6. The Ace Who Went Out on a Mission in an American Fighter, and Returned in a German One
WWII has no shortage of feats of heroism, derring-do, and intrepidity. However, few feats of heroic derring-do in that or any other conflict could match the intrepid escape of US Army Air Forces Second Lieutenant Bruce Ward Carr (1924 – 1998) from the Nazis’ clutches. An ace, Carr holds the distinction of being the only USAAF to leave on a combat mission in an American plane, and return to base in a German one. It happened in November, 1944, when Carr flew a strafing mission in P-51 fighter, but was shot down over enemy territory. He evaded capture, then stole an Fw 190 fighter from a German airfield and flew it back home.
Bruce Carr learned to fly in 1939, when he was only fifteen-years-old. In 1942, at age eighteen, he joined the USAAF’s Flying Cadet Training Program. He had the good fortune to get assigned to the same flight instructor who had taught him how to fly in 1939. Carr’s prior experience in the cockpit got him sent to Spence Airfield in Georgia, for an accelerated pilot training program in P-40 Warhawk fighters. After 240 hours in the air, he graduated as a flight officer in late August, 1943, and was sent for more specialized training.