Louis Edward Curdes

Louis Edward Curdes

Louis E. Curdes sitting on his P-51D "Bad Angel" in Laoag, Philippines, July 1945.
Born (1919-11-02)November 2, 1919
Died February 5, 1995(1995-02-05) (aged 75)
Buried Lindenwood Cemetery
Allegiance United States
Service/branch United States Army Air Forces
Years of service 1942-1963
Rank Captain
Unit 82d Operations Group, 95th Fighter Squadron (European Theater)
3rd Air Group, 4th Fighter Squadron (Pacific Theater)
Battles/wars

World War II

Awards Purple Heart
Distinguished Flying Cross (2)
Spouse(s) Svetlana Valeria Shostakovich Brownell (1946)

Louis Edward Curdes (Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States, 2 November 1919 - 5 February 1995) was a fighter ace pilot of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II with the rank Captain. He was decorated with two medals of Cross of Distinguished Flight and a Purple Heart.[1] For his missions he used a North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft under the nickname "Bad Angel."

He was one of the only three Allied pilots who managed to shoot down planes of the German, Italian and Japanese air forces, belonging to the three main countries that comprised the Axis Powers and who also owns the unusual distinction of having downed a United States aircraft. In total, he shot down 7 German Messerschmitt Bf 109, an Italian Macchi C.202 fighter, a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft Mitsubishi Ki-46 and an American Douglas C-47 Skytrain.

Biography

Early life

Louis Curdes was born on 2 November 1919 to his parents Walter Curdes and Esther Kover. He grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and enrolled at Purdue University. After nearly three years of study, Curdes joined the Army Reserve on 12 March 1942. He was named Second Lieutenant, and graduated from Flying School on 3 December 1942 at Luke Field, Arizona at the age of 22. Later he was sent to the Mediterranean to fight against the Nazis in the air space on the south of Europe.[1][2]

North Africa and Italy

He joined the 329th Fighter Group, a unit of the United States Army Air Forces, but was transferred to the 82d Fighter Group, 95th Fighter Squadron, where he saw action in North Africa, Sardinia and Italy, flying a P- 38G. On 29 April 1943, he shot down three German Me-109 aircraft and damaged another fourth unit near Cape Bon, in Tunisia. On 19 May he shot down two other Me-109 units near Villacidro, Sardinia. In less than a month of combat, Curdes became Ace of Aviation.

On 24 June he managed to shoot down an Italian M.C.202 over Sardinia. Another German unit Me-109 was damaged on 30 July in Pratica di Mare, Italy. His last two victories on the Mediterranean Front were two more Me-109s over Benevento, Italy.[1]

Capture and Escape

A German fighter knocked down his plane on 27 August 1943 over Salerno, Italy, forcing him to go ashore. He was captured by the Italians, who sent him to a prison camp near Rome. A few days later, the Italians surrendered to the Allies. In response to the Italian armistice, Germany invaded its former ally, killing Italian soldiers and occupying half of the country where Curdes was. He and some other pilots escaped before the Nazis took control of the field. They walked behind the German enemy lines until crossing to the territory controlled by the Allies the 24th of May 1944.

Upon arrival he was sent back to his hometown in Fort Wayne, where he received the Purple Heart medal as well as 2 oak leaf medals, with 13 and 14 leaves. However, being unhappy he requested combat missions in the Pacific, and joined the 4th Fighter Squadron and the 3rd Air Commando in August 1944. By that time, he would fly on a P-51.[3]

Pacific Campaign and Shooting Down an American Plane

By November 1944, parts of the Philippines were again under US control. His unit, the 3d Air Commando Group, had the task of bombing Japanese bases and providing support to ground troops. They also raided Japanese facilities along the coast of China and the island of Taiwan, providing escort duties to Allied ships, dumping supplies from the air, delivering mail, and evacuating the wounded.

