A Story of War

The Japs are coming Yohoho!

Pierce does a recce between Heho and Namsang on the road where they have broken through. He sees lorry loads who fire rifles and tommy guns at him. I am sent off in a Blenheim and we go down as far as Loilem without seeing much, though we get fired on by Bofors type. Lorryloads of Chinese troops pour past the mess and down the road to stop the gap. Very bad weather prevents me going down last night, but he goes off this morning and they are coming up the road near Kehsi Mansam on the road to Laskio. Everybody packing up and making ready to go to Loiwing, but not much hope of getting to India again. I am due off this evening to see where the Japs have got to, so hope I shall be alright.

Sherkham of 59th here on his way to Maymyo and a staff job. He says 2/13th are in 17 Division and lost Lt Col Guy at Prome. I go down to Myittha for another recco as Meiktila getting too hot. Best camouflaged strip I ever saw, and when you get there it’s some time before you can see how to land on it and avoid the cactus. Taxiing into cover the tailwheel prangs so I take it off next morning straight to Loiwing, do a wheeler and a bit of a ground loop and pick up the other one from the satellite and return to Laskio.

Then down again, and yesterday morning I take off at 0605 with one landing light on recco. Chauk and the Pinchaung north of Yenanyuang but N.M.S. (JDW: nothing much seen?) except bullock carts. I return home, circle three times but no smoke and no corner strips so I try a landing. Manage to get down and then see Sides at the end waving me to stop; I can’t run off the end (and after) 20yds the wheels hit a hole, and up on her nose. I think she is going right over and on fire, but not enough momentum and she stops on her nose. I pull everything and leap out, having pranged my third Hurrican 11B and my fourth escape from death in one. Prop, wing tip, and wheels bent back but salvageable. Aircraft noises in the air, but we cover her in in cactus and Sides sends me home in his car.

Strawberries at Maymyo, two punctures and back at 7.45pm, having left Myittha at 11am. Saw half a dozen Sikh soldiers straggling up the road but hadn’t sufficient presence of mind to stop and question them. At Myittha we live in the PWD irrigation bungalow, a four course dinner and all booze except beer. I sleep on camp bed on verandah and very hot, so I don’t sleep much especially thinking of what the Japs do to their prisoners. I have now done 57 opps, but no respite, though I can’t go on forever, alive!

Pierce does quite a safe recce and I go down yesterday evening to Meiktila. First time up for three weeks but I manage OK and navigation is good. I have to taxi for half an hour under cover and over newly cut down bunds so that the engine nearly blows up by the time it’s finished. At full throttle I can’t get over some of the bunds and have to take a run!

Sides the Australian there, and we spend the night in PWD bungalow up the road. Meiktila has been reccoed and shot up daily, so they shift their quarters about as there seems to be an efficient espionage system there.

Some food by torchlight and I crawl under a mosquito net on a charpoy, though only get one hour’s sleep for thinking of what the Japs do to their prisoners! Sides works from 9 to 11pm getting the a/c out on the strip and I take off at 0610, but would have got off 10 minutes earlier if the chap driving me there hadn’t lost the way.

No task arranged with the army so Chaplin decides on a recco. Sinbawngwe to Magwe along the east bank. Own troops at Magwe and some way forward? I set course in the dark, get up to 1100′ and suddenly spot Satthwa, so turn off and dive down over Sinbawngwe. I then look back and see four aircraft following (I am about 2000′), but these dissolve into puffs of smoke, and that means ack-ack. I scoot round a hill and back east of the village to recco the road north, and see some flashes and up it comes again. I scoot and wheel down low but am between the gunners and the rising orb of the sun, so plenty more comes up but I am soon away. The road difficult to find, but I see some lorries, probably ours, some A/T and eventually return to Meiktila, thoughtfully in case the Japs be waiting there. I land, refuel, see Chaplin the A.I.L.O., and am off in ten minutes. A straight course, but I hit the railway at a point south of Hsipaw, and I skim up the road home. Three decent landings OK!

Still alive.

The Hurricane arrives late, but he tries yesterday but comes back owing to bad weather. Today he has taken her up to Loiwing to get some plastic wood for the airscrew. Yesterday Doc Waterman and I go up to Nantu where the lead and silver mines are. We are invited into the Club for some beer before lunch but at lunchtime (2pm) they all bolt and leave us. We get some at rest house and start home, 44 miles, taking five hours as there is dirt in the petrol system, and the pump doesn’t work (this is a Ford ‘desert wagon’). We get towed in at 8pm. Thirwell over here for his kit and his PRU machine is now at B25 with a crew of 7 in Calcutta. I don’t think we shall ever get there, and the longer we stay here the more dangerous these reccos will become.

Not much hope of getting to India, it seems. Now as a sop to the army and the Chinese we are to do reccos again. Rikki and two others patrolling Loiwing above 10/10 cloud runs out of petrol, gets lost and all prang. Yesterday Navy ‘O’s over Loiwing at 6am and ground strafe 28 a/c to their heart’s content – ie until all their ammo gone. Result 5 damaged. At 15.30 yesterday 9 Navy ’0′s up there, 6 shot down by AVG, 1 by 17 sqn, 1 of 17 sqn bales out, another crashes into a mountain, the engine rolls off and the pilot gets two black eyes.

I go out shooting with my .38 yesterday and wound a vulture. On returning, Pierce says we have a recco each to do. I am to fly to Heho for night and recco Chinese front by Bowlake. He will fly to Meiktila and next morning recco Allanmyo front. But after yesterday at Loiwing, only one Hurricane left, so he is using that today, and I shall do mine when he comes back.

Then when 17 sqn have their second Hurricane serviceable, we shall have it and do reccos. Burma’s total air effort. Nothing to do here but read books and walk out occasionally in the woods. Some gin and some sherry in the mess. Air raid alerts twice a day lasting for about two hours.

I get very drunk with Byles on “Samsu” at 1/- a beer bottle full. Drunk for 8 annas and the G/C turns up. But I recover with a bath and am alright by dinner time. A troops concert where I render “Craven A” to no great success, but the AVG come and visit us afterwards with some bottles and they get very drunk. Tom Pierce and I decide to visit Laskio on the pretext of looking for my kitbag, which I find under the mess verandah, and pack up and leave for here. We arrive to find most of air staff had forgotten about us, but they are sending to 221 Group suggesting we return to 28 sqn.

Penton up from the front said Kinnaird was killed at the Shwedang road block near Prome. We have drinks with Group Captain Seton-Broughal last night, gatecrashing him, and later with rum punch brewed in a thermos. He is getting a “bowler hat” and G/C Singer has taken over. We sit around doing nothing and hoping to get away, drinking south african brandy and water. Penton returned today as all surplus AILO’s required back, but Paddy determined to stay and retreat to China. Loiwing was good fun and a rest, but now I must go back to war. There was some talk of joining 17 sqn, but I prefer my own mob to those shockers.

We have a party with a roast (or boiled) pig, and I collect a couple of American matrons too, Mrs Davidson and Porritt. We brew our rum punch and sing songs. Yesterday I go swimming at my “Somerset Maughan” pool and very nice, with Biles the cypher officer who has spent 20 years in the East in the BAT and comes from Chiengram. Most interesting.

I go out one evening and walk for nearly an hour into the jungle, with a guide, after peafowl, but all I see is a badger-like creature with a long yellow bushy tail. Perhaps a civet cat. Air raid alarms and excursions. Akyab, Namsang, Heho, Laskio bombed. Saw a signal “Burwing has now no aircraft”, so expect we shall have to move soon.