ACE AVIATOR REMEMBERED

Ray Littge poses in his P-51 Mustang fighter at the American airbase in Bodney, England at the close of the World War II. The swastikas on the cockpit hatch represent aerial victories scored against German pilots.

Among the names of those who have distinguished themselves in air warfare, those known as "aces," are the well-known names of Baron Manfred von Richtofen (the famed "Red Baron"), Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, America's top World War I pilot; Major Richard I. Bong, the top American World War II ace; and even Greg "Pappy" Boyington of "Baa Baa Black Sheep" fame.

While many know these names, few recognize the name of Raymond H. Littge, a man who was born and raised on a farm near Altenburg and who, as the pilot of a P-51 Mustang fighter, scored 10 air victories against German pilots during World War II. His record makes him a double ace and the top fighter pilot in Missouri's history.

In Littge's short wartime career, which lasted less than a year from July 1944 to the close of World War II in May 1945, the Altenburg native earned the nation's second highest award, the Distinguished Service Cross, as well as the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with three maple leaf clusters.

All told, Littge destroyed 23 1/2 enemy aircraft as a member of the 352nd Fighter Group. During his wartime service, the pilot shot down 10 German aircraft in air-to-air encounters and assisted in the destruction of an 11th (thus the one-half credit). In addition, he destroyed 13 enemy aircraft during strafing runs on German airfields.

What makes Littge's aerial accomplishments particularly impressive is the fact that he was sent overseas as a replacement pilot in late June 1944 and missed out on many of the major European air engagements, these having taken place earlier that year.

It was not much of a surprise to Ralph Littge that his brother Ray became a pilot. Ray vowed to do so as a tyke and after World War II broke out, the young man couldn't wait to graduate Perryville High School so that he could volunteer as a combat pilot.

Ralph Littge, Ray's older brother, recently returned to his hometown of Altenburg from Northridge, Calif., where he had lived for many years.

Ralph remembers his brother Ray not only as a wartime fighter ace, but as the kid he grew up with, "skinny and full of energy."

Ralph and Ray Littge were among the eight children of Henry and Martha Ahner Littge. Five of the seven boys served during World War II.

Ray Littge's fascination with flight was sparked at an early age, recalls his brother.

"He always told me when we were kids, 'Someday, I'm gonna fly,'" said Ralph, who recalled that during their childhood in the Great Depression, the sight of airplane was one of the world's great wonders.

"You didn't see many planes around then and when one came over, my God, we all had to go out and see," Ralph explained. "One time a squadron of military planes came over and they were the old biplane types and I had never seen such an exhibit."

While still in high school, Ray used money he'd earned at summer jobs to take flying lessons, eventually earning a pilot's license.

After graduating from Perryville High School, Ray enlisted in the Army Air Corps in July 1942. He received his commission as a second lieutenant in December 1943 and was called to England in May 1944. He would travel to an American fighter base at Bodney, England to become a member of the 487th Squadron of the 352nd Fighter Group.

Ray's first combat mission came on July 1, 1944, when he and other members of the 487th Squadron provided escort to bombers on a mission to the area around Paris. The group with which Littge was flying, called "Red Flight" on that day, encountered several German Messerschmidt ME-109 fighters at about 10,000 feet but the fighters quickly outclimbed the Americans. Other members of the squadron flying nearby managed to down one ME-109 and damage four others.

The ensuing months remained largely uneventful for Littge, who seemed to miss out on the days when there was action.

However, this was to be the quiet before the storm, for on Aug. 25, 1944, Littge would destroy two German airplanes and damage a third during a strafing run on a German aerodrome, or airfield, near Neubrandenburg in northern Germany.

Littge would not get the chance to take part in the true test of a combat pilot -- the aerial engagement, or "dogfight" -- until Nov. 27, 1944. The Altenburg pilot quickly proved that he'd done his homework and learned by watching the several other aces who were then flying with the 487th.

Littge described the episode in his official encounter report to the commanding officer at Bodney:

"Flying Yellow Two, we made contact with the previously reported bandits of 31,000 feet. Capt. Helton, Yellow Leader, started firing at an ME-109 and I saw him get many strikes. At this time I picked out the highest 109 that had not hit for the deck and started closing on him. At about 800 yards, he rolled on his back and started down, executing about three rolls going straight down. I rolled after him and fired a burst at him but saw no strikes. He straightened out momentarily at 15,000 feet and then started a series of violent snaprolls to the right, going straight down. At this point I knew I could not stay with him if we continued downward at our rate of speed as I was indicating 530 mph and I passed him at 12,000 feet ... I was pulling out at 6,000 feet, the 109 was above me coming down, doing one quick snaproll after another ... I do not see how he could have pulled out considering his speed which was over 400 mph. I think he lost control when he went into the snaprolls and thereafter, the plane was descending aimlessly, out of control.

