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Spitfires of No. 249 Squadron RAF at readiness at Ta Kali, Malta, 1942 File 040Article Malta · 1942 Screwball: The Falcon of Malta Rejected by the Royal Canadian Air Force for lack of schooling, George “Buzz” Beurling crossed the Atlantic on a convoy to join the RAF. Over besieged Malta in the summer of 1942 he became the deadliest Allied fighter pilot of the campaign. He could not fit into the war’s end, or the peace. Two Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats of Fighting Squadron 3 in flight off Oahu, 10 April 1942 File 035Article Off Bougainville; the Gilbert Islands · 1942–1943 Four Minutes over the Lexington On 20 February 1942 Lieutenant Butch O’Hare flew alone into a formation of nine Japanese bombers heading for his carrier, USS Lexington, and broke up the attack. He became the Navy’s first Medal of Honor aviator of the war. His father had been murdered for helping to convict Al Capone. Chicago’s airport bears his name. Major Richard I. “Dick” Bong, portrait File 033Article New Guinea and the Philippines · 1942–1945 America’s Ace of Aces A Wisconsin farm boy who once looped the Golden Gate Bridge became the highest-scoring American fighter pilot in history: forty Japanese aircraft, all in a P-38 Lightning. Sent home to safety, he died testing a jet fighter on 6 August 1945, the day the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima. Official portrait of Lieutenant Colonel Gregory “Pappy” Boyington File 025Article Solomon Islands and Rabaul · 1941–1945 The Black Sheep Who Came Back Gregory “Pappy” Boyington brawled, drank and argued his way through the peacetime Marine Corps and the Flying Tigers. In the Solomons he led a squadron of misfits to fame, equalled the American record, and vanished over Rabaul. He was given the Medal of Honor as a dead man. Twenty months later he walked out of a Japanese prison camp. Jimmy Doolittle’s B-25 bomber takes off from the deck of USS Hornet, 18 April 1942 File 023Article Tokyo and the East China Sea · 1942 Sixteen Bombers, One Way Four months after Pearl Harbor, Jimmy Doolittle led sixteen Army bombers off the deck of a Navy carrier to strike Japan, knowing they could not come back. He crash-landed in a Chinese rice paddy convinced he would be court-martialled. Instead he was given the Medal of Honor. An F4U-4 Corsair of Fighter Squadron 32 about to launch from USS Leyte, about 1950 File 008Article Chosin Reservoir, Korea · December 1950 Tell Daisy I Love Her Ensign Jesse Brown, the first African American to complete the Navy’s flight training, was shot down near the Chosin Reservoir in December 1950. His wingman crash-landed beside him on purpose. Airwomen of the 46th Guards Night Bomber Regiment in front of a Po-2 at Gelendzhik File 004Article Soviet Union · Poland · 1942–1945 Eighteen Sorties in One Night Nadezhda Popova flew 852 combat missions in a plywood-and-canvas biplane with no radio and no guns. The German soldiers below called her regiment the Night Witches. Lance Sijan ▸ Film Vietnam War Lance Sijan He crawled through the jungle for 46 days on a broken body — and never surrendered Snuffy Smith ▸ Film Second World War Snuffy Smith They pinned the Medal of Honor on a man who'd been peeling potatoes on KP The Flying Undertaker ▸ Film Pacific The Flying Undertaker He took on 13 enemy planes with one wingman and shot down 7 Buzz Beurling ▸ Film North Africa & Mediterranean Buzz Beurling He shot down 27 planes in 14 days — then couldn't survive peace Welch & Taylor ▸ Film Pacific Welch & Taylor They fought back at Pearl Harbor — then were denied the Medal of Honor Pappy Boyington ▸ Film Pacific Pappy Boyington They gave his Medal of Honor to his mother — months later he walked out of a POW camp Jimmy Doolittle ▸ Film Pacific Jimmy Doolittle He bombed Tokyo on a one-way mission — then expected a court-martial Dick Bong ▸ Film Pacific Dick Bong America's deadliest pilot survived every dogfight. He died on the day of Hiroshima Bazooka Charlie ▸ Film Western Front Bazooka Charlie He strapped six bazookas to a flight-school trainer and dove at Tiger tanks Butch O’Hare ▸ Film Pacific Butch O’Hare Son of a murdered mob lawyer, he became the Navy's first Medal of Honor aviator The Night Witches ▸ Film Eastern Front The Night Witches They turned off their engines and glided over the Nazis in the dark