Three Who Got Three
PILOTS WHO HAVE SHOT DOWN AIRPLANES FROM ALL THREE AXIS POWERS
Pilots Who Have Shot Down Airplanes from All Three Axis Powers
Here is an interesting and little-known fact: Only three American pilots are reported to have shot down at least one plane from each of the Axis powers (i.e., Germany, Italy, and Japan). There’s a simple reason for that, and it is central to the name of the conflict: “World War II” means just that—a war that encompasses the entire world. The opposing side occupied both sides of the globe. Although Berlin is technically only 5,500 miles from Tokyo in a straight line, all of Asia and Eastern Europe separates them, and as a rule, fighter pilots would do battle in one hemisphere/theater or the other, not both. Plus, it’s entirely possible for a pilot to be in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) and never see an Italian airplane, much less a Japanese aircraft, or a high-scoring ace in the Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO) never running across a German or an Italian plane. A pilot can’t shoot down what isn’t there. It took an unusual combination of circumstances for a pilot to bag one each from all three Axis players. But three did.
MAJ. ALBERT “AJAX” BAUMLER
The first man to accomplish this feat was Albert “Ajax” Baumler. You probably won’t find a man like Baumler sitting at any new millennium Air Force officers’ club. He defined the colorful, Maverick type of image the public has of fighter pilots but wouldn’t have made it into the current officer corps. He not only marched to his own drum but blazed a few trails of his own. Baumler washed out of Army Air Corps (AAC) pilot training in 1936 because of his “failure to demonstrate proper flying proficiency”; he had taken off in a trainer that had nearly empty fuel tanks and had to make a deadstick landing. It seems Baumler just shrugged his shoulders and went to United Airlines, where he got a commercial pilot’s license. Shortly after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Baumler hopped aboard the RMS Queen Mary to see if he could get in some combat flying with the Republicans. As it happened, one of his fellow passengers was Hidalgo de Cisneros, chief of the Spanish Republican Air Force; by the time he arrived in Spain on December 24, 1936, Baumler had a contract for $1,500 a month plus $1,000
for each enemy plane he shot down. Once in Spain, he passed his flying test and was assigned to Escuadrilla Kosakov, commanded by a Russian named Alexander Petrovich Osadshii, known in Spain as Boris Kosakov. Flying a Russian Polikarpov I-15, Baumler’s first combat was March 16, 1937. He was credited with one-half of a kill for an Italian Fiat CR.32, but he wasn’t paid for half credits or probables. On March 20, he was credited with the total victory over another Fiat CR.32. The following month, on the 17th, he shot down a German Heinkel He 51. His unit transitioned to the Polikarpov I-16 in May 1937, and Baumler qualified in it. His career with the Spanish ended due to an abscessed salivary gland. Because the U.S. State Department had a ban against travel to Spain, Baumler couldn’t return to the country via a U.S. port. As a result, he landed in Canada and skipped across the Canadian-U.S. border to get home in August 1937. The Spanish credited him with four and a half victories and two probables. That’s 2.5 in the I-15 and a probable. In the I-16, he’s credited with two and one probable. As the Spanish were careful not to pay any more than they had to, there is little to no doubt that Baumler’s kill count is correct. Once back in the United States, Baumler applied to join the AAC, except that this time, with 4.5 aerial victories to his credit, Baumler’s flying proficiency was unassailable. He was commissioned a second lieutenant and granted pilot’s wings on September 30, 1938. Shortly thereafter, recruiters asked him
to join the 14th Volunteer Squadron flying with the China Air Force. But he decided to pursue his mundane but safer AAC career and work as a trainer at several airfields, including Craig Field and Maxwell Field, both in Alabama, and Eglin Field in Florida. During the summer of 1941, Baumler was again asked to join the First American Volunteer Group (AVG). This time, AVG recruiter C. B. “Skip” Adair visited Maxwell Field to look for him, but somehow they didn’t connect. For some reason, Baumler was now interested. Was it a chance to earn big money compared to his salary from the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF, the successor to the AAC)? Or on the other hand, was it the chance for high adventure flying combat versus training? Whatever the incentive, he “borrowed” a P-35, flew to Washington, found Adair, and signed up. He resigned his commission—as required—to work for the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company, a front company for the AVG that became known as the “Flying Tigers.” Due to Baumler’s previous violation of going to Spain during the travel ban, the State Department denied him a passport. Since military personnel do not require passports to travel outside the United States, he returned to the Army, which transferred him to the American military mission in China. He left for Hawaii on December 3, 1941, and arrived at Wake Island just in time for his Pan Am clipper to be shot up by the Japanese on December 7. The crew dumped the clipper’s cargo and filled the plane with refugees and other civilians, then flew to Hawaii. In Hawaii, Baumler flew missions with the 45th Pursuit Squadron of the 15th Pursuit Group in defense of Hawaii. The army recalled him to Washington, D.C., after which he flew to China via Rio de Janeiro and on to British West Africa. He then led a flight of eight P-40Es across Africa and India, finally arriving in China on April 20, 1942. Once there, he flew combat missions with the AVG, shooting down a Nakajima Type 97 fighter (“Nate”) on June 22, making him the first American to shoot down a plane belonging to each of the three Axis powers. The AVG was absorbed by the 23rd Fighter Group on July 4, 1942. Baumler shot down four more planes, the last occurring on September 3, making him the first American ace in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater. In February 1943, doctors sent Baumler back to the United States for treatment for malaria. At the end of the war, he did not have a college degree but did have a known association with Soviets and a well-known drinking problem—neither of the latter was thought of as a positive trait when being considered for a permanent officer’s commission. To remain in the Air Force, he agreed to serve as a master sergeant. Young, awestruck pilots swirled stories about the desk-bound sergeant with pilot wings who was rumored to be an ace in two wars. The Air Force returned him to the rank of major for retirement, and he died in 1973. His was a colorful life from beginning to end.
