Harry Stewart, Tuskegee Airmen
By Sir Ernie Hamilton Boyette
Aviation Art Store
Harry Stewart
Harry Stewart was assigned with the 301st
Fighter Squadron. During a mission on April 1, 1945, the 301st was
escorting B-24’s from the 47th Bombing Wing. Their mission was to
the railroad marshalling yards at
During this, the winding down of the war, the Tuskegee Airmen were granted privileges of being able to pursue enemy aircraft. After the Red Tails escorted the bombers through the target area they were able to break away and search for targets of opportunity. The 301st was led that day by Lt. Harder. After the bombing run Lt. Harder took his flight west on a fighter sweep. They soon spotted four Focke Wulfs below them and they winged over in pursuit.
This was however a Luftwaffe ploy with other fighters above observing the American fighters giving chase towards the decoys. There were in fact two additional levels of enemy aircraft cover watching with the second layer of two more Focke Wulfs with an addition ten above them consisting of a mix of Fw-109’s and Bf-109’S.
The decoy Fw-109’s were near their
airfield at
The ensuing aerial battle was in favor of the Luftwaffe but the out come was challenged and turned in favor of the 301st. Harry Stewart was the most successful claiming three Focke Wulfs, with Charles White claiming two, and single victories going to Carl Cary, John Edwards, Walter Manning, Harold Morris and James Fischer. Though they did not get away without loss themselves.
James Fischer was hit while chasing his victim across the enemy airfield by the aerodrome’s anti-aircraft batteries. As Fischer was trying to nurse his Mustang back to his base he was hit again by enemy anti-aircraft fire as he flew over a small Yugoslavian town forcing him to bail out where he was greeted by local partisans or freedom fighters ensuing a safe return. However after his second victory, Charles White was shot down and killed. Flight Officer William Armstrong was also shot down and killed in the dogfight.
Ten losses for the Luftwaffe, compared to the loss of three Mustangs resulting in the return of one pilot and the deaths of two was an excellent exchange. The pilots of the 301st proved their valor gloriously and bravely. Stewart earned a Distinguished Flying Cross for the victories over the three Focke Wulf’s he downed. Stewart flew 43 combat missions during WWII.
Stewart remained in the Army Air Corp after the war and through the transition to the Air Force. On March 28, 1948 while flying a training mission in a P-47, engine failure forced Stewart into bailing out. During the bailout Stewart struck the tail of his fighter with his leg breaking it in two places.
Mr. Stewart also was one of the fighter pilots that took part in the first official United States Air Force Continual Fighter Gunnery Meet since the U.S. Air Force became a separate armed service after it separated from the Army Air Corp. From May 2 through May 12th, 1949 teams from all Air Force fighter units competed in gunnery and skip-bombing competitions. Jet fighters were now being introduced into many of the fighter units so about half the teams represented fighter jet units and the other half representing piston engine fighters. The group that Stewart served with, the 332nd, was flying the P-47N which at the time was rated as the fastest piston engine fighter in the U.S. inventories. The team was to be three pilots and one alternate pilot from each fighter squadron. The team that Stewart was with was led by Alva Temple. The other member was James Harvey with the alternate as Halbert Alexander.
The airbase the competition was held at was then named the Las Vegas Air Force base which is now named Nellis Air Force Base. Temple, Stewart, Harvey and Alexander represented their fighter group, the 332nd. There was a total of six official categories which was air-to-air gunnery, rocket firing, skip-bombing, dive-bombing, and strafing. Each team was scored according to their performance which would then be calibrated for a final score for the event. The air-to-air gunnery was at two different altitudes, one at 10,000 feet and the other at 20,000 feet.
I will be detailing the details of the 332nd competition results. The skip-bombing by the group was to be six passes on the target. The 332nd scored perfectly with the three pilots hitting the target perfectly each time making a perfect score in this competition. As to the rocket-firing competition, Alva Temple hit the target with eight out of eight of his missiles. Harry Stewart and James Harvey both scored seven out of eight. I do not have the scores of the other four activities but the ending results was that the 332nd were the winners in the conventional piston-engine aircraft category. It would appear that Col. Davis was convinced that the 332nd was far advanced than their contemporaries in the other units. Davis told his men that they would "out shine the rest" and they did in deed prove themselves as America's finest.
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December 1, 2008