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High in the skies of the Pacific Ocean, Louis Edward Curdes is flying in formation with a fellow aviator, returning from a scouting mission over the south of Taiwan. It’s a 4 man squadron, but they split as they fly over the shores of Batan island. Curdes is a very experienced pilot, an Ace from the western front. He has taken down 8 enemy aviators during the war in Europe and has already claimed a 9th since his deployment to the Pacific. This has made him one of very few aces to have claimed a kill from every single mayor axis power and a very respected man amongst his squadron. Under him is his trusty P-51 Mustang, nicknamed Bad Angel. His impressive skills had not yet been put to the test today. Their mission had been an uneventful one, they were sent to scout a temporary airfield to investigate it for enemy activity, but they found no airfield in the area. He is looking down at the rocky shores of the island below when La Croix, the leader of the other half of his squadron, reports they found and are attacking an enemy airfield on the island. Curdes quickly notifies his wingman and the two rush in to support. By the time they arrive they see things already burning on the ground and pillars of tracers shooting up towards his allies. With the element of surprise in their hands the two pilots dive down upon the Japanese position. They fly through pillars of black smoke strafing anything that looks important, landed aircraft burst into flames under their barrage. Bullets fly past his canopy as the anti-aircraft fire refocuses towards him, but Curdes escapes untouched. Black puffs of flak explode around the squadron as they continue punishing the enemy, braving the anti-aircraft fire to take down another anti-air battery, another fuel depot. La Croix is pulling out of a run when suddenly a flak shell explodes immediately next to him. “I’m hit!” he calls through the radio. Curdes asks La Croix about his situation but he doesn’t respond. Concerned, he pulls away from the attack, searching for his friend. He eventually spots him swimming in the ocean below, his parachute is floating next to him. Curdes orders a squad mate to fly high and radio headquarters for a rescue and for backup as he keeps watch over his fallen comrade. Minutes later the squad mate reports bad news, HQ is unreachable. Curdes curses his luck and orders them to head back to base and to request an immediate rescue. The men obey the order and Curdes is left alone over Batan. The minutes drag on, Curdes fires sporadically towards the enemy airfield to keep them suppressed before going back to circling over La Croix. Then, another aircraft unexpectedly wanders into view. It’s something big and slow approaching in the distance, Curdes approaches to investigate, maybe even to shoot it down. At first he thinks it’s a Japanese transport, but he quickly realizes that is no enemy plane. It is an American C-47, complete with American insignias. Curdes is completely puzzled. The transport is heading straight for the Japanese airfield, and worse, it drops the landing gear right in front of his eyes. Concerned, Curdes tries to radio the aircraft, but he receives no answer. Was the aircraft lost? Maybe captured? Or could it be a defector? A million possibilities circle in his mind as he tries to radio one more time, to the same disappointing result. He carefully maneuvers his P-51 in front of the transport, trying anything to make them change course. But still, the transport continues its descending path towards the enemy base. Desperate, he fires across the transport’s nose, but even with that they still they continue their approach. Curdes is faced with a difficult choice. Should he shoot it down, or let it land? He has no idea whether the transport is under enemy or allied hands. His finger hovers over the firing button as he closely follows it through the sky. Fully aware that if he fires, the chances of survival of the people on board are slim. How is it that an American plane is coming into land at a Japanese air base? Is it Japanese pilots or American pilots at the controls? He comes to realize that shooting it down is the only real option, allied or not. And yet his finger keeps hovering over the button, the possibility of killing innocents weighing heavily in his conscience. With the time running out, Curdes takes a deep breath, he aims for the left engine, and opens fire. The engine instantly bursts into flames, the Mustang’s devastating armament makes quick work of the unarmored transport. But yet, it continues to head for the enemy base. Left with no other option, Curdes aims for the second engine. He fires, and it tears to shreds. It too now bursts into flames and the C-47 quickly loses speed. His stomach lurches, as he watches it slowly glide into the waves, the pilots expertly ditch it into the ocean just 300 yards from shore. Miraculously the skilled pilots perform a textbook water landing, the aircraft is unscathed. Curdes watches in both relief and confusion as a dozen people emerge from the transport and board three survival rafts. They’re Americans! The survivors pick up La Croix from the water who explains the situation to them. Alarmed the survivors paddle away from shore and the Japanese don’t even realize their presence. Curdes waits as evening turns to dusk. No rescue comes, and he is running out of fuel. Reluctantly he returns to base, leaving the survivors to fend the night alone adrift in the waves. Upon his return he informs command he has decided to perform the rescue the following day. A sleepless night passes, Curdes jumps back into his P-51 early in the morning. The weather has taken a turn for the worse, strong winds and clouds threaten the rescue mission, but it must go ahead. He takes off, escorting a Catalina flying boat through the turbulence. Thankfully the sky eventually clears, and the survivors are spotted. The Catalina lands on the waves, and the rescue takes place without incident. All 12 crew and passengers, as well as La Croix, survived the crash and the night unscathed. Curdes is shocked to learn that one of the passengers of the plane was Svetlana Shostakovich, a young American nurse he had taken out on a date just three nights prior. The pilots of the C-47 were merely lost. Caught in bad weather their radio malfunctioned and navigation was thrown off. Low on fuel and desperate for anywhere to land, the pilots misidentified the airstrip as allied. Curdes had saved them from being sent to a Japanese internment camp. He was awarded the kill of the C-47, giving him the rare distinction of adding an American flag to his kill tally. He would receive the distinguished flying cross twice, but for other actions throughout the war. Despite their rocky start, he married Svetlana just a year after the incident and continued to serve until his retirement in 1963. He lived a happy life alongside her and died on the 5th of February 1995. If you haven't yet, please subscribe to the channel and please watch more videos of ours. Thank you!
