Major Ted Skowronek

Major Ted Skowronek arrived in England as a freshly trained pilot, and on July 4, 1944, he was flown across the English Channel to the portable airfield designated as A2 near St. Lo, France, to begin his career as a new fighter pilot in the 354th Fighter Group. On the day he arrived, the 354th Fighter Group had been selected to fly General Dwight Eisenhower on a secret mission over enemy territory, and Ted Skowronek stood only 10 feet away from the General, an impressive way to start his tour with the 354th Fighter Group. Ted was assigned to the 355th Fighter Squadron, know as the “Pugnacious Pups”, and their mission was to support the advancement of Patton’s 3rd Army by following the ground troops as the battlefront advance, or to provide fighter escort for the Allied bombers.



On August 25, 1944, Ted was flying his 22nd mission, which was a massive fighter sweep, when he downed a Luftwaffe FW 190. After he shot down the FW190 and pulled out of the dive close to the ground, there was a loud explosion, which opened a large hole in the left wing of his P-51B Mustang, GQ-Q (42-106445). Either the shrapnel of the exploding FW 190 hitting the ground below him or enemy anti-aircraft fire cause the damage to his plane. With his Mustang badly damaged and his engine overheating, Ted spotted an opening among the forest and belly-landed his Mustang into a plowed field. After setting on fire and destroying the damaged Mustang so that the Luftwaffe could not use it, he quickly headed for the woods, and was eventually found by the French Underground. He hid in the home of Francois Dumarquez, who had two daughters, Jacquelyn, age 20, and Jeannette, age 18. Their home was located near Fere Faiallel, France, about 90 km northeast of Paris. While Ted hid in the second story of their home, two German solders were billeted on the first floor, never knowing an Allied Fighter pilot was hiding above them. Two weeks later, he was liberated by Patton’s 3rd Army.



Ted returned to the 354th Fighter Group and flew the P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51D Mustang, which he named “Diana-Mite” after his little sister. He flew 121 combat missions and 219.35 combat hours with the 355th Fighter Squadron, and had 3.5 confirmed air-to-air victories, two Bf 109s and 1.5 FW 190s. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with 13 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Purple Heart, and 7 other service ribbons.

The 354th Fighter Group was officially credited with 637 air-o-air victories, with 234 aircraft destroyed on the ground, and produced 44 aces. The 353rd Fighter Squadron was the top scoring fighter squadron with more aerial victories than any other Army Air Force fighter squadron in any theatre during the war. It also had the only fighter pilot to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in Northern Europe, that being James Howard. The 354th also destroyed thousands of locomotives, trains, tanks, and armoured vehicles.



After World War II, he was assigned to the new Test Pilot School at Wright Field, Ohio and flew 23 different aircraft, including the P-51 Mustang, the P-47 Thunderbolt, B-29 Superfortress, F-82 Twin Mustang, P-38 Lightning, P-61 Black Widow, and the P-80 Shooting Star. He flew with many other test pilots, including Don Gentile, Bob Hoover, Chuck Yeager, and Steve Pisanos. His pilot skills were used to develop Low Visibility Onboard Aircraft Approach equipment, Ejection Seat development for jet aircraft, Bomb Delivery systems, Propeller development, Landing Gear development, and Air Density Altitude Envelopment development.

A special “thank you” to Major Ted Skowronek, Paul Cornell, and Chuck Lawsen for their assistance on this project.