Charles C. 'Chuck' Walker

(From the fall 84 issue of, Fighter Pilots In Aerial Combat - by Steve Blake).

(Submitted by Charles C. Walker)

 

Williams Field - Class 44A

 

(Artwork depicting the shoot down of Charles Walker).

 

Ambush Over Hungary - A "Puma" Pilot's Revenge

(By Steve Blake)

 

By July 7, 1944, the USAAF's 82nd Fighter Group was well into the eighteenth

month of its long combat tour in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. The

unit had left the U.S. back in September, 1942 for the British Isles. Then in late

December the pilots had flown their P-38s from England to North Africa, where

they were soon embroiled in a hard fought air war. By the end of 1943 the

original pilots had long since finished their fifty mission combat tours and

returned home at least those who weren't dead or prisoners of war but

there had been a steady flow of replacement pilots. Since January the 82nd

Group had been based at Vincenzo (Foggia # 11), one of the large complex of

Allied airfields in the Foggia area of southern Italy.

 

 

Senior Corporal Karoly Faludi of the Royal Hungarian Air Force's 2/1 Fighter Squadron. This photo was taken at Ferihegy Airfield near Budapest in March, 1944. Faludi was shot down and seriously wounded while flying this Me IO9G-6 on April 13, 1944 - by P-38s of the 95th Squadron, 82nd Fighter Group.

 

The purpose of the July 7 mission, the 82nd's 723rd, was "To provide

withdrawal escort from Banovce, Czechoslovakia, for B-24's of the 55th and

304th Wings, attacking synthetic oil refineries at Blechhammer and Odertal,

Germany". Since the unit's transfer from the 12th to the new 15th Air Force in

November, 1943, its main task was the protection of the heavy bombers of the

15th as they attacked strategic targets in southern and eastern Europe.

 

 

Pilots of 101/1 Sq. at readiness, Veszprem, July, 1944. 1. to r.: Sen. Corp. Pal Szikora (5~ victories by the end of the war), Sen. Corp. Faludi and (?) Skulk a , who was KIA shortly thereafter.

 

By 0905 hours on July 7 38 P-38s of the 82nd F.G. had taken off from Vincenzo

and were enroute to their appointment with the B-24s just north of the

Czechoslovakian-Hungarian border 2 hours away. Making up the formation

were 15 Lightnings of the group's 95th Fighter Squadron, 13 from the 96th and

10 from the 97th. Overall leader was 1st Lt. Joseph F. Belton, an experienced

fighter pilot with two confirmed victories to his credit. Belton was at the head

of his lead 95th Sq., with the 96th to his right and the 97th to his left.

 

The route this day would take the 82nd F.G. formation over the Adriatic Sea,

Yugoslavia and thence to Hungary, one of Germany's allies in Eastern Europe.

The first serious encounter with e/a over Hungary had taken place on March

17, 1944 and the first actual bombing mission there was on April 2. Since then,

a series of air battles had ensued, with heavy losses on both sides. Although a

number of single and twin-engined Axis fighter units were involved both

German and Hungarian, the 15th A.F.'s toughest aerial opponents there were

the Me 109 pilots of the Royal Hungarian Air Force's 101st Fighter Group - the

-"Pumas". The 101st, with three 16-plane squadrons, was quite simi1ar in size

and organization to a USAAF fighter group. It was based outside Veszprem,

near the northeast tip of Lake Balaton.

 

 

2nd Lt. Lajos Toth (in cockpit). Toth's P-38 claim on July 7 was his seventh victory, four of which he had claimed in Russia with the 5/2 Sq. He had previously claimed a P-47 on June 16 and a 8-17 on June 27; his eighth victory was a 8-24 on November 5, 1944. There- after he scored 13 more kills against the Russians for a total of 71.

 

One of the Puma pilots who was to see action this day was Senior Corporal

Karoly Faludi. Faludi had begun civilian flight training in early 1941, shortly

after his 18th birthday, and later that year he was accepted by the Air Force,

receiving his wings in late 1942. Around December of that year he was

assigned to the 5/1 Fighter Squadron at Matyasfold, near Budapest, with which

he drew the "Heja", Hungarian version of the Italian Re 2000. In the fall of 1943

he joined the 2/1 Sq. at Ferihegy, a few miles south of Matyasfold, under the

command of Capt. Miklos Scholtz. During January the squadron began

receiving Me 109Gs, on which the pilots trained themselves. On March 17

Faludi flew his first actual combat mission and then on April 13 was shot down

by P-38s. Managing to bailout after suffering a serious leg wound, he was

confined to hospital for the next two months. Even though his leg was far from

healed, Faludi managed to return to his unit. He was back in the cockpit of an

Me 109 on June 25 and in combat the following day! By this time 2/1 Sq. had

become the 1st Sq. of the new 101st Fighter Group (101/1), which had come

into being at the end of May and was based at Veszprem. On July 2, during a

huge air battle south of Budapest, Sen. Corp. Faludi scored his first victory,

shooting down a B-24. Thus, by July 7 he was a combat hardened veteran.

