Hobby Master 1/48 HA7738 P-51K Mustang Mrs Bonnie flown by Lt. Col. Bill Dunham, Deputy CO/348 FG, Okinawa, August 1945

Later in WWII the Allied bombers were flying deep into Germany but suffered tremendous losses because of the lack of range the fighter escorts had. German fighters would wait beyond the range of the Allied fighters and then attack the vulnerable bombers. Once the P-51, called Mustang by the British, had the Allison engine replaced with a British Merlin it possessed the high performance that had been lacking. With drop tanks the P-51 had the range to escort bombers all the way to Berlin and back.

The 348th FG converted from P-47s to P-51s in early 1945 and assigned bomber escort attacks on Kyushu. From February 1945 to mid 1945 the unit was based in Luzon and then moved to Le Shima Island near Okinawa. By January 1945, Dunham was the Deputy Group Commander and had 15 victories scored over New Guinea and the Philippines. Dunham took a break back in the U.S. returning to the 348th FG on Le Shima. Now equipped with a P-51K Mrs. Bonnie, Dunham scored his sixteenth and only Mustang victory.