Urban "Ben" Drew

P-51D  "Detroit Miss"

Artwork and research are by Sir Ernie Hamilton Boyette

Print size 12x18"

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Urban Leonard “Ben” Drew

"DETROIT MISS"

By Sir Ernie Hamilton Boyette

Urban Leonard “Ben” Drew was born in Detroit , Michigan on March 21, 1924. Ben was a typical American youth brought up in a good home and loving parents. Ben was fascinated in flying but never thought that he would one day be a fighter pilot.

At the age of seventeen years old while out with his mother and brother one day driving along the streets of his home town in Michigan they heard the news that Pearl Harbor had been bombed on the radio. This news was most literally a shock to all three. Ben had read all the comic books that told the stories of the battles of the First World War and as you can imagine Eddie Rickenbacker who was the highest scoring American Ace of the Great War was his hero.

As you know at the time war in Europe had been at full pitch since September 1, 1939. He had sat by the radio and listened to the exploits of the RAF against the Luftwaffe. Ben had heard the speeches of Winston Churchill and his most famous speech after the Battle of Britton of the few that fought so bravely against insurmountable odds. It was inspiring to a young man like Ben.

America was at war. As Mrs. Drew drove here boys home she contemplated this pressing but clear situation that now entered her family’s lives. Ben, neither his mother nor his brother knew where Pearl Harbor was.

However his mother knew exactly what the news would lead to. Once they arrived back home took Mrs. Drew took Ben into the kitchen and asked him to sit down. Here she quietly, patiently and in real terms told Ben that this conflict would require his involvement. She did her best to impart to young Ben that he should be strong and brave but above all to be smart and safe so that he could return home to the family once the conflict was over.

Ben decided that if he was going to war, then he wanted to be a great fighter pilot. This is not exactly what his mother wanted but it was her son’s decision and she would honor his choice. In September 1942 Ben was indeed called to serve his country and was able to enter flight school. Flight training for Ben began in October 1942. The Army Air Core was in great need for pilots and Ben was catching on very well as he soloed after only six hours and twelve minutes of instruction. Ben learned to fly the Stearman P-17 bi-plane which he said was a joy to fly. He graduated in the class of 43-I at Mariana , Florida on October 1, 1943 and was assigned to a replacement training unit at Bartow , Florida . After the completion at Bartow his talents were recognized and he received additional training to become a flight instructor in the new P-51 Mustang.

This is where he would meet a good friend, Billy Kemp. Being held back as a trainer in the States while combat in Europe was raging was stressful and ate at Ben daily. It is hard to be eighteen year’s old, qualified to fly America ’s finest aircraft and to be left back as a trainer. But his talent as a pilot needed to be transferred to new pilots and Ben was level headed and was excellent at his job. His friend Billy was having the same anxiety and they both begged to be transferred to a fighting unit every month.

Their boredom materialized itself into acts that got both of them into very serious trouble. One day when Ben was flying the commanding officer on the base was in the middle of an awards ceremony with a hundred officers and men in dress uniform when Ben came in low and fast and buzzed the ceremony causing everyone to “hit the deck”. Strike one for Ben. Then during an argument with a superior officer Ben hit him so hard that he broke his jaw. Both Ben and Billy faced court martial for their acts. In a strange twist however their commanding officer knew their talents as airmen but as the butt-hole he was he actually sent them straight to England to combat in a hatful attempt to see them die.

Both pilots were sent to war with the 104^th Article of War over their heads. Before Ben left for England his mother told him to be safe and not to fly to high and not to fly very fast, yet she said, “Good hunting son”. God bless her. Ben and Billy now had to prove themselves.

They were sent to the 357^th Fighter Squadron, 361^st Fighter Group which was then located at Bottisham, Cambridgeshire , England . The group’s name was the “Yellow Jackets.” They were sent to this unit because of the high mortality rate of its pilots. However with their extensive number of hours in the P-51 Mustang they were in fact the most qualified pilots in the group. Their commanding officer realizing their talents instructed both to raise the moral of the unit and make it an effect fighting force. It was May 1944 Ben was a First Lieutenant standing on English soil ready and eager to go to war with 590 hours of flight time.

The Mustangs that the group was flying at the time was the new P-51D. The fighter to me was a work of art. When I was in the 11^th grade I built a scale model of Ben Drew’s fighter even though I knew nothing of the pilot, it was just too attractive. At this point in time of the war the new fighters that were arriving form the American factories where not camouflaged but were delivered in their natural metal finish.

