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For 30 minutes, James H. Howard single-handedly fought off marauding German fighters to defend the B-17s of 401st Bomb Group. For that, he received the Medal of Honor. One-Man Air Force By Rebecca Grant Mustang pilot who took on the German Air Force single-handedly, and saved on Nazi aircraft and fuel production. our 401st Bomb Group from disaster?” uesday, Jan. 11, 1944, was Devastating missions to targets such wondered Col. Harold Bowman, the a rough day for the B-17Gs as Ploesti in Romania had already unit’s commander. of the 401st Bomb Group. produced Medal of Honor recipients. Soon the bomber pilots knew—and TIt was their 14th mission, but the Many were awarded posthumously, and so did those back home. first one on which they took heavy nearly all went to bomber crewmen. “Maj. James H. Howard was identi- losses—four aircraft missing in ac- Waist gunners, pilots, and naviga- fied today as the lone United States tion after bombing Me 110 fighter tors—all were carrying out heroic acts fighter pilot who for more than 30 production plants at Oschersleben and in the face of the enemy. minutes fought off about 30 Ger- Halberstadt, Germany. The lone P-51 pilot on this bomb- man fighters trying to attack Eighth Turning for home, they witnessed ing run would, in fact, become the Air Force B-17 formations returning an amazing sight: A single P-51 stayed only fighter pilot awarded the Medal from Oschersleben and Halberstadt with them for an incredible 30 minutes of Honor in World War II’s European in Germany,” reported the New York on egress, chasing off German fighters Theater. “With utter disregard for his Times on Jan. 19, 1944. attempting to hack away at the bomb- own safety, he immediately pressed Howard was a tall, quiet squadron ers. A “one-man Air Force,” said Maj. home determined attacks,” the citation commander from the 354th Fighter Allison C. Brooks, group leader for read in part. Group. He had a reputation for doing the 401st’s mission. In the teamwork environment of things his way. One reporter termed Extraordinary valor was needed aerial combat, this was a rare example him “as American as the Jeep,” but the in the skies over Germany, as Eighth of one man braving enemy fire repeat- reality was more complicated. Howard Air Force began its long-range attacks edly to save others. “Who was that was born in China, where his father, 60 AIR FORCE Magazine / November 2010 a prominent eye surgeon, had spent Offers of flying jobs from both the There was only so much the fighter several years on a university exchange. Navy and Army awaited him there. pilots could do. Lacking range, the He left China at age 14 and finished Eventually Howard traveled out to P-47s and P-38s could only provide high school in St. Louis before earn- see old Navy friends at North Island, limited assistance to the bombers. The ing a degree at Pomona College in in San Diego, Calif. Cold-shouldered Luftwaffe was still at full strength. Not California. Lured away from medical by an officious Navy base commander, until March 1944 did the shortages in studies by a Navy recruiter, he’d started Howard revolted and accepted the aviation gas and trained pilots begin to his aviation career as Ensign Howard, Army’s commission offer. seriously affect the Luftwaffe. The last flying Grumman F3F-2 fighters off Within weeks he was at Muroc Dry three months of 1943 saw the German the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. Lake (now Edwards AFB, Calif.) flying Air Force fighter pilots holding a slight One-Man Air But impatient Howard had a yearn- the P-38, though he was leery of the edge as they struggled desperately ing for adventure and combat. In 1941, aircraft. “There we so many problems to defend German industry against he joined the American Volunteer with the P-38, it was cynically called daylight bombing. Group, better known as the Flying the engineer’s dream—as opposed to “All the German fighters had to do Tigers, and journeyed back to China. a pilot’s dream,” he recalled. was to wait until the last escort fighters Force Howard took quickly to AVG head turned back and then pounce on the Claire L. Chennault, particularly for A Pilot’s Dream bombers,” Howard summed up. P-40 fighter tactics. In January 1942, Howard was happier back in the P-47 Howard was stepping in to a brand- he became an ace, “an arbitrary title with Fourth Air Force. He rose quickly new mission—long-range fighter es- which is supposed to distinguish a to squadron command, and the summer cort—when the 354th arrived in Eng- fighter pilot who has achieved a high of 1943 found him preparing a new land. Arriving with no inkling of what