Edward L. Toppins

[5] Toppins, "Buddy" Lee Archer, and Joseph Elsberry each destroyed four enemy aircraft during World War II aerial missions in Europe.[13][14] After graduating from Los Angeles Junior College, Toppins enrolled at the University of San Francisco while also working as a Greyhound Bus Company porter.[15][16] His tours included Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Pantelleria, Sicily, Italy, Bulgaria, Southern France, Austria, Greece, Poland, and Yugoslavia.[17] On July 26, 1944, Toppins, now a Captain, destroyed an enemy Messerschmitt Bf 109 aircraft while his squadron escorted the 47th Bombardment Wing on a bombing mission against the Markersdorf airdrome in Austria.During a routine instrument training exercise on December 10, 1946, Toppins piloted a North American B-25 Mitchell bomber with co-pilot Captain Chase Brenzier, Jr., Lt. Ralph Berkes, and Staff Sergeant John Smith.
A P-51B/C marked at Toppin's Topper III , August 1944
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