The group Ben was flying with painted the nose of the fighter’s bright yellow, thus the name Yellow Jackets. The tip of the tail was painted red along with the tips of the wings. Under the exhaust Ben had his ground crew paint a torpedo shaped bullet with the name “Detroit Miss”. Under the metal rail attached to the canopy was also painted in red where Ben had his aerial victories added one at a time. The description of the fighter would prove valuable for Ben in the future as you will read.

During one of Ben’s first flights he came upon an enemy airfield where he destroyed a Junkers JU-52 transport parked on the ground. His first aerial victory was on June 25^th when he was flying approximately ten miles south of Lisieux. Ben spotted a Bf-109 which he quickly dispatched.

Most of Ben’s missions were to defend the American bombers. The Flying Fortresses and Liberators had taken serious causalities before the entry of the long range P-51’s. The unprotected bombers took a beating not only from the FW-190’s and the Bf-109’s but also from twin engine fighters armed with cannon that could knock down the bombers from a safe distance avoiding the hundreds of .50 caliber machine guns carried by the bombers for their protection. During one escort mission Ben was able to damage a 109 that was trying to penetrate the fighter escorts to attack the bombers. Ben did not get to claim a victory because his gun camera footage only showed damage and not fatal strikes.

On one such mission on August 25^th Ben was forced to return to base after his Mustang developed problems. He knew that another plane would be at the airfield for him to jump into and fly out to try to catch his flight of fighters and bombers.

Once landed he saw another pilot return with problems and waited for the other pilot to fly with him as his wingman. Each raced to available aircraft and took off. Both pilots came upon a flight of P-38’s flying in perfect formation. Ben then noticed above the P-38’s an entire squadron of Bf-109’s and FW-190’s. He watched four of the German planes pull behind the P-38’s. Unable to notify his fellow American pilots on his radio he watched in horror as the Germans blew all four American’s out of the sky and pull back up to join their formation almost effortlessly.

Not trying to catch the attention of the Germans, Ben and his wing man tried to pull into firing position and catch one or two of the German’s off guard and try to get away before they too followed their fellow P-38 pilots to earth in flames.

It was too late; the enemy had seen them and came down on the two quickly. Completely outnumbered Ben told his wingman to pull up with him and fire into the pack of oncoming fighters. Like Knights of Old riding on their steeds with their long lances pointed at one another in a head on attack. Ben ordered his wingman not to fire until they were in range to save ammo but to watch the Germans and fire when they fired. Both flights fired at the other passing with all guns blazing.

The Germans came in fast. Ben did a wing over and got onto the tail of the leader that following him into a lullaburry circle. Both pilots where trying to turn inside each other and get advantage on their opponent. As they flew they were loosing altitude, quickly.

Ben found himself in combat with a Luftwaffe veteran who was indeed skilled. However Ben was more fortunate than many of his fellow American pilots because of the hundreds of hours in his fighter gave him complete control over the capabilities of his craft and he pushed his Mustang to the limit. One wrong move and the German would be on his tail.

Ben’s flight suit was soaked with sweat as he held his plane as tight as he could to stay even with the German in the descending circle. Who ever broke the circle first would allow the other get onto their tail and shoot them down. Death was facing one of them.

As the two spinning combatants found themselves just above the trees with no more altitude to use, Ben pulled the nose of his Mustang up just a little hoping the German would try to break away. Ben was right. The German after leveling off tried to get away over the treetops away from him.

With full speed Ben pulled up behind the Messerschmitt and with nowhere for the German to go, Ben pulled his trigger. Five of his six guns jammed from the centrifugal force from the spin. With one gun Ben fired into the Messerschmitt. Ben said that it was like trying to hit someone with a garden hose. He directed the fire from his only working gun up the fuselage and wing root of the German fighter.

Ben watched as it slipped into the ground. He must have hit the pilot because the fighter started to smoke but flew on nosing down at full throttle. A fireball erupted as Ben flew over the explosion. Ben knew that a great aviator had just died. But he remembered the moral support his mother gave him in his letters from home; she always ended her letters to him with “good hunting son”. And Ben did as his mother requested when on September 11^th when he downed a 109 eight miles south of Gottingen.