 

 

An Me 109 of the Pumas preparing to take off from the base at Vezsprem, 1944. Notice the Hungarian Me 210 in the background; these suffered heavy losses to USAAF fighters during that spring.

 

The pilots of the Puma Group were billeted at Balaton AI madi, on the shore of

beautiful Lake Balaton, a few miles south of Veszprem. There they were able to

sleep relatively undisturbed by the frequent British night bombing of their

base. On July 7, as usual, the pilots were driven back to Veszprem early in the

morning. Breakfast followed, after which some of them napped while others sat

around shooting the breeze. On this day Faludi was assigned as wingman to

the Group Commander, Lt. Col. Heppes. Thus, he walked over to the Group

Headquarters with his gear, his Me 109 was already there. Faludi's 1st Sq. area

was just north of the Hdqts. in a forest bordering the east side of the runway.

The 2nd Sq. was just south of the Hdqts and the 3rd Sq. was in another forest

on the opposite side of the field. Throughout these areas the aircraft were

dispersed in U-shaped revetments among the trees to protect them from the

bombing. Loudspeakers were set up in the trees so that the pilots could be

notified immediately of developing raids. These were connected to the air

controllers, based in a cave deep in a mountainside near Budapest, who

coordinated the visual reports of trained observers and the radar sightings.

 

 

Me 109G - 6th and 101st Fighter Group personnel at Vezsperm in mid 1944

 

The pilots could thus hear this day's raid developing. The American bombers

were to the west, heading north towards the Czech border. This area was

primarily the responsibility of the Luftwaffe. Too, the relatively small numbers

of the Pumas necessitated a cautious approach to interception. Better to

attack the bombers on 'their way back, when their formations wouldn't be

"scattered by AA and previous fighter attacks and there will be stragglers

which can be picked off.

 

 

I'Ie 109Gs and groundcrellnnen of 101st Fighter Group at Vezsprem, 1944. Note the small Puma insignia above the exhausts stacks in foreqround.

 

The Hungarian pilots had three stages of alerts. The first stage began when the

enemy was forming up over the Adriatic, the pilots then had to be in the

vicinity of the airfield. Stage two began when the Americans crossed Hungary's

borders, they were then on 15 minutes notice. At the third stage the pilots

were in their planes ready to scramble as ordered.

 

One of the Puma squadrons was already in action with the Germans near Gyor.

About the time it was expected to return there was an alarm and Col. Heppes

led ten Me 109s aloft and headed north. When the formation arrived near Gyor

the enemy which had been encountered there a few minutes before were

nowhere to be seen. After circling for ten to fifteen minutes, the 109 pilots

were ordered by the controllers to fly south, toward Papa. About 30 miles had

been covered when 10 P-38s were spotted near Tet, they were at 3 o'clock,

about 2000 meters below the Messerschmitts, which were at about 4000

meters (13,000 ft.). "Old Puma" (Heppes) gave the order to attack but forbade

individual dogfights. The Hungarians made a diving turn to the right, coming

down on the Lightnings at a 30° angle. The P-38s immediately went into a

Lufbery circle.

 

The 82nd F.G. pilots had reached their assigned rendezvous north of Gyor at

1125, altitude 23,000 ft. They circled for 20 minutes but nothing was seen of

their assigned 8-24s, nor could they be contacted by radio, although several 8-

17 formations fiew by. Finally, the P-38s headed south, overtaking an

unidentified 8-24 formation which was being covered by some P-51s. Me 109s

were then engaged at about 1150 hours.

 

The enemy were first spotted at low altitude a reported 70 miles north of Lake

Balaton. The second section of the 96th Sq. went down to intercept four 109s

heading north. These P-38s were in turn jumped by six or seven more 109s

which made one pass. The 96th's first section came down to join the fight and

in the ensuing action two of the Me 109s were claimed destroyed by this

squadron, one by 1st Lt. Merrill M. Adelson (his 3rd victory) and the other by

1st Lt. Walter J. Carroll (his 4th). Carroll, leader of the 96th's fourth flight, in

the process collected some bullet holes in the left wing and wheel door of his P-

38.

