When a German Ace Taunted a P-47C

It is June 26, 1943. Three squadrons of P-47C Thunderbolts fly through the skies of occupied France. They are on their way to rendezvous with a formation of B-17s returning from a bombing raid in enemy territory. Toward the rear of the formation is Second Lieutenant Robert S. Johnson. As is his wont, he keeps a watchful eye on the skies around him as they venture further into enemy territory, almost waiting for the bandits to show their faces. He looks over his right shoulder and fears the reality of him; 16 Focke-Wulf 190s descend from above and head towards them. Johnson grabs the radio from him and yells "Bandits at 5 o'clock!" but, to his horror, there is no response and the planes around him do not react at all. “Bandits at 5 o'clock!!” he yells again with the same result.

He panics, he tries to adjust the radio but it's too late. A bullet passes through his plexiglass booth from above, barely missing him and piercing the floor. Suddenly, a shower of lead runs through his machine. The projectiles impact his body and the small caliber bullets pass through his hood and engine, pierce the oxygen tube and a hydraulic line, in addition to sending shrapnel into his thigh. He tries to maneuver, but the punctured hydraulic line sprays fluid at him, blinding him. Meanwhile, hot oil leaves the engine and enters the cabin through bullet holes in the canopy, where it mixes with pure oxygen coming out of its tube and ignites.

A flash of fire ignites inside the cabin for a split second, burning him and causing him to completely lose control. His plane enters a death spiral and falls toward the French countryside far below. Johnson struggles with the machine, his eyes burning from the hydraulic fluid, pulls hard on the stick and struggles with the rudder, miraculously stopping the spin and bringing the machine into level flight even as his plane appears to be shaking to pieces. around him. He is bleeding, burned and without oxygen. He wipes the liquid from his eyes and tries to get out of it, but, to his horror, the hood gets stuck.

He is now on the verge of panic: one of the plexiglass panels has burst. He quickly attempts to jump through the opening, but gets stuck and his parachute fails to clear. He struggles with the parachute, trying to get over it as the wind whips him, but quickly realizes that he won't make it out and is forced to return inside. Johnson takes a deep breath. The plane's drop in altitude has brought him to safer oxygen levels and the mental fog clouding his judgment slowly evaporates. He notices that, despite all the damage, the plane flies quite well, he hits the accelerator and the shaking disappears on its own.

Maybe, just maybe, he can bring the machine to Britain. On the way home, he looks up and sees the desperate dog fight taking place far above. He watches with great sorrow, praying for the safety of his companions; There is nothing he can do now to help. But then, as he looks at the swarm of dots, he sees a yellow-nosed Focke-Wulf 190 coming straight at him. A feeling of dread washes over Johnson, he can almost see the enemy fighter in slow motion as he lines up his shot and opens fire. Fire from a 20mm cannon hits the wounded Thunderbolt for the second time that day.

Desperate, Johnson turns off the throttle and repeatedly pushes the rudder left and right, losing speed as fast as he can. The German pilot overdoes it and Johnson sees an opportunity to counterattack. He tries to aim a blast at the speeding 190, but the oil-covered canopy ruins the attempt. But then the German pilot stops his assault, instead of turning around for another attack, the 190th raises its wing and flies in tight formation. The two pilots look into each other's eyes and the German gives Johnson a military salute. Johnson is stunned and returns his own shaky salute. The 190 drives away, leaving the American to his fate.

Johnson breathes, thinking that he had just saved himself. He watches the German machine drive away, deeply grateful. But then he realizes something is wrong. The 190 does not return to where it came from, but instead continues its turn toward the tail of the P-47. Chills run down Johnson's spine. He will not be forgiven. He drops the seat and hides behind the armor of the Thunderbolt's rear cockpit as the 190th cruelly opens fire. The lame P-47 is once again full of lead. Fortunately, the 190th was out of 20mm ammo, but it still rips through the P-47 with its machine guns, dumping hundreds of 7.92mm rounds into its body and hitting almost everything under the fuselage.

The 190th departs again alongside the P-47 and Johnson watches as the German pilot salutes him once more. Johnson is not amused and curses the pilot who dares to shoot at a destroyed plane and mock his helpless operator. But, of course, his words are not heard and the 190 once again returns for another race. He hides once again while the 190th fills the P-47 with their machine guns, this time using the rudder to fire the Thunderbolt from end to end, trying to destroy absolutely everything. Johnson is preparing for the worst, simply waiting for a bullet to deliver the killing blow as he hears shot after shot piercing the metal body of his plane and impacting the armor behind his back.

And he suddenly stops. He opens his eyes, keeps flying. In shock, he looks to the right and sees the German pilot flying next to him again. They stare at each other for an eternal moment. The German rocks his plane from side to side and flies away, out of ammunition. Johnson keeps his eyes on 190 the entire way, part of him hopes it will come back to finish him off, but this time it's gone for good and 190 disappears into the distance. He slumps in his seat wondering how the hell he's still alive. Arriving at Manston Air Base a few minutes later.

He fears that the landing gear has not survived the attack, but, to his surprise, it successfully deploys and locks into place, and the tires even remain inflated. Johnson makes a perfect landing and is met on the ground by a medical team. They help him out through the broken window and immediately take him to the hospital. He had suffered burns all over his body, eyes swollen from the oil and hydraulic fluid covering his face, shrapnel wounds to his hands and thigh, and a piece of his nose had been cut off by a bullet. However, he would make a full recovery and return to the skies just 5 days later.

During his recovery she had the opportunity to see his destroyed plane, she stood next to his tail and began counting the bullet holes. He gave up after reaching 200 without taking a single step. The pilot who attacked Johnson is rumored to have been German ace Egon Mayer; he would die in combat in March of the following year. Johnson became an excellent pilot, scoring 27 confirmed victories in his trusty Thunderbolt, making him the second-best American ace in the European theater. He would earn the Purple Heart for the incident, but would also earn the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross and many more decorations nine times throughout his service.

Robert Samuel Johnson would pass away at the age of 78 in Tulsa, Oklahoma on December 27, 1998. If he hasn't already, subscribe to the channel and watch more of our videos. Thank you!