One P-51 Mustang. Thirty Luftwaffe fighters. Three hundred bomber crewmen with no one else to protect them.
On January 11, 1944, Major James Howard found himself completely alone over Oschersleben, Germany — his entire squadron scattered after a dogfight. Below him, three formations of B-17 Flying Fortresses were heading home with zero fighter escort. The Luftwaffe saw the opening and attacked in force.
Howard had a choice: break off and save himself, or stay and fight odds that no pilot should survive. He stayed. And then his situation got worse. Much worse. What he did next with an empty aircraft over enemy territory — the bomber crews who watched it couldn't believe what they were seeing.
Sixteen B-17 pilots filed reports about the same man after landing that day.
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On January 11, 1944, Major James Howard found himself completely alone over Oschersleben, Germany — his entire squadron scattered after a dogfight. Below him, three formations of B-17 Flying Fortresses were heading home with zero fighter escort. The Luftwaffe saw the opening and attacked in force.
Howard had a choice: break off and save himself, or stay and fight odds that no pilot should survive. He stayed. And then his situation got worse. Much worse. What he did next with an empty aircraft over enemy territory — the bomber crews who watched it couldn't believe what they were seeing.
Sixteen B-17 pilots filed reports about the same man after landing that day.
Subscribe for forgotten WW2 stories ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@ww2dispatchh
Like if you think this story deserves to be remembered.
Comment below — where are you watching from?
#worldwar2 #ww2 #militaryhistory #ww2stories #ww2dispatch
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LearningTranscript
00:00At 11.52 a.m. on January 11, 1944, Major James Howard counted over 30 German fighters plunging
00:08toward three formations of B-17 flying fortresses near Auschersleben, Germany, while his own P-51
00:15Mustang squadron had scattered across the sky after a short dogfight that left him entirely on
00:20his own. Howard was 30 years old, with 70 missions under his belt, 56 combat sorties across Burma
00:28and China with the Flying Tigers, where he'd downed six Japanese planes, plus 14 additional
00:34missions over Europe since December, when he'd assumed command of the 356th Fighter Squadron
00:40flying the new long-range P-51B Mustang. The Luftwaffe fighters bearing down on those bombers
00:48included Messerschmitt BF-109s and Focke-Wulf FW-190s, among Germany's most seasoned pilots
00:56operating from airfields less than 50 miles away, with full fuel loads and fresh ammunition.
01:03The mission had launched at 0700 hours that morning.
01:0750 P-51 Mustangs, from the 354th Fighter Group, providing escort for three divisions of B-17
01:17flying fortresses, striking aircraft plants at Auschersleben and Halberstadt, facilities vital
01:24to German fighter production, situated 90 miles southwest of Berlin. The bombers had finished
01:31their runs, released their payloads, banked for home. Then the Luftwaffe hit. Howard's group
01:39tangled with a formation of twin-engine BF-110 Seerstors near the target zone. Howard bagged one.
01:47Clean kill. But the fight scattered his pilots across the sky. When he climbed back to 24,000
01:55feet, where the bombers cruised, every other American fighter had disappeared. 300 men crewed
02:03those B-17s below. 30 men per aircraft. 10 bombers in tight defensive box formation. All relying on
02:13fighter escort to make it through the three-hour return flight to England. The bomber crews had
02:19already seen their P-47 Thunderbolt escorts peel off an hour earlier. Those fighters didn't carry
02:25enough fuel to reach this deep into Germany. Now the P-51s were gone too. All except Howard. His
02:33Mustang was armed with four .50 caliber Browning machine guns. Two in each wing. 1,700 rounds of
02:41ammunition total. The inboard guns carried 350 rounds apiece. The outboard guns held 280 each. At
02:50standard combat firing rate, that gave him roughly four minutes of continuous shooting, if he managed
02:56his trigger with perfect discipline. His fuel gauge indicated enough for maybe 30 minutes of fighting.
03:03After that, he'd be coasting. The first group of German fighters rolled into attack position.
03:10Howard shoved his throttle to emergency war power and dove. His P-51B surged past 400 miles per hour.
03:18He closed on a BF-109, setting up on the tail of a B-17 called Patches. Howard's gun sight
03:26settled on
03:26the Messerschmitt's cockpit. He squeezed off a three-second burst. 75 rounds. The canopy blew apart.
