It’s a calm, clear morning on December the 7th, 1941. Two young pilots; Lt. Kenneth Marlar Taylor
and Lt. George Welch sleep off a long night of partying at their barracks in Honolulu, Hawaii. Then, suddenly the air raid siren jolts them awake. They sleep-deprived men hurriedly stumble off their beds. Looking out the window, expecting it to be
little more than a very inconvenient drill, but those hopes are dashed
as the distant echoes of explosions, gunfire, and low flying planes reach the two men. The realization dawns on them and they leap into action, the adrenaline more than making up for the less than 2 hours of sleep. Taylor calls their base for instructions, but nobody answers the phone. Thinking quickly Taylor remembers there should be planes at Haleiwa, a temporary strip for training, and calls them directly. Miraculously someone answers and Taylor orders them to prepare
two planes as fast as possible. They run to their car still wearing their tuxedo pants from the day before and Welch races the 10 miles to the airfield. Pillars of smoke rise above the installations as the Japanese destroy everything mercilessly. Enemy planes zip past and take potshots at the speeding car, but Welch doesn’t take his foot off the gas. The tires screech as he brings the car to a halt. They find Haleiwa surprisingly untouched, thanking their luck they both jump out of the car and straight into their P-40B Warhawk fighter planes. While climbing into their P-40s, the crew chiefs tell them to disperse their planes. "To hell with that", Welch replied. The fighters are fully fueled but loaded only with .30 caliber ammunition, with no time to waste they start the engines and take off, determined to defend Pearl Harbor, the danger barely registering in their minds. It doesn’t take them long before they spot twelve Japanese D3A1 Val dive-bombers circling above friendly installations, they launch themselves into battle without hesitation despite being outnumbered 6 to 1. They approach completely unopposed, the Japanese are distracted shooting at the ground. Both pilots seize the opportunity and, flying side by side, they come down on the bombers from behind. They unleash their guns and shower the enemy formation with bullets, two enemies instantly burst into flames. The Japanese scatter and the pilots separate, chasing after different targets. The tail gunner of the dive bomber ahead fires back at Welch and he breaks off the chase, but not before being hit multiple times. In the other fighter Taylor finds himself low on ammunition and breaks away from his target. He decides to land on Wheeler field, their usual place of operations. He can see the devastation as he approaches, but thankfully there are no enemies. He brings it down to land in the middle of a grim scene. The place is wrecked; lines of planes burn in the open, hangars are collapsed, and bomb craters litter the area. Once on the ground he finds his partner, Welch, has already landed and is resupplying with the help of brave ground crew, his plane is clearly damaged but still airworthy. The battle still rages on in other parts of the island but to the men’s shock several officers run out of the ruins and order them to leave the aircraft immediately. They admonish both Taylor and Welch for attacking without orders. Then, in the middle of the altercation another formation of bombers is spotted headed straight for their position. The officers and mechanics run for cover while Taylor and Welch jump back into their cockpits, completely ignoring their orders. They turn on their engines and taxi to the field, ammunition boxes and tools abandoned by the mechanics fall off of Taylor’s wing in the process. They pick up speed towards the incoming dive bombers as bullets hit the ground around them. They take off just as the enemies fly past overhead, the two pilots turn around and give chase. The bombers disappear into a cloud and Taylor follows them. The cloud obscures his vision for several seconds which seem like an eternity, he emerges on the other side and sees a Japanese bomber right in front of his nose. Surprised, he fires a burst into the plane ahead before a volley from another bomber hits him from behind. His plane is rocked violently, one shot hits the cockpit coming to within an inch of his head before exploding, sending shrapnel into his leg and arm. He later said "It was of no consequence; it just scared the hell out of me for a minute." Ignoring his wounds he breaks away from the chase and desperately tries to get rid of the bomber on his tail. Far above Welch realizes Taylor is in trouble and dives down to help. Approaching at breakneck speed he pulls the trigger. Taylor sees a flash from behind, he looks over his shoulder to see the enemy engulfed in flames falling from the sky and Welch emerging from the trail of smoke. He had just saved his life. Relieved, Taylor presses on despite his injuries. The two pilots split once more, Taylor chases after another bomber and opens fire, smoke pours out of the bullet holes but before he has a chance to finish it off he spots another formation of Zeros approaching their position. Not only that, but he also sees Welch chasing after a lone Zero. Concerned that the formation will catch his friend off guard he breaks off his attack and heads to meet the incoming enemies, leaving the injured bomber to its fate. Fortunately, the incoming formation turns away and avoids the airfield before any more fighting
can take place. Welch shoots and takes down the Zero he was chasing. They both land back on Haleiwa airfield, both of their planes have heavy damage, but despite being tremendously outnumbered they had both survived. Welch ended the day with four confirmed kills to his name while Taylor had two confirmed and two probable. After the war, Japanese reports and interviews of the Japanese pilots involved in the attack revealed that the two mens’ actions likely prevented an assault on Haleiwa airfield, sparing the men and equipment stationed there from the worst of the onslaught. The two Men exhausted drove back to barracks in their Buick They were stopped by the squadron commander, who was rushing in the other direction to determine the fate of their planes on Haleiwa. He shouted at the 2 pilots, "You men! Turn around! We're at war! Go to Haleiwa! The men still in their tuxedo pants explained to their shocked commander the events of the day and assured him the remaining planes were safe. They both received the Distinguished Service Cross for their heroic actions, Lt. Welch would also be nominated for the Medal of Honor but would ultimately be denied for taking off without orders. Lt. Taylor also received a Purple Heart for the injuries he sustained. Taylor survived the war and retired from the military in 1971. Living a peaceful life with his family until passing in 2006. George Welch also would survive the war and go on to “instruct” in the Korean War. Characteristically during some of his “lessons” he reportedly downed several enemy MIG-15s in direct disobedience of his orders not to engage. Credits for his victories were officially given to his students. "To hell with that." On October 12, 1954, tragically Welch’s plane disintegrated while he was conducting a 7-G pullout at Mach 1.55. Major Welch is buried in Arlington cemetery. If you haven't yet, please subscribe to the channel and please watch more videos of ours. Thank you!