"About 15 minutes later I joined up with group leader Col. Meyer and we strafed two trucks. Pulling up from a truck I saw three 109s flying at about 500 feet. I climbed above them and bounced the one on the far right. He broke into me and we went around in a lufberry (a type of turn) for four turns. After the fourth turn another 109 was beginning to fall in behind me from the left, so I broke into him and saw occasional strikes. The pilot of the [enemy aircraft] must not have realized how low he was when he [made a downward turn]. He crashed into a wooded area and I dived down over him and took a picture of the wrecked enemy aircraft."

Ralph Littge was stationed in London as an intelligence officer during the war. England is a small island, Ralph said, and the proximity of their stations allowed he and Ray to keep in touch.

"I saw my brother constantly," Ralph recalled. "We went through the war together so to speak. England is a small island. He would come to London to stay with me or I would go to his base to stay with him."

It was during this time -- in late 1944 before the 487th moved to a new base in Belgium -- that Ralph got an idea of just how dangerous his brother's work really was. Ralph knew how the squadron was faring in the skies by how easily he could get a bed during his overnight stays.

"I never had trouble finding a cot at his place because there was always someone who was missing in action or shot down," said Ralph. "I knew all the pilots and each time I would go, so-and-so wasn't there -- he'd been shot down or didn't make it back."

In December 1944, the 352nd Fighter Group had moved to an aerodrome near Asch, Belgium in order to provide support for troops engaged in the Battle of the Bulge (a battle in which an older brother, Gene, was involved).

Littge's next aerial victory would come on Dec. 26, 1944 when he downed an ME-109 in a dogfight over Ollheim, Germany.

The following day, Ray Littge would become a full-fledged ace, downing three Focke Wolfe 190s in a single day. The three kills would bring to six the number of aerial combat victories achieved by Littge, one more than the five needed to become an ace.

In the ensuing three months, Ray Littge would bring to 10 1/2 the total number of aircraft he would destroy during airborne combat in World War II. His final aerial victories, and the most successful of his strafing victories, would come while flying from this base.

The most memorable of Littge's victories was his last. On March 25, 1945, the ace would have the opportunity to destroy a true prize among Allied pilots -- an ME-262, the first jet aircraft used in wartime.

Littge would write in his report: "...I got behind him, fired several long bursts, and seeing quite a few strikes, several of which set his right jet on fire ... He jettisoned his canopy, pulled up to 2,000 feet and bailed out. His chute did not open."

On April 16, 1945, Littge would destroy seven aircraft while leading a strafing run on an airfield at Ganacher, Germany. The following day, again leading a strafing run, Littge destroyed six more aircraft at an airfield at Plattling, Germany in a performance that would earn him his country's second highest honor.

Littge's official report: "I was leading Red Flight ... After leaving the bombers we came upon Plattling aerodrome with 75-plus single-engine and twin-engine aircraft parked in dispersals and around the field.

"Red Flight made several passes at flak positions first, effectively silencing them. During these attacks my oil tank was hit and I lost most of my oil, one of my guns was shot out, and two electrical lines and the manifold pressure lines were hit.

"We then went in to strafe. I made seven passes. My first two passes were at an ME-262 on the northeast corner of the field, which blew up after my second pass. I then attacked and set fire to an ME-109 on the north side. On each of my next three passes I set afire ME-109s in revetments on the south side of the field, and on my last pass I blew up another ME-262 at the northeast corner of the field."

Littge, by then a captain, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery in piloting the severely damaged aircraft on repeated assaults.

The captain returned to the United States on May 7, 1945, the day German officials signed their surrender. On Nov. 25, 1945, Littge married his high school sweetheart, Helen Fischer of Frohna.

The couple had two sons, the first named George Preddy Littge for the 352nd Fighter Group's top ace George Preddy, the second son named for his father.

Ray Littge continued to serve in the Air Force. Tragically, he was killed on May 20, 1949 while flying one of the nation's earliest jet fighters, an F-84 Thunderjet. The death was attributed to a faulty oxygen system in the jet. "He just went to sleep," said Ralph.

Ray's namesake, Ray H. Littge II also chose a military career serving as a combat pilot during the Vietnam War. He was killed in 1979 in the crash of an F-4 Phantom fighter jet while engaged in air combat maneuvers at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.

Of his brother's skill as a flyer, Ralph Littge said, "It was in his blood and he had that tenacious spirit just to fly, period."