RUFUS
DYE, JR.
Patriot, Chapter 1919
(AIR FORCE,
WWII, Europe) Article January 1997
This is a fighter pilot’s story, shot down
behind enemy lines, parachuted into the middle of a major German withdrawal,
and pedaled to safety by a French boy on his bicycle.
In WWII, Lieutenant
Rufus Dye was a
9th Air Force fighter pilot in the 392nd Squadron, 367th Fighter Group. The
392nd was a squadron of P-38 “Lightnings” that normally flew
missions of Bomber Escort, Armed Reconnaissance, Interdiction, or Close Air
Support. On the evening of September 8, 1944 his unit had been ordered to
do something unusual, that was to conduct a very late in the day raid into
Germany. Normally the 367th Fighter Group was a daylight
operations unit. The squadron bombed a rail marshalling yard in the heavily
defended city of Cologne and Rufus' plane was damaged by FLAK. Rufus had
lost his radio, apparently damaged, and on the long return flight back over
France, Rufus noticed that his wingman had slightly moved away and put some
distance between their two planes—then he saw why. One of the engines on
his plane had caught fire and he knew that P-38’s with a leaking fuel line
had a reputation for blowing up in the air. Rufus already had a leg wound
from the FLAK hit, and parachuting from a P-38 was especially dangerous
because the pilot almost always would hit the tail assembly before falling
clear of the aircraft. He didn’t have time to think about it. Rufus
bailed-out, and sure enough, struck the tail further injuring himself, and
just barely in time. However, most of those injuries were sustained getting
out of the cockpit. Moments later as he watched, suspended in his parachute
harness, the plane detonated in a spectacular explosion that lit up the
nighttime darkness.
He floated down safely and landed in a
potato field out in the countryside. Rufus estimated that it was some miles
to the northeast of Paris. He stood up but could not walk. Both ankles and
his back were badly injured. The night was moonlit and Rufus had come down
in full view of a huge mass of retreating German armor and troops that were
withdrawing to the east in convoy on a major road that was no more than a
quarter-mile from where he had landed. The Germans saw his plane explode
and they couldn’t miss seeing his parachute descend. None of them would
fire at him or break off from the convoy to come and kill or capture him,
but Rufus expected they might at the time. As he was collecting himself on
a path at the edge of the field, suddenly in the darkness, he was almost run
over by a young French boy pedaling along on his bicycle. Rufus had an
“escape packet” for downed airmen, and that had quite a lot of French money
in it. Despite some language difficulties, Rufus struck a deal with the
teenager. In exchange for all the money, he pedaled away down the path
through the fields with Rufus perched on the handlebars. The Germans were
headed east, and the bicycle headed west as they passed out of sight. After
about 5 or 6 kilometers they came upon some British soldiers, he had almost
reached the Allied lines before his plane went down. It was decided that it
would be best if Rufus remained with the soldiers at their outpost until
morning. The British troops put him on a cot and gave him a fifth of Red
Label scotch for the pain and it worked. The next morning very early one of
the British troops took Rufus to the U.S. 7th Army Field
Hospital. There he was given proper medical attention. He remained for
several days in their care.
Rufus Dye
was improving, but could still hardly walk The Field Hospital received
orders to move before they could locate where Rufus’ unit had moved. Since
their movement orders routed them through newly liberated Paris, the
Hospital Commander advised Rufus of the situation and gave him a choice.
Stay with them until they arrived at their future location, or get off the
truck in Paris and hope to be picked up by American troops that could get
him back to his home base. He decided to take his chances so the hospital
unit dropped him off in front of a bistro as they were passing through the
city. He sat himself down outside to have some refreshments and contemplate
his predicament. While sitting there an American Pilot came up the street,
and he and Rufus did a double-take, staring at one another in disbelief. It
was one of his friends from the 392nd Squadron, and the friend
looked like he was seeing a ghost. Rufus’ wing man had not seen him bailout
of the burning P-38, so the 367th Group had presumed he had been
killed when it exploded. Rufus caught a ride back to the airbase with this
friend, who happened to be flying a P-38 “Droop Snoot” version of the
fighter aircraft. This aircraft normally carried a bombardier in the
plastic nose, but this time it was Rufus perched in the nose. There was no
parachute for him and Rufus hoped the floor door wouldn’t open on the flight
back to his unit.
Rufus was reunited with
his squadron and he survived the war without further comparable incidents.
He was discharged after WWII, but came back into the Air Force in 1948. He
flew combat missions in fighter aircraft in the Korean War (P-51 Mustang)
and in Vietnam (F-105 Thunder Chief) but was never again shot down or
wounded in action. After a long and distinguished career, Colonel Rufus
Dye, Jr. retired from Headquarters, 12th Air Force in 1971
and has remained living in Austin, Texas since that time. As a charter
member, he helped to establish Chapter 1919 of the Military Order of the
Purple Heart, and he has served as a chapter officer in multiple leadership
positions. Colonel Rufus Dye, Jr. passed away on August 3, 2015 at the age
of 92.
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