The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1944-05-26

eli pldIiGS were lOSt tildt IIlOIIllIlS VI
the twelve which had been Java's
only defending Dutch fighter force.
GAS I climbed out l realized the
picture was darkening fast. We were
depending on our Fortresses to keep
the Jap transports away from Java,
but we had to have fighters to de-
fend our flying fields.
"But it wasn't until later in the
day that l found out the Zeros had
got Major Straubel, one of our own
squadron commanders. He'd been
plotting Bib we used for transpor-
tation, and was coming from Malang
to Surabaya to talk with General
Brett. The Zeros hit, and from the
ground they saw him 60 over the
hill on fire.
"They brought him into Surabaya
hospital, and of course I went right
out. 1t was in confusion because Of
the raid, but tiptoeing down those
dim corridors, 1 finally found Strau-
bells room. He was burned black,
and there was no hope, but they'd
given him morphine to put him to
sleep, and he was groaning in his
sleep. But until then, when he'd
been conscious, he hadn't let out a
groan-had just been anxious that
the nurse let his wife know he was
all right He died at three in the
morning.
"While the liaison work lasted I
was CHARTERED at the big hotel in
Surabaya, and the whole thing didn't
feel right. You weren't sure of these
natives as you had been of the Fill
pinos. That night few were shot
who were caught flashing lights into
the air. And at the hotel the bare
footed walters, who slipped silently
between tables and in and out of the
high-ceilinged rooms, began to dis
appear.
"My own boy turned up a couple
of days later, however-with tears
in his eyes. Said he was back and
to stay. He wasn't sure what this
war was about, but he'd taken his
mother and sister to the country,
and was back for the rest of the war.
clap Intelligence must have been
very good, because one bomber had
peeled off the formation and made
a direct run on the newly complet-
ed Dutch Army-Navy building (they
had just moved in), scoring near
miss.
meanwhile there was something
else to straighten out. The Dutch
fighters alone had been defending
Surabaya-where had our P-40's
been? Well, it turned out that in
that Dutch fighter-control room they
hadn't been able to speak English
clearly enough for our boys to un-
derstand over the radio, so they'd
been off in another corner of the
sky. Getting someone in there who
could talk with an American accent
was another job for me.
"The Forts of course had been
pounding away at the Japs, and had
come back with ominous news
they'd spotted Jap carrier out in
the Java Sea and sent it away limp
ing. If they'd had more strength
and could have laid down a denser
bomb pattern, they'd have sunk the
damned thing. The Navy's ply
flying boats of Patrol Wing 10 were
doing a wonderful reconnaissance
job finding targets for us-every
morning or so you might wake up
to find a Jap carrier at almost any
corner Of the island. The Phys
would sight a little task force in
the evening, but by the time got
word to our Forts to be out there
next morning, often it had slipped
away.
"Most important of all, ten more
fighters presently arriyed-hopping
up from Australia via our stepping
stones of Timor and Bali. They
were led in by Captain Will Con-
molly, a commercial pilot, who flew
a Beechcraft and did the navigating
for the fighters-tkat isn't part of
their training. He reported they'd
only lost one, which cracked up in
landing at Timor Field.
"But they'd had plenty Of excite
ment. Just as they were approach
ing Timor the boys had engaged and
shot down Jap fighter. It made
Connolly plenty jittery. He was an
old hand at flying, but his little
Beechcraft had no guns, and
wouldn't have lasted minute in
combat. So he hurried on out of
there to land at Bali for lunch. But
en- route he sighted what was either
a twin-tailed Messerschmitt 10 or
twin-engined Mitsubishi bomber, on
patrol, which altered course and
was coming toward them.
"Will Connolly had no radio in his
Beechcraft to warn the ten P-40's
in the formation he was leading, so
he started going up and down fran
tically to signal them. Sure enough,
the kids got the idea, and the two
fighters on his wing peeled off and
headed for the Jap. The first one
put out his port engine, but the Jap
feathered it and kept on going. But
then he was hit by the second P-40,
which, in spite of the fact that only
two of its six guns were working,