How Two German Pilots did the Unthinkable

a p47 by the name of R Mary Roars downward in a low-level strike on German tanks that are attempting to attack American troops when suddenly she and her pilot find themselves in the middle of an ambush in the moments that follow Lieutenant Ed catrell would take a Direct Hit And as he nursed his stricken Thunderbolt home something incredible happened as not not one but two German Fighters arrive with a clear opportunity to kill but instead of that what can only be considered an unbelievable Act of Mercy in the midst of an allout War today we

dive into the archives hear the story from the man who flew it and relive the mission it is December of 1944 and currently the German Army is beginning what would be their final offensive a maximum effort attack punching through the Arden to try and break the American lines in Belgium to stop this counter offensive the Allied Forces in Belgium are preparing to dig in and defend but with the numbers that the Germans are utilizing and the strength of their armored divisions The Battered American infantry and Airborne units have to have support the only ones in

the right position to answer this call are the pilots of the ninth Air Force and specifically The 493rd Fighter Squadron of the 48th Fighter Group also known as the grim reapers the grim reapers had already to this point shown that they were skilled low-level Flyers bombing and strafing German targets all across the line in support of the advancing American ninth on Army this was an extremely risky Endeavor with German flak being by far their most lethal adversary but as the missions went along While most of the pilots accepted these risks and the potential consequences of

combat not everyone could handle the stress on December 17th of 1944 the grim reapers would be called in for a low-level dive bombing mission to repel the German advance and on this morning one of Ed's Squadron mates simply wasn't all right there were seven of us lived in a room and uh we were really close we played poker among a group when you ran out of money you didn't borrow money because you didn't know whether you're going to be alive the next day or not but our our roommates were we were all came to to

the 48th Fighter Group at the same time art Summers was a football player USC and uh I can tell you that art Summers had difficulty going on a mission I can REM I can remember them having to lift and put him in the plane he didn't want to get into the car and uh I can remember uh the squadron commander told him that he was going to be grounded and and because he couldn't wasn't in shape to fly anymore and I think that's why he they had to put him into the plane that day that

we took off he was I don't know he just couldn't handle the combat again I guess got to him I have no idea but I do know that he had trouble getting into the cockpit in addition to Art Summers Ed catrell would be flying on the wing of Lieutenant Jim Watson one of the seasoned Flyers of the 48th Fighter Group they would be flying the three and four planes in Red Flight led by Squadron leader Stanley Latias soon enough the boys were up and they took off for what would become one of the most memorable

missions of the war the following is taken from the 48th fighter group's diary for this Mission the 493rd Squadron led by Major Stanley P lais dispatched 12 aircraft on a mission to perform a bridge busting and armed Recon on an enemy Bridge four aircraft carried 500lb bombs on 8 to 11 second delay and four aircraft carried general purpose bombs and four aircraft flew top cover in this attack Ed catrell was assigned to the lower group with bombs armed to strike ground targets rather than the bridge the grim reapers came across the Belgian Countryside in tight

formation according to the assigned groups eventually they located the bridge and the first four p-47s released their bombs just missing a hit on the target but successfully cutting some of the railroad tracks nearby the other four plane flight then moved to find a ground Target for their bombs this was the flight of Ed Krell and Jim Watson shortly thereafter they spotted the Target that they were looking for a row of German tanks leading a convoy nearby and this is where the battle would begin and so we're on a mission and again I flew Wing to

our squadron commander and we spot Tiger tank banks in the wood and so we circled made the pass my squadron commander went down first I went down second he pulled up I pulled up and we're maybe 3,000 ft pulling going up straight up and I noticed an me 109 at 1:00 which would be to uh to my right side and I called him him and I told him that the 109 was was firing and he said yeah I know as we can see from the report this attack came just as Ed was beginning his run

on the tanks and was a very large ambush from German measure Smiths totaling more than 20 aircraft first a few of the 109's ambushed the top cover flight and then the rest of the force came in to attack catrell and the lower Force just a few seconds later for Ed catrell this attack would come at the worst possible moment right as he was pulling up from an attacking run this gave him nowhere to fly and very little speed to maneuver away immediately one of these German Pilots which were 109's from skilled Fighter Squadron JG 27

would land a direct hit to R Mary the jolt occurred and Ed could immediately feel the impact beneath him and I could see that 20 mm blinking then all of a sudden I heard pop and there was black oil all over my windshield and I looked and I saw the 20 mm cannon from the 109 and just as he was going over me I tried to turn and and I'm not sure if I fired or I didn't fire I just know that I got hit unfortunately though Ed catrell was not the only one who found

himself in the crosshairs of a lwaa aircraft nearby our Mary was Ed's leader Lieutenant Jim Watson as the dog fight broke out catrell was following him closely and tragically this would be one of the last times that Jim Watson was ever seen I Edwin B catrell second Lieutenant was flying fix up red four and was wingman to Lieutenant Watson who was flying fix up red three we were attacked by approximately 20 me 109s and immediately our flight headed by Major laola turned into them an me 109 came at Lieutenant Watson and I from about 2:00

high and we pulled our planes up and turned into him however he scored a hit on my plane which caused my engine to fail and my plane to lose altitude Lieutenant Watson's plane was still flying and was apparently not hit by the me 109 as he turned to rejoin major laola who was pursuing another me 109 in the seconds after receiving what was likely a 20 mm Cannon impact Ed knew that things were not well R Mary was obviously losing power and now hot oil began to cover his entire plane making visibility next to zero

