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Ww2 fighter pilot
Ww2 fighter pilot










Using the Nazi army’s meticulous records, the authors examined the monthly victory scores of more than 5,000 Luftwaffe pilots who flew 96,127 missions. For presentation on this web site, some Valor articles have been amended for accuracy.The research is published as a working paper (PDF) from the National Bureau of Economic Research, which means it hasn’t been reviewed by other academics. For him, as for so many other Air Force heroes, bravery had no bounds of time or space. All who bailed out were saved.Īccording to Fighter Aces by Raymond Toliver and Trevor Constable, General Kenney told Johnson’s father, “You are the father of the bravest man I ever knew, and the bravest thing he ever did was the last thing… when he did not need to be brave.” Jerry Johnson, whose first concern always had been for the safety and well-being of his men, would not have agreed with Kenney’s last words. Jerry Johnson gave his to that man and went down with the plane. It was discovered that one of the passengers had come aboard with no parachute. As fuel ran low, the bail-out signal was given.

ww2 fighter pilot

There is general agreement that the aircraft ran into very bad weather and, with its radios out, became hopelessly lost. The latter probably is correct, since his flight records at Norton AFB, Calif., show no previous flights as a crew member of a B-17 and no flight in any type of aircraft after Sept. According to one source, Johnson was pilot of the B-17 another lists him as a passenger. 7, 1945, he was returning to Japan in a B-17 after a short absence from his command. Shortly after V-J Day he was named commander of Atsugi AB near Yokohama, Japan. Johnson ended the war as a lieutenant colonel and commander of the 49th Fighter Group, with 22 confirmed, 21 probables, two Distinguished Service Crosses, the Silver Star, and many lesser decorations. 7, the third anniversary of Pearl Harbor, he scored four in what his fellow pilots called the greatest exhibition of aerial gunnery they ever had seen. Johnson seemed to have a propensity for special days. There were plenty of targets for eager Lightning pilots. The strip was under attack night and day as the Japanese tried desperately to wipe out the American foothold on Leyte. Four hours later, Johnson shot down two enemy planes. P-38s from the 49th touched down as aviation engineers were laying the last pieces of steel mat on the freshly carved strip. Returning to the Pacific in October, he was one of the first AAF fighter pilots to arrive at Tacloban on Leyte in the Philippines. Jerry Johnson didn’t cool off during his R&R in the States. He definitely was a man to be watched by Bong, McGuire, Kearby, Lynch, and other contenders for top honors. At the end of his first Pacific tour in January 1944, he had tallied 11 confirmed victories and 11 probables, including a triple on Oct. While only three percent of fighter pilots have become aces, Johnson earned that distinction less than seven weeks after his first confirmed victories–a double–on July 26, 1943.

ww2 fighter pilot

Jerry Johnson soon became known as one of the best shots in Fifth Air Force.

ww2 fighter pilot

George Kenney described Johnson as “little, soft-voiced, black-haired.” Johnson became one of Kenney’s favorite fighter pilots, respected for his gallantry and admired by his squadron mates.Īny World War II fighter pilot will tell you that the ability to shoot accurately at a moving target from a moving platform was more important than piloting finesse. In March 1943, after completing his combat tour in the Aleutians and making the transition to P-38s, Jerry Johnson was assigned to the 49th Fighter Group in the southwest Pacific at the same time as McGuire, who later was transferred to the 457th Group. Johnson, one of the top aces in Europe.) Unlike McGuire, who never saw an enemy plane over Alaska, Jerry Johnson claimed two victories in September 1942, neither officially confirmed. Johnson–cut their combat teeth over the Aleutian Islands.

ww2 fighter pilot

Nevertheless, two of the highest-ranking AAF aces in the Pacific–second-ranking Tom McGuire and fourth-ranking Gerald R. It was, in fact, the only combat theater that produced not a single ace, due to the lack of enemy targets. Alaska was not known as the spawning ground of aces during World War II.












Ww2 fighter pilot