 

The 95th Sq. also entered the fray, its second section pursuing two 109s which

dived away from some P-51s high above the Liberators. These Lightnings were

in turn jumped by a reported six to eight more Messerschmitts" whereupon the

first section of the 95th waded in. Three more 109s were claimed by the 95th

Sq. One each by Lt. Belton, 1st Lt. Jack D. Joley, leader of the second flight (his

3rd victory) and 2nd Lt. James C. Hardin. This was Hardin's first victory, he had

joined the squadron less than two weeks before, on June 26. Interestingly,

Belton's was the 5OOth confirmed aerial victory for the 82nd F.G.

 

All this was not without loss, 22-year-old 2nd Lt. Charles C. Walker was MIA.

Walker had been flying as wingman to the leader of the 95th's fourth flight, 1st

Lt. Roy I. Harman, he had been assigned to the squadron just ten days before,

on June 27. 2nd Lt. Lester J. Henry who had joined the 95th on the same day as

Hardin received minor damage to his P-38 in the form of a high explosive bullet

in his left wheel door. Like Lt. Carroll of the 96th, Henry was able to return to

base safely. The 97th Sq. had stayed up high with the bombers and did not

become involved in the dogfights below.

 

There had suddenly been more P-38s than the Pumas could handle, some of

the Americans' buddies had come down to assist their beleaguered comrades.

Faludi saw Col. Heppes shooting into the P-38 Lufbery, then suddenly a large

form interjected itself between the two 109s. This P-38 was about 300 meters

ahead and right in Faludi's gunsight, he gave the Lightning a long 5 or 6-second

burst from his two 13mm machine guns to get him off Heppes' tail. Faludi saw

strikes on the P-38, which he now believes to have been Lt. Carroll's. At the

same time, however, bullets flew perilously close by Faludi's own cockpit and

he quickly dived away to his right to escape this fusillade.

 

Shortly thereafter, as he climbed up to rejoin his flight, Faludi saw a lone P-38

a mile ahead of and about 1000 meters below him, barreling along at full

speed. The reason forthe American's haste soon became apparent, there were

three 109s at his heels to 1 mile behind! The latter were led by 1st Lt. Pal

Iranyi, of Faludi's 101/1 Sq.

 

On the spur of the moment, Faludi decided to go after this P-38 himself. He

immediately went into a steep dive, then pulled up, his superior speed from the

dive enabling him to out distance the other Messerschmitts and pull within 100

meters of the belly of the P-38. The enemy pilot was evidently watching the

other 109s and had no idea that there was a fourth in the blind spot below his

tail. Faludi moved his plane closer and closer to the P-38. Suddenly the

Lightning banked to the left and then to the right, perhaps its pilot sensed that

he was not alone. Faludi was able to duplicate these maneuvers in precise

unison, thereby remaining invisible to the enemy pilot. He then came up

directly behind the P-38 at a range of about 50 yards, opening up with the two

machine guns and single 20mm cannon in the nose of his Me 109. The bullets

scored immediately and devastatingly in the area of the left engine and the

adjacent inboard wing area containing one of the fuel tanks. There were

simultaneous explosions, flame and a huge trail of white smoke. The P-38

made a quick turn to the right and then the pilot bailed out from a little over

200 meters. Faludi circled the American's parachute, saw him land and then

spotted a military vehicle speeding toward him. All alone now, Faludi returned

to Veszprem.

 

Another Puma pilot, 2nd Lt. Lajos Toth, who had become separated from his

flight, had a spirited dogfight with another 82nd F.G. P-38 (possibly Lt. Henry),

resulting in damage to both planes. As he put a burst into his opponent, Toth

was attacked from above by other Lightnings and driven down. His engine was

hit and burst into flames, whereupon Toth pulled his Me 109 up into a stall and

bailed out. By an interesting coincidence, the pilot of Faludi's P-38, Lt. Walker,

came down in the same area and both were picked up and taken to the airfield

at Papa. Toth quite naturally assumed that the American flier was the pilot of

the P-38 he had hit. Toth and Walker talked together in a friendly manner and

had their picture taken together, shaking hands, before the latter was taken

away to be interrogated.

