In September 1942, Ben entered flight school in Nashville Tennessee. Ben’s next phase of training was at Maxwell Army Air Force Base where he learned to fly the Stearman Bi-plane. The Army Air Corp was in great need of pilots and Ben was catching on very well as he soloed after only six hours and twelve minutes of instruction.
 
Ben was sent to the 361st in England, part of the 8th Air Force. The group’s name was the “Yellow Jackets.” He was sent to this unit because of the high mortality rate of its pilots. During one of Ben’s first flights he came upon an enemy airfield where he destroyed a Junkers JU-52 transport parked on the ground. His first aerial victory was on June 18th against a Bf-109. His second and third air victories were on other escorting missions.
 
On September 26th while flying, Ben looked down and saw a twin-engine enemy plane and requested to go down and bounce it. Diving down onto the enemy plane at 500 M.P.H. he found himself going round and round with a German ME 262. No matter what Ben tried to do to get at the jet his attempts were useless. The pilot of the jet kept his fighter at full speed and did not slow to maneuver. Ben watched the new jet pull away.
 
After returning to base he told his commanding officers and fellow pilots that the air war over Germany was going to change. Two other pilots in the unit had seen and chased German jets. At this time, the ME-262 was going through its final flight tests. It had not yet been used in combat conditions. The ME-262 Ben had chased was on its final preflight testing and was not to engage in combat, otherwise Ben knew that he may not have been so lucky.
 
The next day the flight to Germany was a typical escort mission. The bombers hit their targets and Ben started to lead his fighters back to base. As Ben was turning and banking he looked down and saw an enemy airfield. What caught his attention the most was right along the runway were the new Germans jets preparing for take off. Ben called in for permission to dive on a target. Once getting permission to dive and attack the airfield, he and his wingman started in to an 80-degree dive that was very dangerous to pull out of. The German radar was not able to warn the airplanes getting ready for take off on the field because their radar detected only horizontal flight and not vertical. Ben was able to shoot down two of the German jets after they had taken off. These were the first ME-262s shot down.
 
After landing, he was met by his squadron with champagne only to find out that his gun cameras had jammed and had not recorded the two victories. His commanding officer gave him the credit for the jets, yet they were not really confirmed until forty years later.
 
Urban Drew finished his European tour flying 76 missions with six aerial victories, and one aircraft destroyed on the ground.