level of success,” he wrote in his 1991 squadron for assignment to Europe. aircraft they would operate, the pilots autobiography, Roar of the Tiger. The bomber offensive in the winter were delighted to learn they’d be the Under Chennault, Howard also dem- of 1943 to 1944 was at its peak. In Au- first unit assigned to Ninth Air Force onstrated leadership qualities, rising to gust, the massed missions to Schwein- to fly the P-51B Mustang. became a squadron commander, then furt and Regensburg had claimed “All of the advance rumors of the group operations officer and head of horrific losses. P-51’s excellence proved true,” said the AVG’s confirmation board, which Eighth Air Force, in the fall of 1943, Howard. “It was a fighter pilot’s dream.” officially credited pilots with their either confined itself to targets in The P-51B Mustangs, with improved proven kills of Japanese aircraft. Four- France and the Low Countries within Merlin engines and extra fuel capacity, teen months of action also left him with the combat radius of the fighters, or began to arrive in England in late 1943. a debilitating case of dengue fever. He took the losses for deep attacks, as turned down a direct commission in at Schweinfurt. With attrition often Left: Howard in his P-51, dubbed Ding Hao! (Chinese for “Very Good”). Be- the US Army Air Forces when the AVG greater than 10 percent, the deep strike low: A German fighter attacks a dam- disbanded and headed home to St. Louis missions could not be sustained unless aged B-17 over Bremen in December to recuperate for the remainder of 1942. something changed. 1943. AIR FORCE Magazine / November 2010 61 fully alerted and formations by now struggling to stay together. The favor- ite prey of Luftwaffe pilots was a lone bomber that broke from the formation, perhaps crippled by flak or flying too slow, with a feathered engine. The “best place to find German fighters was in the vicinity of strug- gling Forts—they were like honey to the bee,” observed Howard. Howard’s 354th Fighter Group was tutored by the legendary Lt. Col. Don- ald J. M. Blakeslee. They learned to rendezvous with the bomber streams at 22,000 feet and got experience with missions to targets such as Kiel and Bremen, Germany. Howard found his 60 combat hours with the Flying Tigers served him well. By early December, Blakeslee deemed the 354th ready to operate on its own. Under the system of rotat- ing combat operations leads used by bomber and fighter groups, Howard Lt. Gen. Carl Spaatz (left) presented the Medal of Honor to Howard in London in and group commander Col. Kenneth June 1944. R. Martin took turns as combat lead. Howard’s experience was about to With drop tanks, the combat radius of started scanning the skies as soon as be tested as the new P-51Bs allowed the P-51B exceeded 880 miles. These they crossed the English Channel. Eighth Air Force to resume deep strikes “little friends” could fly from England Fighters assisted the formations in on Germany industry. The mission to to rendezvous with bomber formations relays, with groups covering assigned Oschersleben and Halberstadt—about over their targets deep in Germany, sections of the route. The fast silver 100 miles southwest of Berlin—was and help bring them home. flash of P-47s was a welcome sight, a return to the long-range bombing of “The only limitation of the P-51, if meaning relief from the incessant at- aircraft production plants so vital to the you could call it one, was the pilot,” tacks was at hand. Allied strategy. said Howard. Six-hour missions and The bomber escort mission was Gaining air superiority was the pre- the multitasking demands of flying, not like the wild flying Howard knew condition for an invasion of France, navigating, and tuning out German from his days in China. Air discipline and the Luftwaffe fighters had to be radar and jamming could be a strain. was everything. “If you’re out hound- whittled down. Targets included the Air tactics were about to change. dogging it alone, you’re asking for A.G.O Fleugzeugwerke, the principal With P-51s, fighter cover could be it because a formation of [Me] 109s center of FW 190 fighter production provided over the target as well as on who’ve spotted you from above will after the Marienburg plant had been ingress and egress. The relatively small certainly make mincemeat of you,” destroyed in October, and the Junkers numbers of P-51Bs in theater were Howard told his pilots. plant at Halberstadt, manufacturing responsible for validating the disputed wings for Ju 88s, according to the theory that long-range fighters could 500 German Fighters Army Air Forces’ official history.

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