 

 

Lt. Col. Alad~r Heppes? .C.O. of the 101st F.G. Heppes was almost certainly the oldest' fighter pilot ever to become an aCe for the first time, a status he acheived on June 26,1944, when he shot down two 8-24s. Report- edly born in 1900, he was at least 43 years old at the time! Heppes had been a member of the original "Puma" Sq. (1/3) back in 1937 and had designed its famous puma head insignia. He took command of the squadron the following year and it later became the new 2/2 Sq. When Heppes formed the 5/1 Fighter Group in December, 1942, he adopted the name and insignia of the Puma Sq. since so many of the new group's pilots had flown with the latter. The same was true later with the estab- lishment of the 101st Group and Regiment. Heppes had scored four kills in Russia with the 5/1 Group. On July 2, 1944 he shot down a 8-17 and on July 7 claimed a 8-24 for his eighth and final victory.

 

 

Col. Heppes congratulates the squadron commanders of the 1D1st F.G. on the destruction of 100 American air- craft over Hungary - September, 1944. At the extreme left (face only) is 1st Lt. Pal Iranyi, by then C.D. of the 1st Sq.; on July 7 he had been a flight leader. Iranyi had a total of 3~ victories during the war.

 

A total of three P-38s were claimed as destroyed by the Pumas on July 7,

although three were, in fact, hit (Carroll, Henry and Walker), only Walker was

actually shot down. Faludi initially was given credit for the first P-38 he had hit

and Toth for Walker. Later Faludi was credited with yet another Lightning that

day, since both Col. Heppes and Lt. Iranyi had seen him shoot down this plane

(which turned out to be Walker's). The "Old Puma" had, in fact, been heard to

congratulate Sen. Corp. Faludi over the radio when he saw Faludi's target

(Walker's P-38) crash. Unfortunately, in the heat of the fight no one

remembered the exact map square, thus Col. Heppes had noted the wrong

sector for Faludi's second victim, which confused the issue even further.

Despite a careful search, the wreckage of only one P-38 was found, Lt. Walker's

P-38J-15, serial #44-23189. Of course, Toth had claimed this one, in the proper

sector!

 

Judging from the available statements from two of the pilots in Walker's

squadron that day, Belton (squadron and group leader) and 2nd Lt. Gerard F.

Cavanaugh (leader of the second element in Harman's flight) there was

considerable confusion as to what happened to Walker.

 

Belton: "While leading the squadron on return from north of the Danube, enemy

fighters were seen above the bomber formation engaged by P-51s. Some E/A

were driven down to our level, and the last flight, in which Lt. Walker flew #2

position, followed a ME 109 down to the deck. A few minutes later, I heard

them calling for assistance and went back to help them. Before reaching them,

I heard Lt. Walker call and say he was on single engine and needed help badly.

We could not locate him and he was not heard again."

 

Cavanaugh: "I was flying #3 man in the flight in which Lt. Walker was #2 man.

The flight had gone down to chase a ME 109 and the enemy airplane led us

straight across an airdrome near Gyor, Hungary. Accurate light and heavy flak

was thrown up at us from this A/D, which we crossed at about 400 ft. altitude. I

saw smoke come from Lt. Walker's left engine, but lost him momentarily while

looking around for other enemy planes. When I looked ahead again, I was

flying on the flight leader's wing and Lt. Walker was nowhere in sight."

 

 

 

 

It is obvious from the above statements that no one on the American side

actually saw Walker being hit or bailing out. It seems to have been assumed

that Walker was hit by AA fire, as Lt. Walker himself very likely did before

bailing out.

 

Reportedly, Capt. Gyorgy Debrody of the 101/3 Sq. also damaged a P-38 on

this date. Debrody also claimed a B-17 destroyed, "the 22nd of his eventual 26

victories. In addition to the three P-38s, the Hungarian fighter pilots were

credited with six B-24s and two B-17s on July 7. Actual, total 15th A.F. losses

that day amounted to a P-38 (Lt. Walker's), two P-51s, seven B-17s and fifteen

B-24s. The P-38 and two B-24s were reportedly lost over Hungary, while seven

B-24s and six B-17s went down over Germany, five B-24s over Yugoslavia, one

P-51 over Pot. and the other P-51 over Czechoslovakia. The remaining B-17s

and B-24s were lost over Austria and Italy, respectively. It could very well be

that some of the Liberators which crashed in Yugoslavia were victims of the

Hungarians.

 

Claims by other 15th A.F. fighter groups totaled seven, all by P-51s: three by

the 52nd F.G., two by the 31st F.G. and two more by the 325th F.G. Actual Axis

losses are unknown, although out of Heppes' ten plane flight only Toth was

shot down. There were, of course, other Axis units active in the general area

that day.

