Junkers Ju 52 transports caught by P-47 Thunderbolts over Gardelegen on July 7th 1944

Frederick Joseph Christensen Jr. (October 17, 1921 – April 4, 2006) was an American fighter pilot and flying ace who flew with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. A member of the 56th Fighter Group in England, Christensen scored 21½ aerial victories. He later served 24 years as a command officer with both the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. On July 7th 1944, leading the 62nd Fighter Squadron flying P-47 Thunderbolts, Christensen was returning from a bomber escort mission and overflew Gardelegen Airfield, assessing it as a possible strafing target. Christensen noted numerous parked aircraft dispersed on the field, but then observed a flight of Junkers Ju 52 transports in trail at very low altitude, approaching to land. Christensen dove on the landing pattern from 10,000 feet and shot down the next-to-last transport with hits on the left side. He quickly overtook and fired at a second target, which burned and crashed. A third