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  • NARRATOR: October 12, 1944.

  • A squadron of red-tailed P-51 Mustangs

  • of the 332nd Fighter Group soar over Lake

  • Balaton in southern Hungary.

  • After completing an escort mission,

  • they are returning to base in Italy.

  • Among them is Captain Wendell Pruitt and his wingman

  • Lieutenant Lee Archer, the Gruesome

  • Twosome, as they are known.

  • As they reach the southern tip of the lake,

  • tiny specks appear on the horizon,

  • a swarm of German ME-109s.

  • LEE ARCHER: There were more German airplane in the air

  • than I've ever seen before.

  • We kind of made a little side decision.

  • Well, this might be it.

  • NARRATOR: Pruitt, Archer, and the rest of the Red Tails

  • don't flinch.

  • LEE ARCHER: We didn't run or anything like that.

  • We said, OK, they're up here.

  • There's as many of them as it is of us.

  • We'll take them on.

  • NARRATOR: Throttles firewall.

  • Machine guns arm.

  • The Tuskegee Airmen rip through the German formation.

  • [guns firing]

  • The skies above Lake Balaton explode

  • with the roar of piston engines and the staccato burst

  • of machine guns and cannon.

  • With the battle raging all around them,

  • Pruitt and Archer select a target.

  • They'll make a head-on pass with a German 109

  • just off their nose.

  • The Gruesome Twosome streak past the enemy.

  • Archer drops in trail of Pruitt as they roll left in pursuit.

  • He pulled ahead, and I pulled right behind them

  • to try to stay on him.

  • He was a heck of a pilot, and just saying there sometimes

  • was a full-time job.

  • NARRATOR: Pruitt's tight turn takes the German by surprise.

  • The P-51's four 0.50 cals open up.

  • The pilot leaps from the smoking plane.

  • But just as they pull away from their first victory,

  • another 109 roars in from 3 o'clock high.

  • He pulled in to take a side shot at Pruitt,

  • and Pruitt slowed down.

  • I guess he chopped throttle or something.

  • I know I did.

  • NARRATOR: Pruitt's quick reaction

  • saves him from certain death.

  • Reducing his speed causes the 109 to overshoot to the side.

  • With careful maneuvering, he can flush

  • the 109 out in front of him.

  • Archer lets his lead do the work.

  • Pruitt manages to force the 109 out.

  • But suddenly, another German bursts into the fight.

  • And the other one came in to get on Pruitt's tail,

  • not realizing that my only job at that time

  • was to protect to Pruitt's tail.

  • So there's the enemy 109.

  • There's Pruitt shooting at him.

  • There's the enemy 109 shooting at Pruitt,

  • and there's me shooting at him.

  • NARRATOR: Archer expertly leads his mark and fires.

  • The 109 tumbles, smoke belching from the wounded plane.

  • Seconds later, Pruitt fires a long burst into his 109.

  • [guns firing]

  • Another victory for the Gruesome Twosome,

  • but they're not done yet.

  • They dive back into the fur ball.

  • He made a screaming turn back to where all the other aircraft

  • was, and I really wasn't sure that

  • was a great idea at the time.

  • NARRATOR: Pruitt instantly spots a target amidst the chaos.

  • Another 109 is positioned just off his nose.

  • We got into the other airplanes.

  • Another one picked him up, and he made a head-on pass on him

  • with me peppering behind him.

  • NARRATOR: Pruitt and Archer roar past the German, guns blazing.

  • Archer follows Pruitt through another crushing left turn.

  • I guess I was lagging a little bit.

  • Another one came right in behind him.

  • They were suckers.

  • They didn't see the second airplane a thousand yards

  • behind, armed to the teeth.

  • NARRATOR: Again, Archer's 0.50 cal spark to life.

  • [guns firing]

  • Archer speeds past the wreckage.

  • He's now one victory away from making ace, with plenty

  • of targets to choose from.

  • LEE ARCHER: At that time, there was so many airplanes

  • in the air that I say somehow I lost Wendell O. Pruitt,

  • but it's not true.

  • I saw an aircraft that I could take on who was coming my way.

  • NARRATOR: Archer is here.

  • The 109 is here.

  • Archer can easily initiate a head-on pass

  • by banking to the right.

  • In an instant, the adversaries merge.

  • They break into each other and begin circling.

  • Whoever pulls tighter will win the contest.

  • The 109 inches closer to firing position.

  • The German's heavy cannon is poised

  • to unleash lethal retribution on Lee Archer.

  • The American has seconds to react.

  • He spots a second 109.

  • I look out to the right, and I see this guy

  • all by himself, a pigeon, and he was flying straight and level.

  • NARRATOR: Archer breaks instinctively.

  • Since then, a lot of people say, well,

  • when you turned on this second aircraft, what

  • about the guy behind you?

  • I forgot all about him, and I think that's how

  • I got my left wing hit.

  • And it must have been a cannon shot

  • because it had a hole in the wing huge under the bottom.

  • NARRATOR: Archer latches onto his target.

  • The German counters by pitching over into a steep dive.

  • He's headed for the safety of an airbase,

  • but the maneuver fails.

  • The determined Mustang pilot will not

  • be denied his fifth victory.

  • Lee Archer opens the throttle and pulls away.

  • He's bested the German, but he's broken formation

  • with his flight lead Wendel Pruitt,

  • strictly forbidden for a wing man.

  • I guess the only thing on my mind,

  • how do I explain to Pruitt how this happened, you know?

  • NARRATOR: Now alone and low on ammo, he heads back to base.

  • Archer's three victories on October 12

  • bring his war total to five.

  • It is an historic achievement made

  • by a skilled and aggressive fighter pilot.

  • The Tuskegee Airmen now have an ace.

NARRATOR: October 12, 1944.

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第二次世界大戦初代タスキギーのエース|ドッグファイト|歴史 (The First Tuskegee Ace of WWII | Dogfights | History)

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    林宜悉 に公開 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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