Evening star., 1943-04-25
BY HAROLD V. BOYLE.

Associated Press War Correspondent.
WITH THE AAF IN TUNISIA-
The fighting formula of Maj Levi r.
Chase, whose 10 air victories make
him the ranking Allied ace in North
Africa, is to ''let the other fellow
stick his head out first-then shoot
it off,"
The 25-year- old Cortland IN. "
flyer. one of the coolest and most
methodical of airmen, is in many
ways the exact opposite of the
popular conception of a typical
fighter pilot.
Although he has shot down nine
Germans and one Italian. he doesn't t
think the prime purpose of the
pursuit pilot is to pick hghts-it
is to get the bombers he is escort
inc safely home.
Most of his record toll consists
of rash young Axis pilots who
make the mistake of jumping on
him. The major makes practice
of allowing an opponent only one
erl or-then the next day there is
new Nazi swastika painted on the
side of his cockpit.
They Make Mistakes.
His victories have been scored
against enemy planes which are
faster but less maneuverable than
the P-40s of his squadron, and sum-
ming up his own brushes with
Jerry the major said matter-of-
factly:
He has advantages over us. but
he does make mistakes When he
makes a mistake we take advantage
of it."
The success of this formula is at
tested by the record of the P-4O
group, which has brought down SO
Axis planes during the Tunisian
campaign. a
Chase has become as famous
around here as his mentor and
friend, the legendary 1t Col, Phil
Cochran of Erie, Pa. who led the
P-40 pilots in the early days when
the French nicknamed them the
Guerrilla Fighters"
Aviation is a passion and a sci
ence with Maj. Chase He is mod
est about his own exploits. but dis
cusses them without embarrass-
ment, seeming to be more interested
in them as series of maneuvers
thar as spectacular individual feats.
Tells of Career.
A tWo-hour conversation with him
in his tent one spring day recently
resulted in this story of his career:
Il had never been up in an air
plane before I enrolled as a flying
cadet February II, 1941, but avia-
ton has always fascinated me and
I felt I should get into a branch of
the Army I would really like and
enjoy. That is the way it has
turned out
After getting my commission at
Maxwell Field Ala, in September,
l941. 1 flew at Mitchell Field. the
Carolina maneuvers, Philadelphia
and Norfolk.
Il landed at Port Lyautey, Mo-
roco last November and our group
of P-40s soon moved up to the
Tunisian front.
For about six weeks we were the
only fighters in that area We COW
cred from Sousse to Gabes, shoot
ing up everything from scout cars
and tanks to locomotives. I got my
first ME-109 while over Gabes 1t
was the first confirmed victory of
our group.
Last Christmas Day we wanted
to do something even if the weather
was bad. I took my flight north
of SfaX to distract attention while
Maj. Cochran's flight shot up the
SfaX gardens where the Germans
had concentrated vehicles and am
munition."
Wins Decorations.
Maj. Chase. who holds the Silver
Star and is one of the most deco
rated flyers on the front. was
awarded the CroiX de Guerre for
his work with another pilot in
shooting down two German JU-88s
attacking French ground troops in
the Ousseltia Valley. That engage
ment gave him a second victory.
1--WE had about the usual run of
stuff after that" he continued. "On
January 5. got my squadron COM
mand Before we went to rest camp
a month later I got another ME-109
and Focke Wulf 190
After that we did a lot of escort
work. I got an Italian Macchi 2O2
in big scrap down at Maknassy
The next one was ME 109 I met
coming home from Ell Diem. I got
two more 109s on another trip when
we had to fight all the way home
from Ell Diem.
"A day and a half later on the
same milk run we ran into the
toughest fight we've ever had. We
were having tough time protecting
bomber stragglers and had driven
off four or five attacks by l09s
when we were hit from the left by
eight more and had to fight for our
own lives.
Job to Protect Bombers.
There were only three of us and
we fought them for go miles. We
would run a while and then turn
to face them when they started to
dive on us. For all their speed
they don't like to get mixed into all