An Eagle Squadron Airdrome Somewhere In England, sometime in July - (delayed for security reasons) -

Then there were two...this story is especially for Visalia, California, but it is one which all Americans can read with pride.

Fifteen years ago, four American youngsters met in Visalia, a city of 9,000, located in the heart of the fruit and dairy section of the San Joaquin Valley. They shot marbles and spun tops together. They spent weekends on hikes or riding bike amid the big trees of the Sequoia National Park.

Later they played football, basketball, baseball and tennis at Visalia High School and Junion College. They fished in the Kings River and hunted quail around Dinuba and Porterville.

The youngsters called themselves the Four Horsemen. As they grew older and attended junior college, they took civilian pilot training courses. Three found time to fall in love and marry.

Then came the war. With a love of adventure and a deep hatred for the enemy, they joined the Eagle Squadron of the Royal Air Force.

Physical tests passed, they went to Bakersfield for an RAF course. There the British met and learned to love these fabulous fellows:

Donald (Mick) Lambert, 26; George Middleton, Jr., 25; William Allen Arends, 24, and Dave Logan, 26.

Always, they worked as a team, and they still were a team when they arrived in Britain last Christmas. Arends, a cartoonist, drew on each plane the likeness of a broken down horse. Astride the tired horse were the trim figures of the horsemen.

There were four.

But only a few days later, Logan crashed and was killed.

Then there were three.

Arends painted a halo over Logan's figure on the three remaining planes. And, somehow, the three members of the Four Horsemen clung together more closely than ever, trying to hide their grief. For several weeks, they did almost nothing but fly or ride bicycles - always together.

Then came a day when their squadron swept deep into France. On his way home, Arends was attacked by a half dozen of Germany's best fighter planes, Focke-Wulf 190's.

He fired several bursts into the leading attacker, and saw him fo into a sharp nose dive. The remaining 190's closed in on Arends like ravenous hounds after a hare.

As streams of lead gushed from the enemy guns, Arends twisted and rolled. He finally made a crash landing in enemy territory. He was listed officially as missing and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. H.A. Arends of Tulare were notified.

Then there were two.

After several days, Lambert and Middleton painted a halo over Arends' head on the planes. As best they could, they tried to duplicate Arends' work.

Fresno Bee Republican
Aug. 28, 1942
Two Fall, But Companions Maintain Fame Of Visalia Four Horsemen Of RAF

(findagrave.com)