03:35The German fighter flipped inverted and dropped away, trailing smoke and coolant. Howard hauled back
03:41hard. 6G pull. His vision darkened at the periphery. Two more BF-109s were already setting up for another
03:50pass. He reversed direction. Cut inside their turn radius. The Mustang's superior roll rate gave him
03:58the edge. He fired again. Quick burst. One second. The trailing Messerschmitt's engine cowling erupted
04:06in fire. The pilot ejected immediately. But more fighters materialized. FW-190s approaching from the
04:15north. Yellow-nosed machines from an elite squadron. They spotted Howard. Assessed the
04:22situation. One American. No wingman. They could swarm him with coordinated passes. Would Howard's
04:30ammunition hold out? Please hit the like button. It helps this history reach more viewers. Subscribe to
04:37see what happened next. Back to Howard over Germany. The Luftwaffe pilots started coordinating.
04:43Some would tie Howard up directly while others went after the bombers. Standard procedure against
04:50outnumbered escorts. Howard recognized the pattern forming. He had seconds to decide. Protect himself
04:57in a turning fight against skilled German aviators. Or stick with the bombers and take fire from multiple
05:03directions with nobody watching his six. He chose the bombers. A FW-190 came at the lead B-17 formation
05:12from 12 o'clock high. Howard cut the angle. Fired. The FW-190s wing root blew apart. The plane snapped
05:20left and disintegrated. But two more fighters were already pressing in from opposite sides.
05:27Howard's ammunition was draining faster than his fuel. He'd gone through 500 rounds in under four
05:33minutes. The arithmetic was straightforward and merciless. Thirty German fighters. One American.
05:42Twelve hundred rounds left. The German pilots understood the numbers too. They kept pressing.
05:49Howard's indicated airspeed touched 430 miles per hour in a near vertical dive. He pulled up into a
05:56climbing spiral. Three BF-109s gave chase. He reversed hard at the apex. They overshot past his
06:04nose. He rolled inverted and pulled through. Slid onto the tail of the last Messerschmitt.
06:11Fired. Another two-second burst. Another fighter finished. Then his gun camera captured something
06:19alarming. Three of his four guns had gone silent. Only one Browning was still cycling.
06:26Howard checked his gun switches. Toggled them off and back on. No change. Only his left inboard
06:34Browning was functioning. The other three had jammed. Likely from the prolonged high-G maneuvering
06:40combined with the extreme cold at 24,000 feet, where air temperature plummeted to 40 below zero.
06:46Metal shrank. Springs lost tension. Belts shifted. Typical mechanical breakdowns under these conditions.
06:55But Howard had no time to diagnose it. Six BF-109s were reorganizing for another run at the bombers.
07:03He still had one working gun. 350 rounds left in that single weapon. Maybe 90 seconds of trigger time,
07:11if he was extremely disciplined. The German fighters didn't realize his guns had failed.
07:17That was an advantage. As long as he kept flying aggressively, kept maneuvering into firing positions,
07:23the Luftwaffe pilots would have to respect the threat. They'd have to react defensively.
07:29That meant they couldn't concentrate entirely on the bombers.
07:34AFW-190 rolled into a high-side pass against the trailing B-17. Howard banked hard into the threat.
07:42Set up his shot. Held fire until 400 yards. Squeezed a one-second burst. 25 rounds. The Focke-Volfe
07:51abandoned its attack and dove away. Howard couldn't tell if he'd connected. It didn't matter.
07:58The bomber was untouched for another 30 seconds. Two more BF-109s came at the formation from opposite
08:05quarters. Textbook pincer. Howard couldn't engage both at once. He went for the nearer threat. Turned
08:13into it. The Messerschmitt pilot saw Howard closing and broke off early. The second BF-109 continued its
08:20run, but had to break hard when Howard swung toward it. Neither fighter managed a clean shot at the
08:26bombers. Howard was buying time with aggressive positioning, using his last gun carefully,
08:31making every round matter. Inside the B-17s, gunners watched through their plexiglass blisters
08:38as the lone Mustang fended off attack after attack. They could see German fighters all around them,
08:44could see the P-51 diving and climbing and weaving between the enemy planes and their formation.
08:49Some bomber crews would later say they counted 40 German fighters in the area. Others estimated 30.
08:56All of them agreed they'd never witnessed anything like it. One American fighter staying with them
09:01through sustained combat when he could have easily broken off and headed for England.
09:06Howard's fuel gauge was sinking into the yellow zone. He'd been fighting for 17 minutes. His tactical
09:13picture was deteriorating. Thirty German fighters remained in the vicinity. His ammunition showed 200
09:20rounds remaining. One gun. Fuel for maybe 13 more minutes of combat. The arithmetic hadn't gotten better.
