Medal of Honor
Text: Jan Bobek
Illustrations: Piotr Forkasiewicz
Cat. No. 84209
The boxart of the January P-51 release is symbolic in many respects, both for the deployment of this type over the Europe and for its pilot, Major James Howell Howard. The painting depicts Howard’s victory over a Bf 110 on 30 January 1944, thanks to which he became the first ace of the 354th FG.
“Jimmy” Howard was born in April 1913 to American parents living in Canton, China. His father worked as an ophthalmologist. When “Jimmy” was fourteen years old, the family returned to the USA and settled in St. Louis, Missouri.
In 1937 James Howard graduated from college and intended to continue studying medicine, but ultimately decided to join the U.S. Navy. In August 1939, he became a naval aviator, with the rank of Ensign, and successively served with three different fighter units, including VF-6 aboard USS Saratoga.
In June 1941, however, he joined the American Volunteer Group (AVG), known as Flying Tigers. During the fighting in China, as a flight leader within the 2nd Squadron of the AVG, he destroyed four Japanese aircraft on the ground, shot down two fighters, and was credited with a one-third share in the destruction of one reconnaissance aircraft.
In January 1943, with the rank of Captain, he was assigned to the 332nd FS of the 329th FG. This was an operational training unit equipped with P-38s. It operated from several bases in California, and Howard served with it until May 1943. His next posting became the 354th Fighter Group, which was preparing in California for combat deployment with P-39s.
James Howard assumed command of the 356th Fighter Squadron, replacing Capt. Charles Johnson, a veteran of combat over New Guinea. Howard inherited from Johnson a group of highly motivated pilots, but it was Howard himself who, through his rigorous leadership and a training program based on experience from the AVG, turned his airmen into a perfectly prepared, cooperative, and aggressive team.
At the turn of October and November 1943, the 354th FG sailed to Great Britain. At that time, American command in Europe decided that units equipped with P-51B Mustangs powered by Merlin engines would be administratively assigned to the 9th Air Force, but operationally subordinated to the 8th Air Force. The Mustangs were a key reinforcement for heavy bomber escorts.
The first unit to receive Merlin-powered Mustangs was the 354th FG, which is why it earned the nickname “Pioneer Mustang Group”; this was not, however, an official combat designation. Its enthusiastic pilots were given only two weeks to convert to the new type!
The unit actually took off for combat for the first time on 1 December according the dead-line. But its first confirmed aerial victory was scored only on its fifth mission, on 16 December, when Lt. Charles F. Gumm was credited with a Bf 109 during a raid on Bremen.
Before the end of 1943, James Howard also contributed to the first successes when he shot down a Bf 109 on 20 December. It is not clear, however, whether he achieved this victory in his personal aircraft marked AJ-A.
Howard’s great day came on 11 January 1944, during the raid on Halberstadt and Oschersleben. On this mission he flew aircraft AJ-X and led the formation of the entire 354th FG.
His task was to cover the bombers over the target. He sent one squadron ahead to cover the forward box and, with two squadrons, covered the rear boxes. After the first encounter with enemy fighters, Howard found himself alone, without his flight. Despite this disadvantage, he decided to stay with the bombers in the central part of the Combat Wing and, over the course of thirty minutes, attacked German aircraft within his reach a total of five times. Gradually, three of his Mustang’s machine guns ceased firing, but he managed to claim two Bf 110s and one Fw 190 as confirmed kills, one Bf 109 as a probable, and damaged another.
During the hour-long battle, the Pioneer Mustang Group claimed 16 confirmed victories, 7 probables, and 19 damaged aircraft.
After returning to England, the 401st BG reported in, having searched for the lone Mustang pilot that had defended them for thirty minutes against 30 to 40 German aircraft. It was Howard, and the crews aboard the B-17 bombers testified that Howard had achieved six confirmed kills. Howard, however, refused any change to his claims.
The modest Howard was somewhat taken aback by the press attention and took it poorly that the press officers forced him to use symbols of the Japanese aircraft he had destroyed on the ground beneath his cockpit.
For his performance on 11 January 1944, James Howard was awarded the Medal of Honor on 5 June. He was the only fighter pilot on the Western European battlefield to receive the highest American decoration. When Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz presented it to him, Howard modestly told the press: “I seen my duty and I done it.”