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THE
AIR ACE
Lance C. Wadeby
Bob Bowman
Sometimes
called World War II’s greatest flying ace, Lance C. Wade was credited with 23
or 25 air victories, ... making him the leading American fighter ace to serve
in any foreign air force. | |
Sixty
years ago this year, an East Texan perished in a small plane crash in Algiers,
bringing an end to one of the most memorable stories of World
War II.
Born in Broaddus in San Augustine County and reared at Reklaw in Nacogdoches County,
Lance C. Wade spent most of the war flying for the Royal Air Force of Britain.
He learned to fly at the age of 17 in Arizona and, hoping to follow in
the footsteps of his father who had flown with the Lafayette Escadrille in World
War I, Wade traveled to Canada with a close friend, Sidney Muhart, and went
to England in 1941, where they joined the RAF when the war broke out.
Sometimes called World
War II’s
greatest flying ace, Wade was credited with 23 or 25 air victories, depending
on how they were tallied, by the time he was 27, making him the leading American
fighter ace to serve in any foreign air force.
Wade made his first strikes
against British enemies in the early 1940s, and when America entered the war he
was given an opportunity to join the American Air Force with a higher rank and
more pay.
“Thanks,” he said, “but I’d rather string along with the guys
I’ve been with so long.”
Wade, whose East Texas drawl set him apart from
his fellow British pilots, was decorated with the British Distinguished Flying
Cross and was honored twice by the King of England.
He fought with the
RAF throughout the Middle East campaign, becoming a wing commander (the equivalent
of lieutenant colonel in the U.S.) and served in Tunisia, Egypt, Sicily, Italy
and North Africa.
He was shot down twice and once rescued after a 27-mile
hike across the desert.
And in November, before his death, Wade and a
fellow pilot were patrolling forward positions for the Eighth Army when they found
themselves surrounded by twenty German fighters. Wade damaged three and his fellow
pilot destroyed one.
When Wade found himself being chased by seven planes,
he dropped into a valley and used his skills to slip away from his pursuers, but
not before damaging several German planes.
Wade also saw his fellow American,
Sidney Muhart, fatally burned to death when he was attacked behind enemy lines.
Wade’s own death came also behind ememy lines when a small communications plane
he was flying went into an unexplained spin and plunged to earth. Wade had only
recently retired from combat and his non-combat death was one of the sad ironies
of World
War II.
Wade was buried with full military honors in the British war cemetery in Italy
and, at home in the forestlands of East
Texas, he was remembered and missed. | |
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