- Joined
- Oct 11, 2010
- Messages
- 12,706
- Reaction score
- 7,459
- Age
- 61
Lt. Col. Louis E. Curdes (1919/1995) was 1 of only 3 american aces to claim kills agains all 3 Axis powers, and .... the only one to shoot down a USAF plane as well.
Curdes joined the Army Air Corps in 1942 at the age of 22 to fly planes against the Nazis. By 1943, he was a hotshot lieutenant scoring three kills against Nazi Messerschmitt Bf-109s, in his P-38 Lighting. That was ten days into his first assignment. Within the next month, he notched up two more kills, earning fighter “ace†status.
On Aug 27th, he shot down another 109, but saw a P-38 pilot under attack. As he went to help, he engaged and destroyed another Me 109. However his aircraft suffered serious damage and he crash-landed on the Italian coast approximately ten miles south of Salerno. Was captured by the Italians, resigning himself to spending the rest of the war in a POW camp. But that didn’t happen. Italy capitulated a few days into Curdes’ internment.
While back in the USA, he volunteered for another combat tour and was re-assigned to the 4th Fighter Sq., 3rd Air Commando Group flying P-51s in the Pacific theatre.
On Feb 7, 1945, he shot down a Ki-46 “Dinah†while flying a P-51D thirty miles SW of Formosa. This made him one of three aces to have shot down enemy aircraft of all three Axis Powers.
On Feb 10, he and his plane P51 named “Bad Angel,†were fighting over Japanese-held Bataan when his wingman was shot down over the Pacific. Soon after, he saw a C-47 transport plane, wheels-down, headed to land on the Japanese island. When he was unable to make radio contact, he tried to physically wave the transport off, but came up empty. So, rather than allow the American plane and its crew to be held prisoner by the Japanese, he used the option left: He shot them down over the ocean!!
Curdes skillfully took out one engine and then the other without blowing the entire cargo plane to bits. The plane hit the water, two large rubber dingies inflated and twelve personnel including two women climbed in. Curdes flew above the rafts and dropped a note that said “For God’s sake, keep away from shore. Japs there.â€
Among the passengers he shot down was a nurse Curdes dated just the night before, a girl named Valorie — whom he later married.
After the war he transferred to the Air Force. He was promoted to Maj on Sept 1, 1951, and retired from the Air Force as a LtCol in Oct 1963.
His P-51 named “Bad Angel†is in the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.
Curdes joined the Army Air Corps in 1942 at the age of 22 to fly planes against the Nazis. By 1943, he was a hotshot lieutenant scoring three kills against Nazi Messerschmitt Bf-109s, in his P-38 Lighting. That was ten days into his first assignment. Within the next month, he notched up two more kills, earning fighter “ace†status.
On Aug 27th, he shot down another 109, but saw a P-38 pilot under attack. As he went to help, he engaged and destroyed another Me 109. However his aircraft suffered serious damage and he crash-landed on the Italian coast approximately ten miles south of Salerno. Was captured by the Italians, resigning himself to spending the rest of the war in a POW camp. But that didn’t happen. Italy capitulated a few days into Curdes’ internment.
While back in the USA, he volunteered for another combat tour and was re-assigned to the 4th Fighter Sq., 3rd Air Commando Group flying P-51s in the Pacific theatre.
On Feb 7, 1945, he shot down a Ki-46 “Dinah†while flying a P-51D thirty miles SW of Formosa. This made him one of three aces to have shot down enemy aircraft of all three Axis Powers.
On Feb 10, he and his plane P51 named “Bad Angel,†were fighting over Japanese-held Bataan when his wingman was shot down over the Pacific. Soon after, he saw a C-47 transport plane, wheels-down, headed to land on the Japanese island. When he was unable to make radio contact, he tried to physically wave the transport off, but came up empty. So, rather than allow the American plane and its crew to be held prisoner by the Japanese, he used the option left: He shot them down over the ocean!!
Curdes skillfully took out one engine and then the other without blowing the entire cargo plane to bits. The plane hit the water, two large rubber dingies inflated and twelve personnel including two women climbed in. Curdes flew above the rafts and dropped a note that said “For God’s sake, keep away from shore. Japs there.â€
Among the passengers he shot down was a nurse Curdes dated just the night before, a girl named Valorie — whom he later married.
After the war he transferred to the Air Force. He was promoted to Maj on Sept 1, 1951, and retired from the Air Force as a LtCol in Oct 1963.
His P-51 named “Bad Angel†is in the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.
