A Story of War

Bert and “Winco” Yorke come down in a Harvard and another Hurricane 11b. Winco sees General Lloyd who says he has nothing but praise for our efforts, and apologies for the rude signal he sent about us, which was instigated by W/C Ford, who has now been sacked and sent back to 221 Group. I go off on a trip to Kaladan where the Japs have cut our lines of communication, but my weaver tacks on to another Hurricane 11b so I have to go alone and don’t really do the job at all well. Brown gets a .5 bullet in his flaps over Myohaung, where there is apparently some force of Japs.

There’s a commando raid on Myobin in Hunters Bay two nights ago and they get six live Jap prisoners of the “Inland Water Regiment” or some’at. We have a party in the Mess – Hugh Moule, W/C Smythe, and Major Cooper (G11 ops) who was at Harrow and commanded the trophy guns at Habbaniya.

Four Jap o1s come over one morning from W to E about 15000′ and though I hear nothing I see a parachute slowly descend. Two Hurricane 11cs had scrambled from here and attacked them, but were jumped by eight more up at 22000′ and the second one, Boysen, a South African pilot who used to escort me, never seen again. His Hurricane now found near Buthidaung but no one can get near it.

Count Czernin spends the night, and, according to Mike, shot down his own brother in an M.E. and has another brother in Rommel’s “panzers”. That night we go and drink with Hugh Mouole and find ration rum and hot water an excellent combination. Garratt doing photography now, and I due for the next job over Laungchaung. Last time I do Gwedauk Chaung by mistake being so used to seeing the country from 200′ that I didn’t recognise it at 4000′. A chap comes up from the front and says “damn good show to the chap who squirted the Jap front line on so and so at 12h00”. I look up and find it’s me.