Lockheed F-5B Lightning      42-67332    /    42-267183

                                   

                                        This grainy image came from a Lockheed produced Portfolio Series which were printed photo-
                                        graphs rather than glossy prints, hence the grainy appearance.  Over 1,000 P-38s were converted
                                        to unarmed camera ships.   The aircraft relied on speed to make its getaway from enemy fighters,
                                        not that there were many Luftwaffe around to hinder them by the time the F-5 saw the majority of
                                        its service.  Lockheed points out, as an historical fact that, "from D-Day minus seven to D-Day plus
                                        14, USAAF F-5s took three million pictures of the invasion territory".    The aircraft nearest the
                                        camera is a Lockheed F-5B-1-LO which was basically the P-38G model as converted, whilst the
                                        chase plane (42-267183) was a F-5C-1-LO (the reworked P-38H).  Both these aircraft fall within
                                        a block of numbers of aircraft which saw extensive service during the D-Day landings and hence I
                                        have every reason to believe that these two did also.  Aero modeller Denis Vercaeren, in Belgium
                                        points out to me that the F-5B in the foreground wore the PR Blue livery of a true photo-rec machine
                                        whereas 42-67163 was in the Olive Drab/Neutral Grey markings of the pursuit group from which it
                                        came (he has a color shot of the same two aircraft in a French publication).