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Ernie Case
Ernest Francis Case (November 23, 1920 – December 13, 1995) was an American college football player who was a quarterback for the UCLA Bruins. A bomber pilot who was shot down and captured as a prisoner-of-war during World War II, Case is best remembered for leading UCLA to its first 10–0 season and a berth in the 1947 Rose Bowl game.
Although the first quarterback selected in the 1947 NFL draft, Case signed instead with the upstart Baltimore Colts of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), playing just one uneventful season in a reserve role before retiring.
Ernie Case enrolled at Los Angeles City College, where he played halfback on the school's football team. He transferred to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1940. He started the season as the Bruins' second string left halfback. During this year coming off the bench, Case distinguished himself both for his quickness and for his passing acumen, tossing two long touchdown passes in one noteworthy scrimmage against the team's starters playing the role of Stanford University quarterback Frankie Albert.
As spring practice for the 1941 season approached, the sophomore Case appeared to be in line to take on the role of starting quarterback for the UCLA squad coached by Edwin C. "Babe" Horrell. This was formalized at the team's first practice of the fall in September, when Case was named UCLA's starting quarterback by Coach Horrell.
Competing with Case for the UCLA starting QB job was Bob Waterfield, a future superstar of the National Football League. By the time of the season opener against Washington State University, Waterfield had won the starting quarterback position, with the left-handed Case relegated to a backup role.
Unfortunately, life intervened and Case's college days were interrupted by American entry into World War II. Motivated by the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, on January 10, 1942, Case informed Coach Horrell that he was leaving school to enlist in the Army Air Corps in support of the nation's war effort.
Case trained as a pilot and flew as captain of a bomber on the European front, flying 12 missions without mishap. Case's 13th mission, flown in February 1943, proved unlucky, however, and he was shot down by Italian forces over Sardinia. Case suffered a broken hip and shattered parachuting from his crippled plane and was captured by enemy forces. After a brief period of hospitalization, he was transferred from Sardinia to a prisoner-of-war camp at Chieti, located on the Italian mainland.
On September 23, 1943, with POWs being moved from Italy to more secure sites in Germany, Case and a comrade took advantage of the diversion provided by an Allied bombing of his locale, escaping through a hole in his stockade fence. The pair made their way towards invading Allied forces, subsisting on whatever they could find to eat, including bread and water provided by friendly Italians, eventually meeting up with a patrol of the Canadian 8th Army on October 26 at the municipality of Trivento. Before the war was over, Case attained the rank of 1st lieutenant and had been awarded the Purple Heart for wounds suffered in action.
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Ernie Case
Ernest Francis Case (November 23, 1920 – December 13, 1995) was an American college football player who was a quarterback for the UCLA Bruins. A bomber pilot who was shot down and captured as a prisoner-of-war during World War II, Case is best remembered for leading UCLA to its first 10–0 season and a berth in the 1947 Rose Bowl game.
Although the first quarterback selected in the 1947 NFL draft, Case signed instead with the upstart Baltimore Colts of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), playing just one uneventful season in a reserve role before retiring.
Ernie Case enrolled at Los Angeles City College, where he played halfback on the school's football team. He transferred to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1940. He started the season as the Bruins' second string left halfback. During this year coming off the bench, Case distinguished himself both for his quickness and for his passing acumen, tossing two long touchdown passes in one noteworthy scrimmage against the team's starters playing the role of Stanford University quarterback Frankie Albert.
As spring practice for the 1941 season approached, the sophomore Case appeared to be in line to take on the role of starting quarterback for the UCLA squad coached by Edwin C. "Babe" Horrell. This was formalized at the team's first practice of the fall in September, when Case was named UCLA's starting quarterback by Coach Horrell.
Competing with Case for the UCLA starting QB job was Bob Waterfield, a future superstar of the National Football League. By the time of the season opener against Washington State University, Waterfield had won the starting quarterback position, with the left-handed Case relegated to a backup role.
Unfortunately, life intervened and Case's college days were interrupted by American entry into World War II. Motivated by the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, on January 10, 1942, Case informed Coach Horrell that he was leaving school to enlist in the Army Air Corps in support of the nation's war effort.
Case trained as a pilot and flew as captain of a bomber on the European front, flying 12 missions without mishap. Case's 13th mission, flown in February 1943, proved unlucky, however, and he was shot down by Italian forces over Sardinia. Case suffered a broken hip and shattered parachuting from his crippled plane and was captured by enemy forces. After a brief period of hospitalization, he was transferred from Sardinia to a prisoner-of-war camp at Chieti, located on the Italian mainland.
On September 23, 1943, with POWs being moved from Italy to more secure sites in Germany, Case and a comrade took advantage of the diversion provided by an Allied bombing of his locale, escaping through a hole in his stockade fence. The pair made their way towards invading Allied forces, subsisting on whatever they could find to eat, including bread and water provided by friendly Italians, eventually meeting up with a patrol of the Canadian 8th Army on October 26 at the municipality of Trivento. Before the war was over, Case attained the rank of 1st lieutenant and had been awarded the Purple Heart for wounds suffered in action.