09:29It had gotten worse. Three BF-109s arranged themselves in a tight Vic and came straight at the lead B
09:36-17.
09:37Howard dove to cut them off. He positioned perfectly. The Germans spotted him coming and broke early.
09:45Too early. Too early. They were still respecting his firepower. That meant his deception was holding.
09:52But how long could he sustain the illusion? How long before the German pilots figured out he was
09:57barely pulling the trigger? AFW-190 launched a beam attack from the right. Howard turned hard into it.
10:06Pulled seven G's. His vision narrowed to a tunnel. He put the gun sight on target. Fired. One second.
10:15The Focke-Wulf's canopy shattered. The fighter peeled off. Howard had landed a solid hit. But that burst cost him
10:23another 25 rounds. 175 left. Less than five seconds of ammunition. The Luftwaffe pilots were adapting
10:32their approach. They'd noticed Howard was alone and likely running low on ammunition given how
10:37sparingly he was shooting. Two BF-109s started shadowing him, hanging on his tail, forcing him into
10:44defensive maneuvers instead of intercepting attacks on the bombers. If they could trap him in a defensive
10:50spiral, the rest of the German fighters could tear through the B-17 formation without opposition.
10:56Howard broke hard. The trailing BF-109s overshot. He swung his nose toward the leader. Pulled the trigger.
11:05Nothing. His last gun had jammed. He was completely unarmed. Howard's finger kept squeezing the trigger.
11:11But nothing came out. His last working gun had died. The ammunition counter still read 175 rounds.
11:20But the weapon refused to cycle. The charging handle had seized up. Or the belt had kinked. Or the barrel
11:27had warped, despite the sub-zero cold. The reason didn't matter. The outcome was identical. He was
11:34piloting a fighter with zero functioning weapons over Germany, with 30 Luftwaffe planes still circling his
11:40bombers. The pair of BF-109s on his tail didn't know his armament had failed. They peeled off when
11:48Howard swung his nose in their direction. That sparked an idea. The Luftwaffe pilots had no view
11:54inside his cockpit. No way to tell his guns weren't working. All they knew was that the American Mustang
12:01had been firing with deadly precision for the last 20 minutes. They had to believe he still had rounds
12:07left. Howard could exploit that belief. He could run a bluff. AFW-190 set up for a pass on the
12:15left
12:15side B-17. Howard cranked hard toward it. Closed the distance to 300 yards. Aimed his nose straight at
12:23the German fighter. The Focke-Wolf pilot spotted Howard bearing down and abandoned his attack instantly.
12:29Dove away. Howard didn't shoot because he couldn't shoot. But the German had no way of knowing that.
12:36The threat, by itself, had done the job. Howard kept repeating it. Every time a German fighter lined
12:42up for an attack run, he turned into it. Closed hard. Pointed his nose. The Luftwaffe pilots disengaged.
12:50Some dove. Some banked away. None followed through on their attacks when they saw the Mustang charging at
12:56them. Howard was shielding 300 bomber crewmen with nothing but aggressive flying and the memory of
13:02his earlier marksmanship. But the tactic was devouring fuel at an impossible rate. Every intercept
13:09demanded a hard turn. Every hard turn demanded full throttle. Every minute of fighting ate into
13:16the fuel he needed for the three-hour trip back to England. His gauge read eight minutes of combat
13:22endurance left. After that, his choices came down to bailing out over Germany or trying to glide
13:28toward Allied lines. Neither one survivable at this range from friendly territory.
13:34The German pilots were beginning to sense something was off. Howard was aiming at them but never pulling
13:40the trigger. Three BF-109s grouped up and came at the bomber simultaneously from separate angles.
13:47Howard swung toward the nearest threat. The Messerschmitt broke off. But the other two kept
13:53coming. Howard couldn't cover both. One BF-109 reached firing distance of a B-17 called Lucky Lady.
14:02The bomber's waist gunners let loose. .50 caliber tracers streaked through the sky.
14:07The Messerschmitt's pass was sloppy. Off target. The fighter pulled away without landing hits.
