His father’s father, the original James Maitland Stewart, served in the Union Army during the Civil War, participating in the valley campaigns of Shenandoah and serving under Gen. In many ways, it was viewed as his birthright. Long before he entertained the idea of movie stardom, James Maitland Stewart felt the call of military service. It also would be the one that almost broke him. It would be his finest moment in the air. Mayer to participate in, and felt a lifetime of obligation to fulfill. This is what he left Hollywood for, circumvented Louis B. It was the fifth day of the Eighth Air Force’s Big Week in February 1944, and Stewart was on his 10th combat mission in the air as either a group, wing, or squadron leader. Stewart’s 445th Bombing Group only have each other and the tightness of their formation for protection-the Eighth Air Force and RAF fighters that accompanied the mission are spread too thin across the rest of Operation Argument’s ambitious list of targets to help-and they’re a long way from home. Meanwhile, German Focke-Wulf 190 fighters are beginning to swarm. They’re not so lucky as a wing comes off and the craft falls to the earth.
The German ground defenses and their 88mm shells are rattling the sky with more flak, and out of the corner of his eye, Stewart can see one of his planes, and his crews, also get hit. Almost two feet in width, the gap offers a clear view through the plane’s fuselage and straight on to the German landscape below.
When Stewart finally gets his bearings, he’s able to look down and see the hole in the aircraft-the edge of it is inches from his boot. Neil Johnson’s hands are briefly shaken from the controls and for a moment, the entire plane is consumed with smoke as it violently ascends. Still, Stewart rises in the air pilot Capt. The whiplash is so intense that only harnesses keep him in his seat. That’s because a German shell (or flak) has pierced directly through the center of his B-24 Liberator. James Stewart (Jimmy Stewart to his fans), is nearly lifted out of his chair.
But even before making the full turn out of Bavaria, Dixie Flyer’s copilot and the leader of this bombing group, Maj. More than 18,000 feet above the German city of Fürth, the World War II B-24 bomber they call Dixie Flyer has just delivered its full payload onto a German manufacturer, devastating its ability to build military aircraft and turning the airfield into a scrap heap.
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