Richard Gomez Candelaria, born July 14, 1922 was an American flying ace in the 479th Fighter Group during World War II, who was credited with six aerial victories, including an ME 262.

                                                       Early life  :

Candelaria was born on July 14, 1922, in El Paso, Texas. The only child in his family, Candelaria was seven years old when his father died. His maternal grandmother, two aunts and an uncle then moved to Southern California to live with the family, where they lived comfortably during the Great Depression.

After graduating from Theodore Roosevelt High School in Fresno in February 1939, Candelaria passed preliminary entrance exams for the Air Force flying program. He began his seven month studies at the University of Southern California to meet the two year college requirement within the U.S. Army Air Corps. During this time, he maintained his interest in aviation by working part time at Miller Dial & Instrument, a company that produced instrument dials for aircraft.[1]

                                                           Military career :

During World War II, Candelaria enlisted in the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Army Air Forces on January 22, 1943. He began his training at airfields in California and Arizona. In January 1944, he graduated as a second lieutenant and received his pilot's wings. Following completion of flight training, Candelaria was selected and assigned to Williams and Luke Fields in Arizona, as a flight instructor, teaching advanced pilot instrument flying and gunnery.

                                                          World War II  :

In May 1944, Candelaria registered to be assigned in combat operations. After completing P-51 Mustang transition training, he was assigned with the 435th Fighter Squadron of the 479th Fighter Group in England in September 1944. Based at RAF Wattisham, he flew P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs on bomber escort missions.  On December 5th, he was flying as wingman to the flight leader on a mission northwest of Berlin when his squadron encountered 80 Focke-Wulf FW 190s that were attempting to attack  the formation of B-24 Liberators they were escorting. The P-51s attacked the large formation of German fighters with Candelaria immediately shooting down two FW 190s, resulting the remaining FW 190s to scatter and retreat.

His biggest combat day came on April 7, 1945. Candelaria was taxiing for takeoff as a leader of his section when he got a call from the control tower informing him that his rear tire was flat. The ground crew quickly installed a new one, but, by the time he got airborne, the rest of the flight element had departed to rendezvous with the B-24s. Candelaria arrived early over his target by taking shortcuts, he noticed two jet-powered Messerschmitt ME 262s forming up to attack the B-24s. Candelaria closed head on to the ME 262s, and, as the jets dipped to go below him, he dropped his fuel tanks, in an attempt to hit one of them. This didn't happen, but the maneuver managed to distract the two German pilots. As they began to circle toward the B-24 formation, Candelaria turned his P-51 to get inside their wide turn and onto their tails. He managed to fire at one of the Me 262s, hitting it, as it began to smoke, then, rolled over, and disappeared into the clouds below them. The other ME 262 attempted to attack Candelaria, but decided to break off and turned away.  Just after his encounter with the ME 262s ended, Candelaria saw  several Messerschmitt Bf 109s attempting to attack the B-24s. He radioed his squadron for aid and immediately attacked and shot down one of the lead Bf 109s. Candelaria, then, went after the remaining German fighters and shot down three more of them before the rest of his squadron finally arrived, resulting in the remaining Bf 109s to scatter and retreat.

                                             Shot Down and Evading The Germans

On April 13, 1945, after a mission over East Prussia, Candelaria attacked enemy aircraft at an airfield in Rostock. After attacking the airfield on his first pass, he decided to attack the airfield again in a second pass, which was always a bad idea.  Because, by this time, the German anti aircraft personnel ready and waiting for him, managed to shoot at him and wreck his aircraft's engine, which caught fire as Candelaria steered his aircraft toward the Elbe River and  Allied controlled territory. Then he bailed out of his P-51and parachuted successfully to the ground.  After several days on the run, he was moving through an open field to get from one forested area in order to hide in another one when two German soldiers appeared. Candelaria attempted to surrender to them by waving his white pilot scarf, but the Germans ignored his effort to surrender and opened fire on him with their rifles. In response, and dtifully, Candelaria pulled out his pistol, and shot and killed both the soldiers. 