14:14Howard's fuel gauge sank into the red. Six minutes of combat fuel left. The B-17 formation
14:21was still 90 miles from the German frontier. Still 170 miles from the safety of Allied fighter patrols
14:29over Belgium. The Luftwaffe had time on their side. They had fuel. They had ammunition. They could
14:36simply wait for Howard to go dry and then pick the bombers apart at will. AFW-190 came around for
14:43another
14:43pass. Howard cut it off. Pointed his nose. The German disengaged. But this time, the Focke-Wulf
14:51pilot didn't drop far. He leveled out after a thousand feet and circled back into position.
14:57He was feeling Howard out. Probing. Trying to figure out whether Howard was actually firing or just
15:04pretending. Two more BF-109s timed their approach together. Both came at the bombers from different
15:11quadrants. Howard turned on one. It peeled off. He whipped around toward the second. That pilot held his
15:20attack much longer. Significantly longer. Closed to within 300 yards of a B-17's tail before finally
15:28snapping hard left. The German was growing bolder. Howard's bluff was wearing thin. Inside the B-17
15:36cockpits, pilots were eyeing their own fuel gauges. They'd been airborne for four hours. Their range was
15:44shrinking. But they couldn't push the throttles without breaking formation. Couldn't break formation
15:50without sacrificing their collective defensive firepower. They had to hold course and speed and
15:56put their faith in the lone Mustang pilot holding the Luftwaffe back. Howard checked his position.
16:03The bomber formation was 70 miles from the German border now. 20 minutes of flight time. But his fuel
16:10gauge showed just four minutes of combat endurance remaining. The arithmetic had finally caught him.
16:16Howard made his choice. He would stay with the bombers until fuel forced him out or until German
16:22fighters brought him down. Those were the only two endings left. Turning for home while the B-17s were
16:29still under attack was something he never weighed. 300 men depended on his presence,
16:34even if his guns were useless. Even if his tanks were almost dry.
16:40The psychological weight of a fighter escort was still keeping some German pilots hesitant.
16:45That counted for something. A BF-109 plunged from above. Howard turned into it hard,
16:51yanked the Mustang's nose up at a 70-degree angle. The Messerschmitt pilot saw Howard rising toward him
16:57and rolled off without firing. Another intercept. Another German fighter turned away.
17:03But Howard's speed bled off to a dangerous low in the climb. His indicated airspeed fell below 200 miles
17:10per hour. The Mustang buffeted, nearly stalled. He shoved the nose down to rebuild speed. That move cost him
17:19altitude and fuel he couldn't spare. The Luftwaffe pilots were clearly probing now, measuring Howard's
17:26reactions. A FW-190 faked a run at the bombers from the right. Howard turned toward it. The Fock Wolf
17:34broke
17:34away at once. But while Howard was banking right, two BF-109s struck from the left. They were working
17:41together, using feints, dividing Howard's attention. He snapped hard left. The two Messerschmitts broke off,
17:50but they'd gotten closer than any time before. Much closer. One had closed to within 200 yards of a B
17:58-17's
17:59tail. Howard's fuel gauge read three minutes. His tactical position was hopeless. Thirty German
18:06fighters still prowling the area. No ammunition. Nearly no fuel. Seventy miles from the German border.
18:14But the B-17 crews were watching him. Counting on him. He kept going. Two FW-190s rushed the formation
18:24at
18:24once. Howard turned toward the lead fighter. Pointed his nose straight at it. The German held his line
18:31longer this time. Testing. Howard held his line too. Neither fired. Neither flinched. They closed to under
18:42300 yards before both fighters broke away at the same instant. The Fock Wolf pilot had challenged
18:48Howard's bluff, but still hadn't fully committed to the attack. Still wasn't sure the American Mustang
18:54had truly run dry. A BF-109 came up from below. Classic belly approach where bomber gunners had
19:02restricted firing angles. Howard rolled inverted and pulled through. Dove at the Messerschmitt. The
19:09German broke hard right and dropped away. Howard climbed back to the bomber's altitude. That defensive
19:15move had burned precious fuel. His gauge showed two minutes of combat endurance. Possibly less.
19:21The bomber formation passed over a small German town. Howard could make out the ground below in sharp
19:27detail. Snow-blanketed fields. Dark stands of forest. Roads. Rail lines. All hostile territory.
19:35If his fuel gave out now, he'd have to jump. Become a prisoner of war. Spend the remainder of the
19:42conflict behind wire in a German Stalag. Assuming German civilians on the ground didn't reach him
19:48first. Downed Allied fliers weren't always treated gently by people whose towns had been bombed.
19:54Three BF-109s set up a coordinated strike. One high. One level. One low. All hitting the same B-17
20:03from
20:04different vectors. Howard couldn't stop all three. He picked the high threat. Turned hard into it.
