[1] Initially equipped with Curtiss P-40B Warhawk fighters, the 309th FS relocated to New Orleans to transition to the P-39, and trained during the spring of 1942 for deployment overseas to England.

The headquarters and ground echelon of the 309th FS shipped out to England on June 4, 1942, aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth as part of Operation Bolero.

412 Squadron (RCAF) based at RAF Biggin Hill, a fighter sweep near Saint-Omer, France, that resulted in the loss of one 31st FG Spitfire.

Thyng was granted a "probable" kill of an Fw 190 and was awarded the Silver Star for flying top cover for a rescue mission of a downed 31st FG pilot.

The advanced command post of the Twelfth Air Force ordered two squadrons of the 31st Fighter Group to fly into Tafaraoui Airfield near Oran, newly captured by the U.S. 1st Infantry Division.

105, Air Phase of the North African Invasion, November 1942, Thomas J. Mayock) The 31st deployed to a forward base at Thelepte, Tunisia, which it temporarily evacuated during the German breakthrough at the Battle of the Kasserine Pass.

Thyng won a second Silver Star attacking German armored forces during the battle and was shot down twice, once by British anti-aircraft fire.

Suffering a broken ankle during his recovery from the shoot down by the latter, Thyng continued flying with the aid of a sling rigged by his crew chief to enable him to operate the Spitfire's rudder.

Although many unofficial accounts credit him with as many as eight kills, including an Italian fighter, only five are recognized officially by the Air Force (USAF Historical Study No.

Thyng was promoted to full colonel at the age of 26 and returned to the United States, where on November 1, 1944, he was made commander of the 413th Fighter Group at Bluethenthal Field, North Carolina.

Thyng was made commander of the wing on November 1, 1951, at a period of time when United Nations air superiority over North Korea was being severely challenged by the communist forces.

Thyng, going over the heads of the chain of command, warned USAF Chief of Staff General Hoyt Vandenberg that "I can no longer be responsible for air superiority in northwest Korea" because of an inability to field sufficient numbers of F-86s to conduct combat operations.

He cites RAF Air Marshal Sir John M. Nicholls KCB CBE DFC AFC, then a flight lieutenant exchange pilot with the 4th FIW, as stating Thyng sent him low over the primary MiG base at Antung "to stir them up" and then shot down a reacting MiG-15 after it had taken off.

He next quotes USAF Lt. Gen. Charles G. Cleveland, then a 1st lieutenant in the 335th FIS, as being in a flight led by Thyng that resulted in a shoot down north of Mukden, although the claim submission placed the location at the mouth of the Yalu River.

Gen. Thyng had over 650 hours of combat flight time on 307 sorties in three wars, with 10 aircraft officially credited shot down and another 6 unofficially attributed to him.

He prevailed in a crowded Republican primary that included former governors Lane Dwinell and Wesley Powell, Party chair William R. Johnson, and Doloris Bridges, widow of 25-year U.S.

In the general election, McIntyre was a strong supporter of President Lyndon B. Johnson's Vietnam War policy, neutralizing much of Thyng's appeal as a conservative and a hawk.

On July 17, 2004, a memorial to General Thyng was dedicated in Pittsfield by the Pittsfield Historical Society, with United States Senator Judd Gregg; General Ronald Fogleman, former Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force; Lt Gen Daniel James III, Director of the Air National Guard; and Maj Gen John Blair, New Hampshire National Guard, in attendance.