well the first thing when I heard this pop and I had no idea I knew it hit the plane and then all of a sudden there's black oil and it's hot it's steaming and the windshield is completely covered and the only way I could see was to throw the canopy back and it's cold it's windy and I had no idea uh except that the engine was just barely functioning and I knew that I'd been hit and I knew that I was either going to get hit again or I was going to have to bail out

after this hit Ed had his own problems to worry about and because of this in the moments that followed contact and visual was lost with first lieutenant Jim Watson I tried to establish radio contact with Lieutenant Watson and tell him I was forced to leave the formation but had no results as His Radio was apparently out as I recovered my plane from the dive the engine caught and I came home on the deck I last sighted Lieutenant Watson trying to rejoin major laola and his wingman Lieutenant White signed second Lieutenant Edwin B catrell tragically Ed

could not focus on this for long and wouldn't know many of the details until much later for now he simply had to keep his own plane in the air I threw open the canopy and the plane sort of died and I thought well I don't know what I either going to jump out or bail out or what and all of a sudden the engine started chugging along so I called my squadron commander and told him I was hit and he said well head take it as far as you can head 270 that was the standard

if you got hit you always hited West 270° he began limping home in an oily black Thunderbolt at just enough speed to keep the aircraft in the air Ed was now too low to bail out and had only minimal control or maneuverability due to the state of his aircraft here he was a Sitting Duck praying to make the long and lonely flight back to Friendly lines and it was in this moment that the worst possible scenario began to materialize right in front of his eyes so I started flying I was maybe maybe, 2,000 ft above

ground chugging along at 130 mph and stalling speeds 120 and I'm just above stalling speed and I look out to my right and there's an me 109 and I look to the left and there's an me109 and they crisscross behind me and I'm waiting for the GS the bullets to start and no bullets and I look and the one one me 109 had brought her back and he came in right next to my wing I looked the other side the other one had come in they were flying formation and I could look and see them

and they were two young each of them were young kids young uh pilot and they flew me escort until we got to the bomb line we got near the bomb line they they circled their first finger and thumb and peeled off and went back to Germany in one of the most unbelievable acts of Mercy ever told two Emy 109s approach the stricken Thunderbolt and proceed to fly with him inform formation clearly recognizing that he was crippled and incapable of fighting after signaling to Ed catrell the two German Pilots peel off and head for home leaving

R Mary and her stunned pilot in Friendly territory I got on the radio and somebody came on the over the radio and said uh what's your Airfield and I said a92 and they said well you're not far make a 90° right and uh you should get to it very shortly and just as I'm getting ready to uh I'm coming into land about maybe right above the edge of the runway the engine froze over quit so I had to Dead stick the plane in and I landed it and they came out and towed the plane back

I found out later that it uh had lost 8 cylinders out of the 18 and that engine still still ran now that's a miracle 8 cylinders out of of 18 and uh I've since told pratton Whitney I thankful I were they made such a good engine cuz I wouldn't I was alive thanks to that engine keeping going as Ed landed his plane and climbed out of the battered bird he stepped down and kissed the ground realizing that he was lucky to be alive and now after sitting down and taking in the series of events that

had just happened he finally had time to reflect on the men who had just spared his life why the two Germans didn't shoot me down I have no idea and people ask me would I have done what they did and I said probably I would because I can remember from playing on all the sports that I played you never took advantage of a you know you if a guy's hurt you didn't take advantage of them I can remember playing football a guy get hurt she didn't go try to hurt him again again you know he's

hurt get him out of there and uh I I would never have tried to take advantage of a German pilot that was in trouble I would have tried to help him and I think that's what those two pilots I don't know I would love to meet them I never will but I would love to meet him and thank him but unfortunately perhaps most tragic of all when Ed tried to share the story of the two German Pilots that safely watched over him on the dangerous flight home it was considered to be a tall tale they

didn't believe me they didn't believe me and uh I had no verification I had nobody to verify that the two German 109's and they said that they wouldn't do and I said well and uh uh because there was no verification my I was put in for DFC but I never got it because there was no verification that what had happened and in some ways this sentiment from the 493rd was understandable as the lwaa had never been so hated in the unit as they were at this very moment as Ed would soon find out it was

their most costly day of the war not only had his leader Lieutenant Jim Watson been lost and killed when his aircraft was shot down by a German fighter but also lost was Lieutenant Arthur summer the poor young man who had to be helped into his aircraft before the mission the following is the recollection of Lieutenant Lloyd white read too in Ed's flight I Lloyd white first lieutenant on December 17th 19 1944 at approximately 1115 hours was flying Red 2 on Mission when we engaged about 20 me 109s during the ensuing flight I observed a white

parachute open almost in my flight path I passed very close to it immediately after it opened and noted that the man was still alive and was wearing a green flying suit realizing from radio chatter that Lieutenant summer had been shot down I surmised that it was he I had seen however I was not close enough to him or to the airplane he bailed out of to be positive this occurred in the vicinity of coordinate F 2018 signed first lieutenant Lloyd white after gathering information from various sources after the war it became clear that Lieutenant summer

was like likely shot down possibly by JG 27 fighter Ace wter Arnold who claimed a p47 kill in this same area during this engagement sadly however summer would bail out successfully and survive only to be likely killed by the SS just a few days later following this brutal Mission and the loss of two of their pilots the 493rd would be forced to grieve quickly for in the coming days they would be called upon for their most important mission of the war the support for the Battle of the Bulge and the 10 first Airborne at Bastone

all of this will be coming in part three of Ed Story coming soon to tj3 history if you enjoyed this please consider joining my patreon so I can keep telling the stories of veterans thanks for watching and I'll see you next time [Music]