On September 18^th, Ben was flying over the Baltic Sea in an area called the Fehmarm Belt when he spotted a German Heinkel He-111K twin-engine bomber. The bomber was heading towards the coast and after seeing three Mustangs in pursuit the bomber was scrambling for the protection of the coast. Ben pulled up behind the Heinkel and with a few short burst the bomber nosed down giving Ben his fourth aerial victory. As Ben was pulling up after shooting down the German bomber he glanced over and looked inland. In the distance was Lake Schaal where Ben saw what must have been the largest seaplane ever constructed. With two other Mustangs in tow he headed straight for the Luftwaffe seaplane. Ben was in the lead and as soon as he was in range he poured a full blast into the helpless seaplane followed by the two other Mustangs. There was no need for a second pass as the seaplane was burning fiercely. This seaplane was the BV-238 V-1. The flying boat was huge sporting six engines and it was to be used by German officials to escape to South America should they lose the war. Ben  shared the destruction of the seaplane with two other pilots but it was Ben in the lead firing first.

On September 26^th while flying, Ben looked down and saw a twin-engine enemy plane and requested to go down and bounce it. Diving down onto the enemy aircraft at 500 M.P.H. he found himself going round and round with a German Me-262. No matter what Ben tried to do to get at the jet his attempts were useless. The pilot of the jet kept his fighter at full speed and did not slow to maneuver. Ben watched the new jet pull away.

After returning to base he told his commanding officers and fellow pilots that the air war over Germany was going to change. Two other pilots in the unit had seen and chased German jets with the same results. At this time the Me-262’s was going through its final flight tests. It had not yet been used in combat conditions. The Me-262 Ben had chased was on its final preflight testing and was ordered not to engage in combat.

On October 6^th Ben did some low level rolls over the base showing off to the ground crews. For this dangerous act Ben was to have his wings clipped for good. Ben knew his flying days were over because he was technically on probation from his transgressions back in the States. Later that night while drinking and trying to forget his dilemma the door of his barracks swung open and the order to “Attention” was shouted. In walked his commanding officer instructing him that because of his superior navigating abilities he was to lead an important mission in the morning escorting the bombers to their targets and bring back the fighters while the bombers continued to Russia.

This was to be a one-way flight for the bombers all the way to Russia. Ben and his fighters would fly and protect them half of their flight to be relieved by other American fighters flying out of Italy.

The next day October 7^th the flight to Germany was a typical escort mission. The bombers hit their targets and Ben started to lead the fighters back to base. As Ben was turning and banking he looked down and saw an enemy airfield which was located in Achmer, Germany . What caught his attention the most was right along the runway were the new Germans jets lined up and preparing for take off. Ben called in for permission to dive on a target. Once getting permission to dive and attack the airfield he and his wingman started into an 80-degree dive that was very dangerous to pull out of. The German radar was not able to warn the airplanes getting ready for take off on the field because their radar detected only horizontal flight and not vertical. Ben did this on purpose, this was his plan.

An aircraft is not designed to dive too steeply because it can go so fast that the control surfaces can lock up and send the pilot and fighter into the ground. Ben too found himself having difficulties as he tried to pull out of his dive. He carefully worked his trim tabs to level off just in time. Ben found himself zooming over the tree tops at over 500 miles per hour bringing him quickly to the Luftwaffe airfield. Flying full throttle and pulling out of a dive the “G” force pinned him to his seat. Flying just above treetops at this speed was a blast Ben told me as I interviewed him. Coming onto the field he saw two German jets taking off. Ben found himself perfectly behind the pair of brand new fighter jets as they rolled down the runway.

The first jet left the ground followed by the second. Pulling in behind the rear German jet which was the closest Ben fired a burst into the wing root of the jet, which literally exploded in his face. Doing a wing up and flying through the fireball Ben leveled off to gain a firing position on the first jet that had taken off. The German pilot saw Ben coming up and instead of using the jets full capability to escape, the German pulled up into a tight climbing turn, which reduced his speed. Ben pulled inside his turn and fired into the escaping jet. Fire quickly erupted with the pilot bailing out as the “Detroit Miss” flew over him.

Catching the attention of the anti-aircraft guns that lined the airfield the sky was now on fire. His wingman called to Ben and told him that he was going to try to knock out some of their gun positions. His wingman used his six fifty’s to rake four of the anti-aircraft emplacements before he was hit. Ben saw his wingman’s plane on fire from the nose to the tail and from wingtip to wingtip like a meteor flying low over the German airfield. Ben felt sick.

Ben shouted for him to roll over and bail out as he desperately tried to avoid becoming an inferno himself. Flying at tree top level and when possible even lower, Ben desperately tried to dodge the upcoming fire. Many of the bullets that hit his plane rolled around in the fuselage like marbles.