 

Many months later, Faludi met the Hungarian army captain who had captured

Lt. Walker. The captain told Faludi all that he remembered about the American,

including his full name. Faludi was startled to learn that he and Walker shared

the same first name - Karoly is the Hungarian equivalent of Charles. "Charlie"

Faludi had reason to recall all this information nearly forty years later. The

82nd F.G. continued its fight against the Axis for ten more long months. On July

8, during a fighter sweep to Vienna, the group destroyed 22 more enemy

planes, Lt. Carroll shooting down three Me 410s to bring his score to seven. On

July 26, during a fighter sweep over Ploesti, Rumania, en route home from a

shuttle mission to Russia, he downed a Fw 190, his eighth and final victory. Lt.

Henry, unfortunately, was lost during a bomber escort mission to northern

Italy on July 13. His plane was hit by AA, but he was seen to bailout

successfully. The 82nd F.G. was at this time the top scoring USAAF fighter

group in the MTO, a position it had held for many months. By early August its

score had reached 550, but the group's opportunities to engage enemy planes

in the air dwindled thereafter to almost niI. The 82nd added just four more

victories by VE Day and was finally surpassed by the 31st F.G. on March 31,

1945.

 

 

Another of the American pilots on the July 7, 1944 mission was 1st Lt. Charles E. Adams, who led the 95th Squadron's third flight. On the following day, July 8, Adams shot down three Me 410s near Vienna, becoming an ace with six victories. He was photographed a short while later with his P-38J-15, serial #43-28796.

 

The Pumas continued their fight as well. By September the intense Allied

bombing of Hungary had pretty much ceased; there would be only isolated

raids by the western Allies thereafter. Thus, the Pumas turned their attention

back towards the east to the invading Russians and their Soviet Air Force. Up

to the end of August the Hungarian fighter pilots had claimed at least 116

American aircraft, of which 88 were confirmed, but thereafter claimed only 19

more (13 confirmed). In September the Pumas were enlarged, becoming .the

101st Fighter Regiment composed of two three-squadron groups, 101/1 and

101/11. A third group was added in January, 1945. The vast majority of all

Hungarian fighter claims including eight in the brief war with Slovakia in 1939

and 396 against the Russians in WW II were made by the various Puma

squadrons, groups and regiment.

 

Karoly Faludi's personal involvement in the war continued unabated, also.

From mid July on his main duties were ferrying and test piloting. Faludi was

still barely able to walk; he was supposed to have been hospitalized for a full

year as a result of his leg injury! Nevertheless, he still flew occasional combat

missions and scored one more victory in December, 1944.

 

In March, 1945 Faludi and the remnants of the Pumas retreated to southern

Germany when the Russians finally overran Hungary. He was fortunate to be in

the western Allied sector of the front after the war's end, and later he and his

new bride (Rose, the sister of his best friend and fellow 101/1 Sq. pilot Jozsef

Nagy) emigrated to the U.S. Now known as Char1es K. "Charlie" Faludi, he lives

in southern California and works for Northrop Aviation. Interestingly! several

years ago he discovered that a fellow employee, Leon Scrydloff, had been a

USAAF fighter pilot in WW II. Further investigation revealed the startling

information that then 2nd Lt. Scrydloff was one of the ten 97th F.S. pilots

covering the B-24s on the July 7, 1944 mission!

 

Additional research has brought another interesting coincidence to light. On

the day Sen. Corp. Faludi was shot down and wounded April 13, 1944, there

were fifteen claims by 15th A.F. P-38s, five by the 1st F.G. and ten by the 82nd.

Based on the available records, Charlie is convinced that it was the 82nd Group

which he encountered on that occasion. Only two of the 82nd's claims on April

13 were for Me 109s one each by 1st Lt. Orson D. Osborne and 2nd Lt. Melvin E.

Wiedbusch of the 95th F.S. Thus, it is almost certain that the P-38 Faludi shot

down on July 7 was from the same squadron which shot him down on April 13!

 

For the past two years, Charlie Faludi has been searching for Charles C.

Walker, as yet unsuccessfully. He would love to reminisce with Mr. Walker

about that fateful day over Hungary forty years ago, also to return Walker's

flight helmet, which Charlie obtained from Walker's captors back in 1945. (My

sincere thanks to Mr. Faludi for his invaluable input. Without it of course, this

article would have been impossible. All but one of the photos illustrating the

article are from his private collection.).

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