air strength for years, with as many as 60 variants produced. DH-4s were widely used for experimental flying, being used as engine testbeds and fitted with new wings.
They were also used for the first trials of air-to-air refuelling on 27 June 1923 and one carried out an endurance flight of 37 hours, 15 minutes on 27-28 August 1923, refuelled 16 times and setting 16 new world records for distance, speed and duration.
The DH-4 remained in US until 1932.

The Thomas Gunn DH-4 is in the markings of the 11th Aero Squadron, a US Army Air Service unit that fought on the WW1 Western Front.  As a Day Bombardment Squadron, performing long-range bombing attacks on roads and railroads; destruction of material and massed troop formations. As well as performing strategic reconnaissance over enemy-controlled territory, and tactical bombing attacks on enemy forces in support of Army offensive operations.
The 11th squadron received battle honours for the Lorraine, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne Offensives.
George McManus, creator of the Mr. Jiggs in his syndicated comic strip, ‘Bringing Up Father’, was a member of the squadron and designer of the squadron insignia, a mischievous Jiggs expressing devilment and hustling along with a bomb under one arm.

This 1/30 scale Mahogany model is priced at $750 plus postage with 2 available. There is no free postage on warbirds, its included in the banner price, you will not be charged additional postage at checkout. 

The figures and accessories are shown for scale comparison purposes only and are not included.