[MT-ALES] The Story of "Bad Angel" at Pima Air & Space Museum . . . . . .
Ford Rollo
fordrollo at cox.net
Sat Jan 28 12:29:01 PST 2017
Curtis. If you love stories like this, I’d like to recommend a book I just finished which was recommended to me by Larry Jolly.
A Higher Call by Adam Makos. Sensational story about WWII air combat.
> On Jan 28, 2017, at 7:43 AM, CURTIS SUTER <suterc at msn.com> wrote:
>
> Another bit of WW II history that's mostly unknown...
> The Story of “Bad Angel” at Pima Air & Space Museum
>
> <http://maxcdn.devildogproducti.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Bad-Angel-01.jpg?iv=239>
> P-51 Mustang “Bad Angel” in Hangar #4,
> Pima Air & Space Museum
>
> Proudly displayed on the fuselage of “Bad Angel” were the markings of the pilot's kills:
> seven Nazis; one Italian; one Japanese AND ONE AMERICAN.
> “Bad Angel” shot down an American airplane?
>
> <http://maxcdn.devildogproducti.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Kill-Insignias-Close-01.jpg?iv=239>
> Kill markings on “Bad Angel”
>
> Was it a terrible mistake? Couldn’t be. If it had been an unfortunate misjudgment,
> certainly the pilot would not have displayed the American flag.
>
> There had to be a good story here. One of the Museum’s many fine docents
> are on hand to tell it as follows, below...
>
> **********************
>
> In 1942, the United States needed pilots for its war planes, lots of war planes; lots of pilots.
> Lt. Louis Curdes was one. When he was 22 years old, he graduated flight training school
> and was shipped off to the Mediterranean to fight Nazis in the air over Southern Europe.
> <http://maxcdn.devildogproducti.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Curdes382.jpg?iv=239>
> Lt. Louis Curdes
>
> He arrived at his 82nd Fighter Group, 95th Fighter Squadron in April 1943 and was assigned
> a P-38 Lightning. Ten days later he shot down three German Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighters.
>
> A few weeks later, he downed two more German Bf -109's. In less than a month of combat,
> Louis was an Ace.
>
> During the next three months, Louis shot down an Italian Mc-202 fighter and two more
> Messerschmitt’s before his luck ran out. A German fighter shot down his plane on
> August 27, 1943 over Salerno, Italy.
>
> Captured by the Italians, he was sent to a POW camp near Rome. No doubt this is where he
> thought he would spend the remaining years of the war. It wasn't to be. A few days later,
> the Italians surrendered. Louis and a few other pilots escaped before the Nazis could take
> control of the camp.
>
> One might think that such harrowing experiences would have taken the fight out of Louis,
> yet he volunteered for another combat tour. This time, Uncle Sam sent him to the Philippines
> where he flew P-51 Mustangs.
>
> Soon after arriving in the Pacific Theater, Louis downed a Mitsubishi reconnaissance plane
> near Taiwan. Now he was one of only three Americans to have kills against all three Axis Powers:
> Germany, Italy, and Japan.
>
> <http://maxcdn.devildogproducti.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Curtis-in-Bad-Angel.jpg?iv=239>
> Pilot Lt. Louis Curdes in his P-51 Mustang “Bad Angel”
>
> Up until this point, young Lt. Curdes’ combat career had been stellar. His story was about to take
> a twist so bizarre that it seems like the fictional creation of a Hollywood screenwriter.
>
> While attacking the Japanese-held island of Batan, one of Louis wingmen was shot down.
> The pilot ditched in the ocean. Circling overhead, Louis could see that his wingman had survived,
> so he stayed in the area to guide a rescue plane and protect the downed pilot.
>
> It wasn’t long before he noticed another, larger airplane, wheels down, preparing to land at the
> Japanese-held airfield on Batan. He moved in to investigate. Much to his surprise the approaching
> plane was a Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport with American markings.
>
> He tried to make radio contact, but without success. He maneuvered his Mustang in front of the
> big transport several times trying to wave it off. The C-47 kept to its landing target.
>
> Lt. Curdes read the daily newspaper accounts of the war, including the viciousness of the Japanese
> soldiers toward their captives. He knew that whoever was in that American C-47 would be, upon
> landing, either dead or wish they were. But what could he do?
>
> Audaciously, he lined up his P-51 directly behind the transport, carefully sighted one of his .50 caliber
> machine guns and knocked out one of its two engines. Still the C-47 continued on toward the Batan
> airfield. Curdes shifted his aim slightly and knocked out the remaining engine, leaving the baffled
> pilot no choice but to ditch in the ocean.
>
> <http://maxcdn.devildogproducti.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Machine-Gun.jpg?iv=239>
> One of “Bad Angel’s” .50 caliber machine guns built into it wings.
>
> The big plane came down in one piece about 50 yards from his bobbing wingman.
> At this point, nightfall and low fuel forced Louis to return to base.
>
> The next morning, Louis flew cover for a rescuing PBY Catalina Flying Boat that picked
> up the downed Mustang pilot and 12 passengers and crew, including two female nurses,
> from the C-47; all survived.
>
> <http://maxcdn.devildogproducti.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Ammunition-Cal-50.jpg?iv=239>
> .50 caliber ammo for P-51 Mustangs
>
> For shooting down an unarmed American transport plane, Lt. Louis Curdes was awarded the
> Distinguished Flying Cross. Thereafter, on the fuselage of his P-51 “Bad Angel,” he proudly
> displayed the symbols of his kills: seven German, one Italian, one Japanese and one American flag.
>
>
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Ford Scott Rollo
208-720-1417
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