On 7 February 1945, Curdes flew a P-51 about 30 miles southwest of Taiwan, where he destroyed a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft Mitsubishi Ki-46-II. By that time he had shot down planes from the three main countries of the Axis Powers: Germany, Italy and Japan.[1][2]

On February 10, now Lieutenant Curdes formed a squadron of four airplanes that departed from Mangaldan, Philippines. Their goal was the southern tip of Taiwan because intelligence services claimed that the Japanese uses a temporary air base there. Without seeing a Japanese airbase on the objective, Curdes returned to the Philippines.[3] Flying over the island of Batan, the squadron parted. Curdes and Lieutenant Schmidtke headed north, while Lieutenants Scalley and La Croix headed south.

After a while, Scalley called for reinforcements, the squadron had found a small Japanese airfield and went to attack it. Curdes and Schmidtke headed south to join them.[3]

During the attack on the island, La Croix was shot down, forcing him to make an emergency landing over the ocean. As the unit circled, Curdes could see that his companion had survived. Upon seeing this, he stayed close to the area to guide a rescue plane and protect the downed pilot. It was not long before he realized that another, larger plane was preparing to land at the Batan airfield. He left the area and went to investigate. To his surprise, the plane that was approaching was a Douglas C-47 transport with American insignia. Curdes tried to make contact by radio, but was not successful. He maneuvered his P-51 in front of the plane several times trying to get him to change course, but the C-47 kept it to the landing point. Apparently, the C-47 crew did not realize that it was about to land on a retained Japanese island, and that it would be hopelessly imprisoned.[2]

Boldly, he lined up his P-51 directly behind the C-47, carefully prepared one of his .50 caliber machine guns and fired into one of his two engines, making him dysfunctional. Even so, the plane continued in the direction of Batan's airfield. Curdes shifted his goal slightly and canceled the other engine, leaving the pilot with no choice but to land in the ocean.[3] The plane descended into the sea in one piece. The crew deployed a boat and went out to sea. In the distance, La Croix approached and upon arriving, the crew boarded him on, to be later informed about the situation. The plane, apparently, had been lost in bad weather and its radio had stopped working. As he was also running out of fuel, the pilot headed directly to the island's airstrip, unaware that it was under Japanese control.

At this point, the dusk and low level of fuel of the P-51 forced Curdes to return to the base. The next morning, he flew next to a rescue PBY that picked up the downed C-47 pilot and the remaining 11 crew members, including two nurses. They all survived. To Curdes's surprise, he discovered that one of the nurses, named Svetlana Valeria Shostakovich Brownell, was a woman with whom he had a date the night before the incident. Contrary to subsequent reports, Curdes did not receive a Distinguished Flight Cross for that event, although he did receive credit for it.[3]

His unit was later transferred to Gabu Airfield in Laoag, Philippines striking Japanese positions in Northern Luzon and Okinawa until the end of the war.

After the war

After World War II, he joined the Air National Guard unit at Baer Field and remained there until 1948. In Allen County, Indiana, 2 April 1946 he married Svetlana Valeria, one of the passengers of the C-47 he shot down in the Philippines. Curdes had previously divorced in 1944 but he declared his marriage with Valeria as his first marriage. Curdes returned to active duty, this time again in the United States Air Force. He participated in the Berlin airlift during the opening stages of the Cold War.

He was promoted to Major on 1 September 1951, and retired from the Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel in October 1963. After his retirement from the Air Force, he started a construction company under the name of Curdes Builders Company.[1]

Louis Curdes died on 5 February 1995 at the age of 75, his remains buried at Lindenwood Cemetery in Fort Wayne. His widow Valeria died on 10 October 2013 at the age of 87.

His plane, the P-51 named "Bad Angel" is currently in the Pima Air Museum in Tucson, Arizona.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "1LT Louis Edward Curdes (1919 - 1995) - Find A Grave Memorial". www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Louis Edward Curdes US Army AC (1919-1995) | WikiTree: The FREE Family Tree". www.wikitree.com. Retrieved 2017-06-03.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Russell, Shahan (2016-08-23). "The American WWII Ace Who Shot Down 7 German, 1 Italian, 1 Japanese, And 1 American Plane". WAR HISTORY ONLINE. Retrieved 2017-06-03.

See also

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