MAJ. GEN. LEVI R. CHASE
Compared to Baumler, Chase’s military experience is more conventional. Chase got his wings and his commission in 1941, and was assigned to the 58th Fighter Squadron, 33rd Fighter Group. On December 18, 1942, he shot down a German Messerschmitt Bf 109, his first victory, while flying a P-40 in North Africa. His second was a Junkers Ju 88, shot down on December 22. Between January 31 and April 5, 1943, still flying a P-40, Chase downed seven more Bf 109s and an Italian Macchi C.202. For a while, the 33rd was led by Maj. Phil Cochran (who later was the inspiration for Col. “Flip” Corkin in the comic strip Terry and the Pirates), who dubbed Chase a “one-man wave of terror.” The title was awarded to Chase for his success in spotting and then destroying ground targets.
Chase returned to the United States in July 1943, where he was next deployed to the 2nd Air Commando Group in China, where he became the commander of the First Provisional Fighter Group. He destroyed his first Japanese plane, an “Oscar” (one of two he would down) on March 15, 1945, which made him one of “the Three.” On that day, Chase led one of the longest raids conducted in WW II by fighter planes. Their Mustangs left the base at Cox’s Bazar in what was then India (now Bangladesh) and headed to the Don Mueang Airfield near Bangkok, Thailand, a 1,500+-mile round trip. The unit received a Distinguished Unit Citation for the raid, and Chase received a Silver Star. Chase shot down 12 enemy planes during WW II. He also served on active duty during the Korean and Vietnam wars, and died on September 4, 1994, at the age of 77.
LT. COL. LOUIS “LOU” CURDES
Curdes was from Fort Wayne, Indiana, and a student at Purdue University for two and a half years before joining the AAF in December 1942. He arrived in Europe in March 1943 and, on April 29, shot down three Bf 109s during his first combat mission in a P-38. He shot down two more on May 19, making him an ace in less than a month. Curdes got his Italian kill, a Macchi C.202, on June 24 over Sardinia. On August 27, he was shot down near Salerno. He was captured, he escaped, and he was recaptured. He finally made a successful getaway and returned to his unit on May 27, 1944. Curdes was sent to the United States on leave and immediately volunteered for duty in the PTO. He arrived at the 3rd Air Commando in November 1944 and was now flying P-51s. On February 7, 1945, Curdes shot down a Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-46 (“Dinah”) twin-engine bomber, making him a member of “the Three.” Events of February 10, 1945, made Curdes a unique member of the USAAF in that he could then claim kills over four, not three, different nationality’s aircraft. As one of four P-51 pilots searching for a Japanese airfield, Curdes and his wingman, Lt. Schmidtke, flew over the northern half of the area, and Lts. Scalley and La Croix flew over the southern half. Scalley called to say that they were attacking an airfield, so Curdes and Schmidtke joined them. La Croix was hit and had to ditch in the ocean. Curdes told Schmidtke to climb to 15,000 feet and keep radioing “Mayday.” He told Scalley to return to base for help. He would circle low to keep the Japanese away. After La Croix made a successful water landing and got into his life raft, Curdes saw a two-engine transport approaching that he identified as an American C-47. The C-47 appeared to be headed for a landing on the Japanese airfield. Curdes radioed him to no effect, flew across in front of him, and even fired a burst across in front of him, attempting to force the pilot to change direction. Still the C-47 continued on course. The aircraft carried USAAF markings, but Curdes didn’t know whether it was being flown by Japanese or by Allied pilots. He did know, however, that he didn’t want the plane to be in Japanese hands. Closing in on the lumbering transport, Curdes skillfully shot out the right engine and then the left. The Gooney Bird pilot just as skillfully made a smooth touchdown on the water within a few yards of La Croix. Two life
rafts came out of the transport and passengers were climbing onboard as La Croix paddled over, and they lashed all three craft together. Shortly, four P-51s arrived to replace Curdes, and a PBY Catalina picked up La Croix as well as the C-47 passengers and crew at dawn the next day. Curdes learned that the transport pilot had become lost, his radio had gone dead, his fuel was gone, and when he saw land and a runway, he naturally wanted to put the plane down. When Curdes saw the list of passengers on the C-47, he exclaimed, “Jeepers, seven 109s, one Macchi in North Africa, one Jap, and one Yank in the Pacific. But to top it off, I have to go out and shoot down the girlfriend.” (He had recently dated one of the nurses who had been onboard at Lingayen.) A few weeks later, Curdes was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross for shooting down the transport. He still holds the record as being the only American pilot decorated for shooting down an American plane. Curdes later married the nurse. He left active duty but served in the Indiana National Guard and was activated for the 1948 Berlin Airlift. He retired as a lieutenant colonel and died in 1995. Shortly after his death, Indiana Senator Richard Lugar read a eulogy for him in Congress. Lugar’s closing words, asking for affirmation, were “What say you?”