Louis Edward Curdes

A map showing the territories held by Allied (green), Axis (orange) and neutral (grey) powers at the outbreak of hostilities in the Mediterranean

Curdes 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 Lockheed P-38 Lightning.[2] On 29 April 1943, he shot down three German Messerschmitt Bf 109 aircraft and damaged a fourth near Cape Bon, in Tunisia. 19 May, he shot down two more Bf 109s near Villacidro, Sardinia. In less than a month of combat, Curdes became a flying ace.[1]

On 24 June, he shot down an Italian Macchi C.202 over Sardinia[1] and then damaged a German Bf 109 on 30 July over Pratica di Mare, Italy.[3] In August, he was awarded his first Distinguished Flying Cross.[4][5]

The Distinguished Flying Cross medal

Place and date: North African Theater of operations, 29 April 1943

General Orders: Headquarters, Northwest African Air Forces, General Orders No. 128 (June 30, 1943)

Citation: The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to First Lieutenant (Air Corps) Louis Edward Curdes (ASN: 0-733836), United States Army Air Forces, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as pilot of a P-38 type aircraft of the 95th Fighter Squadron, 82d Fighter Group, FIFTEENTH Air Force in the North African Theater of Operations. On 29 April 1943, on a skip-bombing mission in the Sicilian Straits, Lieutenant Curdes' formation was attacked by twelve enemy fighters. Despite the fact that he had been unable to release his bomb, Lieutenant Curdes turned to attack, destroying one ME-109 and damaging another. Sighting two ME-109's attacking a crippled P-38, he unhesitatingly attacked and destroyed both of them, and escorted the damaged aircraft to friendly territory. His consistent gallantry and devotion to duty have reflected great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of the United States.[5]

On 27 August 1943, Curdes was trying to help a teammate who was under attack by multiple German aircraft when he was shot down over Salerno, Italy. Before he was shot down, he managed to take out two Bf 109s which would be his last two victories in Europe. He was forced to land on a beach south of Salerno due to combat damage to his aircraft and a shortage of fuel. Not long after landing, he was captured by Italian soldiers who treated him well and even refused German attempts to transfer him over to them. Curdes briefly escaped when he and 4 other Americans stole a Red cross boat in Salerno, but they were captured again by the Italians and Curdes was then sent to a prison camp near Rome.[1]

When Curdes was shot down, he may have been the 63rd victory of Luftwaffe Experte Oberleutnant Franz Schieß of 8./JG 53.[6]

A few days later, the Italians signed an Armistice with the Allies. In response to this, Germany invaded its former ally. Many prison guards left their positions and one guard even let prisoners go before the Germans could take control of the POW camp. Over the next eight months, Curdes and some other escaped prisoners traveled through the mountains of Central Italy. Local civilians and resistance fighters aided the group by giving them handguns and supplies.[1]

On 27 May 1944, Curdes was near the Battle of Monte Cassino and was able to make it through Allied lines. He was then questioned by the British who verified his identity. Curdes then taught survival and escape methods to Allied aircrews for a couple weeks before being repatriated to the US. He was welcomed in Fort Wayne as a hero and given a parade. Later Curdes requested a return to active duty, but because of the Geneva Conventions and Curdes being a former escaped POW, he was unable to fly in the European theatre again so he joined the 4th Fighter Squadron and the 3rd Air Commando Group in the Pacific in August 1944, flying the P-51 Mustang.[7][1]

A map of the Asiatic-Pacific Theater showing its component areas. (The China-Burma-India Theater fell under the British-led South East Asia Command)

By November 1944, parts of the Philippines were again under US control. His unit, the 3rd 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, dropping supplies from the air, delivering mail, and evacuating the wounded.

On 7 February 1945, Curdes flew a P-51 about 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Taiwan, where he shot down a Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-46-II reconnaissance aircraft and by doing so, he had now shot down aircraft from all of the three major Axis powers.

On 10 February, Curdes, now a lieutenant, formed a squadron of four aircraft that departed from Mangaldan Airfield in the Philippines. Their objective was to investigate if the Japanese were using a temporary airstrip on the southern tip of Taiwan. No airfield could be found and Curdes returned to the Philippines.[7] Flying over the island of Batan, the squadron split; Curdes and Lieutenant Schmidtke headed north, while Lieutenants Scalley and La Croix headed south. Scalley and La Croix located a small Japanese airfield and attacked it and also called for reinforcement, Curdes and Schmidtke headed south to join them.[7]

During the attack on the airfield, La Croix was shot down and made an emergency landing in the sea. As the squadron circled, Curdes could see that his companion had survived, and remained in the area to guide a rescue plane and protect the downed pilot. While covering La Croix, Curdes noticed a larger plane preparing to land at the Batan airfield. He flew to investigate and found the aircraft to be a Douglas C-47 transport with markings of the 39th Airlift Squadron of the 317th Troop Carrier Group.[4] 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 the C-47 to alter course, but the C-47 maintained its course.

A replica of Curdes' P-51 on display at the Pima Air Museum in Tucson, Arizona

Curdes reasoned that it was better to shoot down the aircraft rather than to allow the crew to be taken prisoners by the Japanese and fired into one of the C-47's two engines, causing it to fail. The C-47 maintained its course for the Batan airfield, so Curdes disabled the other engine, forcing the pilot to ditch in the sea.[7] The plane successfully ditched without breaking up, and the crew was able to evacuate into a lifeboat. La Croix approached and was brought on board the C-47's life raft, where he was informed about the situation. The plane had apparently been lost in poor weather and its radio had stopped working. As it 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, poor light and lack of fuel forced Curdes to return to base. The next morning, he accompanied the rescue PBY to pick up the downed C-47 pilot and 11 crew members, including two nurses, all of whom had survived the incident. To Curdes's surprise, he discovered that one of the nurses was a woman with whom he had had a date the night before the incident (Svetlana Valeria). She and Curdes were married in 1946. General George Kenney awarded Curdes his second Distinguished Flying Cross and an Air Medal for the event. Curdes also received credit for the "Kill" and displayed it on his aircraft.[4][8]

Curdes later flew the P-38 Lightning again with the 49th Fighter Group at Gabu Airfield in Laoag, Philippines, from where he attacked Japanese positions in northern Luzon and Okinawa until the end of the war.[9]