When I wrote my Sports Page profile of Dr. Ed Cottrell of Pinehurst, prior to his induction into the Slippery Rock University Hall of Fame, I took notes on an exciting World War II story that he told me — but I held the story for a column, because I didn’t think it belonged in a sports profile.
But Sports Editor Hunter Chase decided that, in order to make the profile package complete, he needed some old photographs of Cottrell. The best old photos Cottrell had dated from his military service, so that’s what Chase used with the profile.
Turns out, I should have used the war story.
But here it is, just in time for Memorial Day.
Cottrell piloted a bomber during the war. He flew 65 missions — just what he had to fly in order to get to come home. But it took him from the end of his pilot’s training, just after D-Day in 1944, until the end of the war in Germany to get those 65 missions. So he was “in for the duration,” after all — except that, if he hadn’t logged all those missions, he might have had to go to the Pacific Theater and continue flying, fighting the war against the Japanese, who surrendered later than the Germans
He claims that flying those 65 missions wasn’t hazardous duty, because he did mostly strafing and low-altitude bombing and didn’t deal much with Axis fighter jets or anti-aircraft fire. But the following story gives the lie to his claim of safety.
“We were flying in formation, and I was just to the left of the squadron leader’s plane,” Cottrell recalled, “when he peeled off and left us alone. I wondered why — and then a shot from a German plane hit my engine. There was oil all over the windshield. I turned and headed for home base, wondering if I could make it in time. The engine was cutting in and out.
“I got pretty near the border, was almost out of Germany, when I looked to the rear and saw two Messerschmitts bearing down on me from the rear. They had us right in their gunsights, and with my plane disabled, there was no way I could take evasive action.
“Remember that pilots on both sides, Allied and Axis, were trying for the same thing — to shoot down enemy planes and get credit toward being air aces. This one would be an easy kill for the Messerschmitt pilots and gunners.
“Then the Messerschmitts came upon each side of me, waggled their wings, and gave me an escort out of German airspace. They weren’t going to shoot us down. They were making sure we got home safely.”
Cottrell paused and took a deep breath. He was looking back almost 60 years, to the skies over Germany.
“I’ve often wondered if those German fliers were ballplayers or sportsmen of some kind before the war,” he said. “They were practicing good sportsmanship.
“I played some football, both before and after the war, and I know I wouldn’t have shot down a crippled plane like that. It would have been like ‘piling on’ an injured player, tackling him when he was down. Sure, some people would do that, purely to make sure that the player was too hurt to continue — but I wouldn’t have done it, and most football players wouldn’t have done it. They would have had too much respect for their opponents.
“Those German pilots wouldn’t have done it, either. They, too, had respect for their opponents. I feel sure they had some experience with sports and had learned the value of sportsmanship.”
Contact Clark Cox at 693-2478 or at ccox@thepilot.com.