20:11The Messerschmitt pulled away. But the other two kept pressing. The level attacker closed to within 150
20:19yards of a B-17 called Texas Rose before veering off. The low attacker got even tighter. Opened fire.
20:28Tracers laced the sky. Most went wide. But not all of them.
20:34Howard watched rounds punch along the B-17's right wing. The bomber held formation. Didn't drop out.
20:41Didn't ignite. But it had taken hits. The Luftwaffe pilots had scored. They demonstrated they could
20:50hurt the bombers even with Howard present. That would give them confidence. Make them pushier.
20:57Howard's bluff was collapsing. His fuel gauge dipped below two minutes. The bomber formation was
21:04still 60 miles from the German border. Still 15 minutes of flying time. Howard's fuel would be
21:10gone long before they reached safe airspace. The Luftwaffe pilots knew it too. They started
21:17arranging themselves for another concentrated assault. Six German fighters arranged themselves
21:22into two Vicks of three planes each. Textbook assault formation. They would hit the bombers from both
21:29sides at once. Force Howard to pick which threat to engage. Whichever side he left undefended would
21:36get clean shots at the B-17's. Howard watched them setting up. Worked through the geometry.
21:43Understood he couldn't block both groups. But he could try to throw off their timing.
21:49He swung toward the first Vic of B-F-109's. Pushed toward them hard. The German formation stayed on
21:57course. They weren't flinching this time. They'd committed. Howard kept his nose locked on the lead
22:05Messerschmitt. Closed to 400 yards. 300. 250. The Germans still held. Howard's finger pressed against his
22:16dead trigger. At 200 yards, the German formation finally broke apart. Scattered. The coordinated attack
22:25collapsed. But the second Vic was already plunging at the bombers from the other side. Howard reversed
22:32hard. 7G turn. His vision washed gray at the edges. Blood left his head. He powered through it. Got his
22:42nose aimed at the second formation. But he was too far back. Too slow to cut them off. Three FW
22:50-190s
22:51dove at a B-17 from 12 o'clock high. The bomber's top turret gunner opened up. Tracers poured upward.
22:59The German fighters bored through the defensive fire. All three fired at once. 50 caliber rounds from the
23:06B-17 and 20 millimeter cannon shells from the Fock Wolfs crossed paths in the air between them.
23:12One FW-190 caught hits. Smoke billowed from its engine. The fighter rolled left and fell away.
23:21But the other two Fock Wolfs connected with the B-17. Howard watched cannon impacts stitch across the
23:29bomber's fuselage. The B-17's number three engine started trailing thick black smoke. The propeller kept
23:36turning. The bomber held its place in formation. But it had been hurt. Badly hurt. Howard's fuel gauge
23:45read 90 seconds of combat endurance. His mind ran through the options. He could stay until his engine
23:52died. Try to glide toward friendly territory. Hope to drift far enough to bail out over Belgium
23:58rather than Germany. Or he could break off now while he still had fuel for the flight home to England.
24:05Save himself. Abandon the bombers to face the Luftwaffe alone for the last 50 miles to the German frontier.
24:13He stayed. The numbers didn't matter anymore. The fuel didn't matter. Howard committed to remaining with
24:20those B-17s until his Mustang dropped out of the sky. That decision made everything simple. No more
24:28fuel calculations. No more planning his escape. He would fight until his plane stopped flying.
24:35Four BF-109s struck from below. Belly attacks where the bomber's defensive guns were least effective.
24:43Howard flipped inverted and dove at them. The Messerschmitts broke apart. Two went left.
24:49Two went right. Howard pulled through and climbed back to the bomber's level. His fuel gauge read 60 seconds.
24:58His engine was still turning on vapors and sheer stubbornness. The damaged B-17 with the smoking
25:04engine started drifting behind the formation. Bleeding airspeed. Sinking lower. Becoming an isolated
25:11target. The Luftwaffe pilots noticed immediately. Saw the crippled bomber separating from the shelter of the
25:18formation's combined defensive fire. Three FW-190s angled toward it like predators scenting weakness.
25:26Howard turned with them. Put himself between the German fighters and the wounded bomber.
25:32The Focke-Wulfs came in fast. Howard turned on the leader. The Germans stayed on course. Didn't break.
25:40Kept closing. Howard held his heading too. They were playing chicken at 400 miles per hour. Both planes rushing
25:49head on. Combined closure rate 800 miles per hour. Six seconds to impact. Five seconds.