Ben radioed to his companions above that he wasn’t going to make it out. He told them that he shot down two of the jets taking off and reported his wingman was dead. He wanted to report this to his base should he not make it. His fellow pilots shouted for him to “come on, you can do it.” Ben in order not to be shot out of the air had to stay low and head for the coast. Ben found himself shot at by every AA positions at every cross road and over every town. Once reaching the coast the German 88mm cannon were used against him. Ben’s Mustang broke over the beach at treetop level heading toward England. The German batteries would shoot in front of him with their big shells causing water geysers to spring up in front of him. Ben found himself dodging these geysers till he was out of range of the German coastal guns.

With good fortune Ben found himself back over his airfield. After landing, he was met by his squadron with champagne only to find out that his gun cameras had jammed and had not recorded the two victories. His commanding officer gave him the credit for the jets but they were later rejected with no eye-witness and no film. The aerial victories would not be officially confirmed until forty years later. However Ben had not only shot down the first German jet, but the first two jet of the war.

Urban Drew finished his European tour flying 76 missions with six aerial victories, and one aircraft destroyed on the ground. Ben also helped destroy Germany’s largest seaplane.

After collecting his memories Ben has lectured before many groups and his final conclusions are the fact that the men he flew and fought against were just like him. Flying and fighting for their countries to their fullest, giving their all, with many giving their lives. The real heroes are the ones that died for their countries; no matter what uniform they wore, Ben told me.

After Ben’s war tour he was send back to the Sates where he again served as an instructor. Before the war ended Ben joined the 413^th Squadron, 414^th Fighter group and was transferred to the Pacific flying the P-47 Thunderbolt. In the Pacific he flew incredibly long escort flights over open ocean. Thought Ben never was able to scrap with the Japanese fighters his missions were never-the-less important.

In peace time Ben helped form the 127^th Fighter Group for the Michigan Air National Guard. He served with the Guard becoming the deputy group commander and later appointed as the first Air Adjutant General of his home state Michigan. Yet his official rank was a Major.

After Ben left the Air Guard in April 1949 he continued flying where ever the job took him. He left the States and moved to England where he formed an aviation company that operated in England and South Africa. He also partook of precarious aviation adventures where Ben did not fly wearing the uniform of any nation but as a mercenary.

On one such adventure Ben helped fly Jewish settlers into Israel after the Jews had stolen the lands from the local Palestinians. Here Ben took great risk doing this because the English were trying desperately to keep new Jewish immigrants from entering into the troubled area. In fact the English had ordered the shooting down of any airplane caught bringing in settlers. Ben knew this and the incredible risk he was taking. I must add here that Ben was doing this first for the excitement and second because he felt that the cause was good.

Forty years after the war passed Ben was living in South Africa. It was while he was in Africa when Ben was contacted by a woman who told him that she was researching combat reports for the Air Force. She discovered in Luftwaffe combat documents that it was Ben’s fighter that shot down two German jets taking off of the airfield at Achmer. In the Luftwaffe documents as well as from interviews with surviving Luftwaffe pilots they described the “Detroit Miss” to perfection. Her phone call to Ben confirmed that he was in fact an official Ace and held the distinction of being the first American pilot to shot down two jets in one mission. Ben knew in his heart that he was an Ace all along but he also understood the fact that all aerial victories had to be confirmed.

Ben also flew for private companies in Cambodia and Viet Nam. If you ever saw the Mel Gibson movie “Air America”, this is what Ben was doing. He even confided in me that he knew many of his flights were illegal. Ben flew until he finally retired.

His war final aerial victories were six with credit for damaging one. Ben was decorated with the Air Force Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross with one Oak-Leaf Cluster and the Air Medal with 13 Oak-Leaf Clusters.

It is a pleasure to have met Ben Drew and to have worked with him on this historical document. It is men like Ben that I have admired all my life and I know that I would have followed him into combat. Ben was one of those men that after experiencing the excitement of combat could not stay away form one adventure after another. Sometimes this is good and sometimes it is bad. After Ben left the service he had one adventure after another and one success and failure after another. I need to add here that all through his life Ben was a ladies man with many an incredible story after another in that area. And yes we traded stories about the women in our lives. All in all he lived his life the way he wanted no matter how many ups and downs life offered him and I am so fortunate to have gotten to know my friend Ben Drew.

This is the painting for the print.

Photo of Ben Drew

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Posted 2-9-07