Tuskegee Airman Lt. Lee "Buddy" Archer
"Showdown at Lake Balaton"
Oil on Canvas 30" x 30" © 2011 For Sale
This image is also available as a canvas print
This is the first rotational painting in which I have utilized a flat horizon line rather than one which is at a tilt. The reflection of the sky in the water serves as a Trompe-l'œil effect.
"Showdown over Lake Balaton" is the 7th in the Rotational Series and the 6th square rotational painting. The painting depicts Tuskegee Airman Lt. Archer in a head-on pass with a Hungarian Me 109 from No. 101 "Puma "Squadron on 12 October 1944. At that stage of the war the average Hungarian fighter pilot was better trained and more experienced than his Luftwaffe counterpart. This was due to the terrible attrition suffered by the German fighter pilots since mid 1943. Lee Archer shot down three of the Hungarian Messerschmitts in the span of about ten minutes.
Lt. Colonel Lee A. Archer
Aside from General Benjamin O. Davis, Lt. Colonel Lee Archer is probably the most famous of all the Tuskegee Airmen. The Tuskegee Airmen were first Negro pilots in the USAAF and first squadron to see combat was the 99th which was sent to North Africa in 1943. When there were enough pilots the 322nd Fighter Group was formed. It was comprised of the 100th, 301st and 302nd Fighter Squadrons. The 322nd Fighter Group first saw combat in early 1944. In July 1944, the 99thFS joined the group making the 332nd the only group in the USAAF that was comprised of four squadrons.
Born on Sept. 6, 1919, in Yonkers and raised in Harlem, Archer left New York University to enlist in the Army Air Corps in early 1941 but was rejected for pilot training because the military didn't allow Negros to serve as pilots. The Tuskegee program began officially in June 1941. Archer re-applied and entered the Army in November 1941, initially receiving training as a telegrapher and field network-communications specialist. In December 1942, he was accepted into aviation cadet training and reported to the Tuskegee Army Airfield in Tuskegee, Alabama. Archer graduated number one in his class, 43-G was rated a pilot and commissioned a Second Lieutenant on 28 July 1943.
Lt. Archer was assigned to the 302nd Fighter Squadron, 322nd Fighter Group and deployed with the Group to Italy. They arrived at Taranto in the last week of January 1944. The unit flew the P-39 Aircobra before transitioning to the P-47D Thunderbolt and then to the P-51 Mustang. A natural pilot, Lt. Archer teamed up with squadron mate Captain Wendell O. Pruitt on many missions. They became known as the “Gruesome Twosome” and flew similarly marked Mustangs with a Zoot Suited "Hep Cat" painted on the rear fuselages.
Archer was promoted to First Lieutenant in August 1944. His most successful aerial encounter came on 12 October 1944 when he shot down three Me 109s. After the end of WWII Archer remained in the Air Force. He also flew combat missions during the Korean War and eventually retired from the United States Air Force after 29 years of service.
Controversy has surrounded Colonel Archer for years. Though only officially credited with four aerial victories, one less than the required five, Lt. Colonel Lee A. Archer, one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen was given the title Honorary Ace by the American Fighter Aces Association. Whenever there is mention of a 5th victory historians and aficionados take sides to argue the point. The victory in question occurred on 18 July 1944 the day he scored his first victory over Memmingen, Germany. Apparently a second kill on 18 July was never credited to him. After shooting down the first 109, Archer spotted another one and went after it. His squadron mate Lt. Freddie Hutchins, also spotted the plane and pursued it with Archer. After chasing it for some time, Lt. Archer got within range and fired, mortally damaging the Messerschmitt. As it headed toward the ground, Hutchins, who'd almost pulled even with Archer, fired as well: "for the hell of it," according to Archer. Conspiracy theorists say that Lt. Archer was originally given full credit for this second kill of 18 July but that three months later, when he scored a triple on 12 October, the second victory was awarded to Hutchins. They maintain that detractors of the Tuskegee Airmen in positions of power in the USAAF wanted to prevent Archer from being America's first black ace of WWII.
Colonel Archer flew 169 combat missions during his time with the 302nd flying cover and escorting long-range bombers as well as strafing missions against enemy ground targets. He is officially credited with the destruction of 4 enemy aircraft in aerial combat (all Me 109's) plus 6 more enemy aircraft on the ground while strafing enemy airfields in August 1944. completing his tour and returning to the USA in January 1945. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and received special citations from Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson, along with the Director of the CIA. Archer retired as a lieutenant colonel after 29 years of service and resided in New Rochelle, N.Y. Lee Archer died on 27 January 2010 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Noted Warbird collector and pilot Kermit Weeks owns and flies a P-51C painted in the colorful markings of Archer's "Ina the Macon Belle". The aircraft is based at the Fantasy of Flight museum in Polk City, Florida, USA.
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