25:59Four. At three seconds, the FW-190 snapped hard right. Dove off. Howard had won the nerve game.
26:08But the other two Focke-Wulfs exploited the distraction to hit the damaged bomber from both
26:13sides. Howard whipped around toward them. Too late. Both German fighters fired. Both connected.
26:21The B-17's number three engine erupted in flames. The crew killed it. Feathered the prop. The bomber
26:29fell further behind the formation. Howard placed himself between the stricken aircraft and the
26:34orbiting Luftwaffe fighters. His fuel gauge read 30 seconds. His engine could stop at any moment.
26:41Howard's engine stuttered. Missed a beat. His fuel pressure gauge wavered.
26:47The Packard Merlin V1650 was drawing fumes from nearly dry tanks. He had seconds before the engine
26:54died completely. The damaged B-17 was two miles behind the main formation now, losing altitude steadily.
27:02Three engines couldn't hold level flight at this weight and altitude. The bomber crew was shedding
27:08weight. Howard could see objects tumbling from the bomb bay. Ammo crates. Gear. Anything heavy that
27:15wasn't critical. They were clawing for altitude. Fighting to stay in the air long enough to make
27:22it to friendly ground. Five BF-109s circled the crippled bomber like wolves closing on wounded prey.
27:30They sensed the kill. A B-17 cut off from formation cover. One engine gone. Losing altitude. Slow. Exposed.
27:41Easy meat. The Messerschmitts arranged themselves for a coordinated strike.
27:47Howard turned to intercept. His engine stuttered again. Ran clean for three seconds. Stuttered twice
27:54more. The fuel was finished. He was running on whatever remained in the lines and the carburetor.
28:01The first BF-109 dove at the damaged bomber. Howard turned hard into the pass. Aimed his nose at the
28:09Messerschmitt. The German pilot broke off. One more intercept. Howard's engine ran rough.
28:18Misfired. Caught. Kept going. A second BF-109 attacked from the far side. Howard reversed.
28:26His Mustang's roll rate saved him again. He brought his nose around fast enough to threaten the attacker.
28:33The German pulled away. But three more Messerschmitts were moving into position.
28:40They'd realize Howard's engine was failing. Could hear it running ragged from half a mile off.
28:46Could see his airspeed falling as his power faded. They knew his fighting capability was done.
28:53They pressed their runs more aggressively. Held their attack headings longer before peeling off.
28:59Gauging how much resistance Howard had left. Howard's altimeter told him he was sinking too.
29:06His rough running engine wasn't generating enough thrust to hold altitude.
29:10He was descending gradually. 200 feet per minute. If his engine quit outright, he'd be in a pure glide.
29:18Four minutes at most before he'd have to jump or put it down in enemy territory.
29:24The main B-17 formation was five miles ahead now. Still pointed at the German border.
29:31Still 45 miles from safety. The damaged bomber trailing Howard was losing altitude faster.
29:38Down to 21,000 feet. The crew had thrown out everything they could.
29:43The plane was as light as it would get. But three engines weren't enough. They needed a miracle.
29:51Or they needed a fighter escort. Howard was trying to be that escort. But his Mustang was dying under him.
29:59Two BF 109s attacked together from opposite beam angles. Classic pincer.
30:05Howard turned toward one. His engine quit cold. Total silence, except for the rush of wind.
30:13The Messerschmitt pilot saw Howard's propeller wind down. Saw the engine was finished.
30:19The German pushed his attack. Closed to 300 yards. 200. Lined up his shot on the B-17.
30:28Howard's Mustang was a glider now. No power. No thrust. Only momentum and altitude.
30:36He dropped the nose to hold airspeed. Turned toward the attacking BF 109.
30:42Pointed his dead plane at the German fighter. The Messerschmitt pilot wavered. Broke away.
30:49Even with a dead engine, Howard was still threatening. Still positioning aggressively.
30:55The bluff worked, even from a powerless glider. But Howard's altitude was draining fast.
31:02He'd passed through 20,000 feet. 19,000. 18,000. His airspeed was fading too. Without power,
31:11he couldn't hold combat speeds. Couldn't pull as hard. Couldn't cut off attacks as effectively.
