A Story of War

Laskio in Jap hands now. All they have to do is to drive to Namtu and then march by jungle tracks for three days north and they are here. After writing the last entry there is an alarm and the usual noise heralding the approach of Japanese bombers. Very high, 20,000′, I just see between 12 and 20 bombers. They bomb the field and return home. Hundreds of holes in the runaway, a DC3 damaged and repaired next day. The AVG were away from home, ground strafing south of Laskio, where they shoot down some 17 Navy ‘O’s. One large four engine job seen and suspected to be a captured Fortress.

The Laskio rearguard turn up here and reorganisation in progress. W/C Spencer is coming to command a small skeleton wing with a half a dozen refueling parties, and when the rains have ended aircraft will come from India and operate from China. Pierce is off in the Hurricane to Shwebo to contact the army and see what the position is, and tell them ours. After that quien sabe? 17 sqn have departed, hopefully, in lorries to India, by guess or by God.