M911 Anti-Aircraft Pistol

[SawdustBytes]

"Owen John Baggett was born in 1920 in Graham, Texas. By 1941 he
graduated from college and went on to work on Wall Street, but by the
following year, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps (now USAF) when the United
States entered the war.

A studious man, he graduated from pilot training in just five months
and was sent to Burma, flying a B-24 Liberator. What happened the following
year is one of those stories we just described.

On March 31st, 1943, Baggett and his squadron were sent on a mission
to destroy a bridge of strategic importance. On their way, the B-24s got
intercepted by Japanese Zeros which hit the squadron hard. Baggetts'
plane was riddled with bullets to such an extent that the crew was forced to
bail out. While parachuting, a Japanese pilot decided that downing the plane
wasn't enough. He circled around and started shooting at the bailed out
pilots, killing two of the crew. Seeing this, Baggett did the only thing he
could. He played dead.

Not convinced Baggett was dead, the Zero pulled up to him at near stall
speed, the pilot opening his canopy to check on his horrendous work.
Not wasting any time and thinking on his feet (no pun intended), Baggett
pulled out his pistol and shot the pilot right in the head.

This is considered the best shot by a Caliber .45 M911 pistol of ALL TIME.

The last thing he saw was the Zero spiraling toward earth.

When he landed, he and the other bailed out crew members were
captured and sent to a POW camp where they remained till the end of the war.
They were liberated by OSS agents and Baggett was recognized as the only
person during the war to shoot down a Zero with a pistol."

[joe817]

Fascinating recount of events! thanks for posting SawdustBytes!

[joe817]

This guy is famous! A quick search yields these result. Each is worthy of a good read:

From the American Rifleman, 03/29/2011:

"On that fated day, the 7th BG's 9th Bomb Squadron was sent on a mission to destroy a railroad bridge, but was attacked before it could reach its target. The bombing group took heavy fire from Japanese fighter planes, wounding the squadron’s commander, Col. Conrad F. Necrason, and disabling numerous B-24 Bombers, including one carrying Lt. Owen J. Baggett."

http://www.americanrifleman.org/article ... ts-a-zero/

From Field & Stream Magazine, June 03, 2011:

"While compiling the timeline for “Pistol of the Century,” our tribute to the 1911 in the June issue of Field & Stream, I read through many accounts of the 1911 in combat. The most unusual shot,(and possibly the best ever) made in wartime with a 1911 pistol had to be the one fired by a USAAF B-24 co-pilot named Owen J. Baggett in March, 1943 in the skies over Burma. Of course, I am biased toward this one as it involves a flying target . . ."

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/gun ... -1911-ever

Sawdust, see what you started? Again, thank you. I love stuff like this.

[SawdustBytes]

Joe817,

Thank you for your response.

That excerpt was forwarded to me by a member of my woodturning club.

Let me take a moment to express my appreciation for your postings of "This Day in History".

I gotta get me one uv those aunty aircraft guns.

Randy

[joe817]

Thanks for the kind words Randy. (and me too! I need an aunty aircraft gun! )

[RossA]

Ain't never heard of that being done with a plastic gun!