31:15The Luftwaffe pilots read his vulnerability. Four BF 109s grouped up for one last mass run at the
31:23damaged bomber. Howard turned toward them. His Mustang was barely answering the controls now. Low airspeed,
31:30low altitude, no power. He was gliding into a fight against four German fighters who knew he was
31:38finished. The arithmetic had finally won. Thirty minutes of combat. Zero rounds. Zero fuel. One
31:48dead stick Mustang against four fully loaded enemy fighters. Then Howard spotted something on the
31:55western horizon. Small dots. Aircraft. Closing fast. The dots sharpened into P-47 Thunderbolts. Eight of
32:04them. Freshly launched from forward bases in Belgium. They'd been scrambled to provide relief escort for the
32:10homebound bomber formations. The Thunderbolts were still gaining altitude. Still five minutes out. But
32:17their arrival changed the entire equation. The Luftwaffe pilots spotted them too. Saw eight fresh American
32:24fighters loaded with full ammunition and fuel bearing down on them. The arithmetic had flipped.
32:32The four BF 109s lining up to hit the damaged bomber pulled off. Turned east. Made for their bases inside
32:40Germany. The rest of the Luftwaffe fighters spread across the sky did the same. Within 90 seconds,
32:47every German fighter had vanished. Melted into the clouds and haze. The 30-minute fight was finished.
32:55Howard's B-17s were going to make it. But Howard wasn't out of danger. His Mustang was gliding through
33:0217,000 feet with a dead engine. He was losing 800 feet per minute. His airspeed read 190 miles per
33:11hour and
33:12falling. He needed to get his engine turning again or find somewhere to set down. German territory stretched
33:19beneath him for another 40 miles. Past that lay Belgium. Then Allied lines. Then England.
33:27Howard rechecked his fuel gauges. Both tanks read empty. Bone dry.
33:33But aircraft fuel systems held residual fuel in the lines. In the carburetor. Sometimes enough to kick
33:39an engine back to life for a few seconds. Maybe a full minute if luck was on your side.
33:45Howard grabbed his fuel selector. Switched from mains to reserve. Cranked his fuel boost pump to emergency
33:52high. Engaged the starter. The propeller turned over. Once. Twice. The engine fired. Caught. Ran
34:02rough for three seconds. Then died again. Not enough fuel. Howard tried a second time. Toggled tanks.
34:10Worked the throttle. Hit the starter. The engine caught again. Held for five seconds this time.
34:17Sputtered. Went silent. But those five seconds of thrust had stopped his descent.
34:24Gained him altitude. Opened up possibilities. The lead P-47 pilot raised Howard on the radio.
34:32Asked his condition. Howard keyed his mic. Reported his fuel status. Told him he was trying to glide to
34:39friendly ground. The Thunderbolt leader copied. Arranged his flight to escort Howard westward.
34:47Two P-47s stayed with the crippled B-17. The remaining six formed up around Howard's silent
34:53Mustang. Howard sank through 15,000 feet. 12,000. 10,000. Below him he could make out the Belgian border.
35:04Rivers. Roads. Small villages. He was gliding at roughly 10 feet forward for every foot of altitude he shed.
35:12From 10,000 feet that gave him about 19 miles of range. The Belgian border was 22 miles ahead.
35:21He wasn't going to reach it. He'd come down in Germany. Unless he could squeeze more life out of
35:28his dying engine. He tried once more. Fuel selector to the auxiliary tank. Boost pump on high.
35:36Mixture full rich. Throttle cracked open a hair.
35:42Starter engaged. The engine turned over. Caught. Fired.
35:50Ran rough but kept going. 30 seconds. 40 seconds. A full minute. The engine was finding fuel from
36:00somewhere. Maybe condensation pooled in the tanks. Maybe residual vapor. Whatever was feeding it,
36:07Howard had power. Weak power. Unreliable power. But enough to flatten his descent. He leveled at 8,000
36:16feet. His engine coughed. Smoothed out. Coughed again. Stayed alive. The Belgian border slid beneath his
36:26wings. He was over friendly ground now. Allied airfields dotted the Belgian countryside. He could make one.
36:34Probably. If his engine held together for another 10 minutes. The damaged B-17 was coming down too.
36:42The crew had killed a second engine. Number four had been running hot. Running rough. They'd shut it
36:49down before it caught fire. The bomber was flying on two engines now. Unable to hold altitude. Descending
36:57steadily toward Belgium. The crew would have to put it down hard. Or jump. They weren't making it back
37:04to England. Howard's engine died again. This time it refused to restart. He was gliding through 7,000 feet
37:12over Belgium. Friendly territory. No threat from German fighters. But still 40 miles from the closest
37:19proper airfield. He needed altitude he didn't have. Or he'd end up in some Belgian farmer's pasture.
