Paul Bernard Wurtsmith (9 August 1906 – 13 September 1946) was a United States Army Air Forces general during World War II.

Enlisting in the United States Army Air Corps as a flying cadet in 1927, Wurtsmith was commissioned in 1928.

He took over command of the 49th Pursuit Group in December 1941 and between March 1942 and January 1943, his fighters downed 78 enemy aircraft in the defense of Darwin in northern Australia, against Japanese air attacks.

[1] On earning his wings through the successful completion of flight training at Kelly Field, San Antonio, Texas,[5] he was directly commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Reserve on 23 June 1928.

Arriving in Australia in February 1942,[8] the 49th Pursuit Group moved to the Darwin area in March and April 1942.

Morale in Darwin was low, but the sight of Wurtsmith's aircraft patrolling the skies provided an important boost.

[9] Between December 1941 and March 1942, over 300 P-40 Kittyhawks, 100 P-400 and 90 P-39 Airacobras had been sent to Australia; of these, around 125 had been lost to enemy action in the Dutch East Indies campaign, 75 had been transferred to the RAAF, 74 were under or awaiting repair and perhaps another 100 had yet to be completely assembled.

The two-plane element was fixed as the chief unit of combat, and individual dogfighting was strictly prohibited.

[4] In August 1942, Major General George Kenney assumed command of the Allied Air Forces in the South West Pacific Area, becoming the senior Allied air officer under the theater commander, General Douglas MacArthur.

Kenney concurrently commanded the Fifth Air Force, with Brigadier General Ennis Whitehead as his deputy.

[1] He also became one of a handful of American officers to be decorated by the Australian government, being awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire for "excellence of training and direction of fighter operations in New Guinea".

[19] The first long-range American fighter was the twin-engined P-38 Lightning but none reached the South West Pacific Area until October 1942 and, beset with a host of mechanical difficulties, it was not until December 1942 that they flew their first major combat mission over New Guinea.

[20] Deliveries were suspended in January 1943 owing to the requirements of the North African Campaign, forcing Kenney to accept the P-47 Thunderbolt, the first of which arrived in Australia in July 1943.

Though the tanks were very successful on the P-38s and P-40s, overloading the P-47s caused several crashes, and the pilots were reluctant to fly with more than 505 US gallons (1,910 L) of fuel.

[27] Then, in July 1944, Charles Lindbergh, who was visiting the South West Pacific area as civilian observer, taught Wurtsmith's pilots how to obtain greater range by economical operation of their engines.

[28] On 30 January 1945, Wurtsmith replaced Major General St. Clair Streett as commander of the Thirteenth Air Force.

[1] The Thirteenth Air Force was tasked with the support of Lieutenant General Robert L. Eichelberger's Eighth United States Army in the Victor series of operations to clear the Southern Philippines that included the Invasion of Palawan, Battle of the Visayas, and the Battle of Mindanao.

Operating under Air Vice Marshal William Bostock's RAAF Command, the Thirteenth Air Force also supported Lieutenant General Sir Leslie Morshead's Australian I Corps in the Oboe series of operations against Japanese forces in Borneo.

[34] On 13 September, with Wurtsmith at the controls, the Mitchell, 44-30227, set out for MacDill Field in bad weather, flying at 6,000 feet (1,800 m)—below the safe altitude for the area.

At around 11:20 all on board were killed when the aircraft crashed into Cold Mountain, about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Asheville, North Carolina.

[36] Wurtsmith's remains were recovered from Cold Mountain and were interred in Arlington National Cemetery on 18 September 1946.