After another two days, weakened from hunger and exposure, Candelaria found himself near a small settlement and hid out in a vacant cabin. But the locals had seen him, and some of them approached the cabin with a German Army sergeant. They wanted to lynch him on the spot because their village had recently been strafed and bombed by Allied aircraft. But the sergeant held them off until another officer arrived and escorted Candelaria away from the mob. Candelaria was taken to a Luftwaffe command center, where other Allied pilots were also being held. After several weeks of captivity, Candelaria and two British officers managed to overpower a German captain inspecting the farmhouse where they were being kept. They hijacked a German automobile, taking a German captain hostage so as to reach Allied lines. Soon they had crossed over into Belgium, where they were quite surprised to learn that the war in Europe was over. Candelaria made it safely back to his squadron, and eventually back to the United States. During World War II, Candelaria was credited with destroying 6 enemy aircraft in aerial combat plus 1 probable. During his time with the 479th Fighter Group, he flew his P-51K he named, My Pride and Joy.

                                                                     Post war   :   

Candelaria left active military duty on May 1, 1946, and served in the U.S Air Force Reserves until joining the California Air National Guard on April 27, 1950. He served in a variety of command and staff positions over the next ten years, including commanding the Replacement Training Squadron at Van Nuys Air National Guard Base from February 1955 to June 1957. He transferred to the Air Force Reserve on October 20, 1960, and retired on June 15, 1964, with the final rank of Colonel. 

                                                                      Later life  :  

Col. Candelaria married Betty Jean Landreth in 1953. The couple had two daughters. After his retirement from military, Candelaria had a successful business career starting a series of successful manufacturing businesses. He worked in his own businesses in management and administration.

In 2007, Candelaria appeared on an episode of the History Channel series of historic videos, named,  "Dogfights". The episode titled, "P-51 Mustang",  featured his April 7, 1945 mission defending the large formation of B-24s over Germany. The episode was the eleventh episode of the second season of the series, which recreated historical air combat campaigns using modern computer graphics.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Aerial victory credits  :

Date

Location

Air/Ground  :  air

Number

Type  :  FW 190

Status  :  Destroyed

5 December 1944

Berlin, Germany

Air

2

FW 190

Destroyed

7 April 1945

Lüneburg, Germany

Air

1

ME 262

Probable

7 April 1945

Lüneburg, Germany

Air

4

Bf 109

Destroyed

SOURCES: Air Force Historical Study 85: USAF Credits for the Destruction of Enemy Aircraft, World War II

                                                       Awards and Decorations  :

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        His awards include:

  USAF Command Pilot Badge

 

  Silver Star

 

  Distinguished Flying Cross

 

  Purple Heart

 

  Air Medal with one silver and two bronze oak leaf clusters

                                                                                                                                                          Air Force Presidential Unit Citation with two bronze oak leaf clusters

 

  Prisoner of War Medal

 

  Army Good Conduct Medal

 

  American Campaign Medal

                                                                                                                                              European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with four bronze  campaign stars

 

 World War II Victory Medal

 

 Armed Forces Reserve Medal with bronze hour glass devic                                                                                                                                                                                                   Air Force Longevity Service Award with four bronze oak leaf clusters

 

  French Legion of Honour   -  Chevalier

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Silver Star Citation  :

For gallantry in action while escorting heavy bombers over Germany, 7 April 1945. When adverse weather caused Captain Richard Candelaria to become separated from his Squadron, he continued on alone to rendezvous with the bombers. Observing two ME-262 jets attacking the bomber formation, Captain Candelaria intercepted and dispersed them, probably destroying one of the fighters and damaging another. Still alone, and completely ignoring the odds and his personal danger, Captain Candelaria attacked approximately fifteen hostile fighters. Selecting the lead plane for his initial target, he shot it down in flames and then gallantly engaged the remaining aircraft until assistance arrived. Captain Candelaria's courage, tenacity of purpose, and determination to destroy the enemy at any cost are borne out by the fact that during this action he shot down four  ME-109's, thus preventing serious damage being inflicted on the bombers.

                                                                                                                                                                                                     References  :   Air Museum - Crashed Near Tarnowitz