37:26His instruments showed his glide performance worsening. Airspeed bleeding off. Sink rate climbing.
37:33Below him he spotted an allied airstrip. Small. Likely a forward fighter field. One runway. Emergency
37:41use. It was 15 miles ahead. He was at 6,000 feet. The numbers were tight. Extremely tight.
37:50Howard descended through 5,000 feet. The airfield was 12 miles out now. His glide path met the runway
37:58approach at roughly 1,000 feet of altitude. He'd get one shot. No engine meant no go around. No second
38:06pass. He'd either touch down on the first attempt or crash before reaching the runway.
38:11The math left no room. He trimmed the Mustang for optimal glide speed. 175 miles per hour. Dropped his
38:21landing gear at 3,000 feet. The gear doors swung open. The wheels came down. Locked into place.
38:29The extra drag steepened his descent. He adjusted by nudging the nose down slightly. Held his glide speed.
38:384,000 feet. 3,000. 2,000. The runway lay dead ahead. 3 miles. 2 miles.
38:51At 1,000 feet, Howard cleared the airfield perimeter. His altitude was right. His approach angle was solid.
38:59He crossed the runway threshold at 70 feet. 50. 30. Flared. The mains kissed the pavement first.
39:10Then the tailwheel. The Mustang tracked straight down the centerline. Decelerated. Stopped.
39:18Howard had put it down safely at a forward Belgian fighter base designated A-70 near Antwerp.
39:26Ground crews reached his plane within seconds. Found his fuel tanks completely dry. Found three of his
39:33four guns seized solid. Found his ammunition counter still showing 175 rounds in his one working gun.
39:42The gun that had stopped cycling. Howard stepped out.
39:46Reported to the base operations officer. Told him he'd been escorting B-17s over Ossesleben.
39:53Told him he'd engaged enemy fighters. The operations officer arranged refueling and
39:58transport back to RAF Boxted in England. The bomber crews trickled back to their bases through the
40:04afternoon. Every B-17 from the 400 first bomb group made it home. The damaged aircraft running on two
40:12engines crash landed at an emergency strip in Belgium. The crew walked away. Zero fatalities.
40:20At the mission debrief, 16 B-17 pilots testified to witnessing the lone Mustang pilot shielding their
40:27formations for over 30 minutes against overwhelming numbers. Some crews claimed he'd destroyed six
40:34German fighters. Others put the count at four. The bomber group commander Colonel Harold Bowman submitted
40:42an immediate recommendation for the Medal of Honor. The story found its way to Stars and Stripes reporter
40:48Andy Rooney inside 24 hours. Rooney talked to Howard. Talked to the bomber crews. Called it the greatest
40:54fighter pilot story of the entire war. The piece went worldwide. Major James Howard became famous overnight.
41:03The Saturday Evening Post published a feature called One Man Air Force. Popular Science ran
41:09Fighting at 400 miles per hour. True Magazine dubbed him the Mustang Whip. Official tallies credited Howard with
41:18three confirmed kills on January 11th. Two BF-110s and one FW-190. Probable kills on two more. Damaged aircraft
41:30went
41:31uncounted. But the numbers missed the larger truth. Howard had protected 300 bomber crewmen for 30 minutes with no
41:40ammunition. No fuel. Against 30 German fighters. The bomber crews understood what that meant. They
41:49understood they'd seen something beyond the ordinary. On June 5th, 1944, Lieutenant General Carl Spatz pinned
41:58the Medal of Honor on Major James Howard at a ceremony in England. Howard was the sole fighter pilot in
42:04the
42:04European theater to earn the decoration during World War II. His citation recognized conspicuous gallantry above and
42:12beyond the call of duty. Single-handed engagement of more than 30 enemy aircraft. Continued fighting after his ammunition was
42:20spent. Defended the bomber formation until relief forces arrived. Howard flew combat missions through November 1944. He was
42:31promoted to lieutenant colonel, then colonel. After the war, he advanced to brigadier general in the Air Force
42:37Reserve. He led bomb wings, managed airports, built businesses, published his autobiography, Roar of the Tiger, in 1991.
42:48He passed away on March 18, 1995, at the age of 81. He was laid to rest at Arlington National
42:56Cemetery.
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43:36Thank you for watching. James Howard and the 300 bomber crewmen he protected over Germany
43:42deserve to be remembered. You're helping make that happen.
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