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Tales
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It’s a Dog’s Life!
I recently enjoyed reading Tumult in the Clouds, a novel by WW2 fighter ace James Goodson. Goodson, with 32 kills to his name, flew with the original Eagle Squadron in 1940 before transferring to the US Fourth Fighter Group. His book is an excellent account of a fighter pilot’s life of the period and contains a plethora of memorable experiences that tell it like it was. One lighter event that is guaranteed to raise a smile though concerns Sqdn Ldr Goodson and First Lt Ralph Hofer who, because of his pre-adolescent looks, was nicknamed “The Kid.” One evening (Goodson writes) I was breaking in a new boy, Ralph Saunders, and flying on his wing, when I saw another P-47 pulling up on the other side of him. It came in close and sitting in the cockpit sat a large Alsatian dog – and no sign of anyone else. The plane then dived ahead of us, pulled up into a perfect loop and ended up behind us. When we landed, we both climbed into the jeep, and without a word, drove off to 334 Squadron dispersal. The Kid and his dog came over and clambered into the back. “Duke’s getting real good at flying!” said Hofer. “Any damn fool can do a loop,” I said, “but how is he on instruments?” “Great!” said the Kid. “Sounds like a real show off,” I said. After we dropped them off, Saunders could not restrain his curiosity any longer. “Sir, did he have that dog on his lap?” “Yeah,” I said sourly. “That’s fantastic.” Then sensing my mood, he added quickly, “But I guess you disapprove.” “To get enough room, he leaves his parachute off,” I said. “During those long evenings when I drilled my new proteges, I often glimpsed a lone Thunderbolt cavorting among the clouds, diving down through the white valleys between them, pulling up vertically until it stalled and fell off into a spin, pulling out at the last moment and zooming back up in a glorious Immelmann or loop and rolling off the top. And after landing I would drive around the perimeter track to pick up the laughing Kid and his happy dog.” At twenty one years of age with 27 victories to his credit, The Kid finally met his match. While escorting a bomber raid over Budapest in 1944, he fell victim to one of the greatest fighter aces of all time, Erich “Bubi” Hartmann. The ironic thing was that Bubi is roughly translated as Kid in German and that Hartmann was given his nickname for all the same reasons and was also twenty one years of age at the time.
Tales
Definitely the lighter side of aviation! Back at Debden, the waiting ground crews knew the instant that the Kid had been shot down for Duke, the big Alsatian, leapt up and let out a series of doleful howls and then went and laid down in the empty revetment where Hofer’s Mustang would never be parked again. (P Caldwell, Manly) Republic P-47 Thunderbolts
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