25 Facts About Paul Wurtsmith

Paul Bernard Wurtsmith was a United States Army Air Forces general during World War II.

Paul Wurtsmith took over command of the 49th Pursuit Group in December 1941 and between March 1942 and January 1943, his fighters downed 78 enemy aircraft in the defense of Darwin in northern Australia, against Japanese air attacks.

Paul Wurtsmith was killed when his North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber crashed near the summit of Cold Mountain near Asheville, North Carolina, on 13 September 1946.

Paul Bernard Wurtsmith was born in Detroit, Michigan, on 9 August 1906, the eldest of three sons of Fred Bernard Wurtsmith, a railroad engineer on the Pere Marquette Railroad, and his wife Ella.

Paul Wurtsmith attended the University of Detroit, where he earned a degree in aeronautical engineering.

Paul Wurtsmith enlisted in the US Army Air Corps as a flying cadet on 4 August 1927.

Paul Wurtsmith joined the 94th Pursuit Squadron, the famed World War I "Hat in the Ring" Squadron, at Selfridge Field, Michigan.

Paul Wurtsmith won the Mitchell Trophy Air Race in 1930.

Paul Wurtsmith graduated from the Air Corps Tactical School in 1939.

Paul Wurtsmith commanded the 17th Pursuit Squadron at Selfridge Field from September 1939 to July 1940, then the 41st Pursuit Squadron until January 1941.

Morale in Darwin was low, but the sight of Paul Wurtsmith's aircraft patrolling the skies provided an important boost.

Paul Wurtsmith attempted to develop tactics that would exploit the strengths of the P-40 and minimize its weaknesses.

Above all, Paul Wurtsmith attempted to make sure that he had enough P-40s in commission to outnumber the Japanese.

The heaviest Japanese attack had been by nine fighters and 24 bombers, which Paul Wurtsmith had met with 50 P-40s; the P-40 pilots claimed 11 Japanese aircraft shot down.

One of MacArthur's staff quipped that he hoped Paul Wurtsmith was over 21.

Paul Wurtsmith became one of a handful of American officers to be decorated by the Australian government, being awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire for "excellence of training and direction of fighter operations in New Guinea".

Paul Wurtsmith made what he claimed was the "shortest landing ever made in a P-40" at Marilinan to see if it could serve as a forward fighter strip.

Paul Wurtsmith proved that it could, although a better site was located at nearby Tsili Tsili.

On 30 January 1945, Paul Wurtsmith replaced Major General St Clair Streett as commander of the Thirteenth Air Force.

Paul Wurtsmith was promoted to the rank of major general on 19 March 1945.

Paul Wurtsmith relinquished command of the Thirteenth Air Force in July 1946 and returned to the United States, where he was assigned to the headquarters of the Strategic Air Command at Washington, DC's Bolling Field.

Paul Wurtsmith attended the 1946 Operation Crossroads nuclear weapons tests on Bikini Atoll as an observer, and in September 1946, he was appointed commander of the Eighth Air Force, one of SAC's three numbered air forces.

Paul Wurtsmith first flew to Bolling Field, where he had some business, then on to Selfridge Field.

Paul Wurtsmith's remains were recovered from Cold Mountain and were interred in Arlington National Cemetery on 18 September 1946.

In 1954, Ella Paul Wurtsmith was named Michigan Mother of the Year.