The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1945-01-12


had the greatest gathering of Cen
erals stars that all Assam had ever
seen. There was Wavell, Alexander
who made on that occasion the
classic statement: "The situation in
Burma is very confused" -Brereton,
Maiden, Bissell, Stilwell, Hearne and
Siebert. Just about everyone ex-
cept General Chennault, and he was
very busy getting the AVG out OF
Lowing and up to Paoshan. Burma
had at last fallen.
The evacuation Of these Chinese
armies from Burma to India and
China now gave us more adventures
in the A. B. c. Ferrying Command.
They were scattered all over north
ern Burma, from West of Myitkyina,
North to Shimbyang and Putao. 1t
was our job now to drop rice, salt,
and medicines to these thousands OF
starving soldiers. / remember that
as / first saw Burma it used to look
to me like the greatest hunting coun-
try in all the world, completely wild
and unspoiled. And it was just that
but there was nothing to hunt, for
evidently there wasn't anything for
even the animals to eat.
Once when it was clear enough to
seeNthe surrounding country, was
aware of strange sight. We'd been
dropping rice at Shimbyang when ]
saw some villages, and there again
I noticed something that l realized
now I'd been seeing through all the
Burmese towns-white cattle, the
bullocks Of the East. It started me
to thinking: How could people starve
when there were hundreds and thou
sands of cattle in northern Burma?
That afternoon I got to talking
over the food situation with one OF
the best of the ferry pilots, Capt.
John Payne. He said he'd looked
the field over at Putao-or Fort
Hertz, as the British called it-and
although it had been condemned
by the British for the landing OF
aircraft, he could land a transport
on the short runway. The entire
length of that field was slightly less
than one thousand feet, and if any
other pilot than Joplin or Payne had
made that statement / would have
ignored the offer; but I knew that
Payne knew what he was talking
about.
We loaded on 1900 pounds of rice
to land at Fort Hertz and went over
the Maya Hills to Burma. AS I sat
there being Long John Payne's CO.
pilot, my thoughts were on this hap
py-go-lucky flyer. He had been an
Eastern Airlines pilot for nine years
before coming into the Air Corps.
As he said, he'd let down into At
lanta so many times in the smoke
and fog that the bad weather Of
Burma didn't worry him much.
When Johnny first joined the ferry
command he came into prominence
by originating saying that to us
exemplified our feelings about the
whole affair in Burma. Johnny had
said, eff at first you don't succeed,
give up, for no one in this country
gives damn anyway"
We got over Fort Hertz pretty
quickly and circled the little cleared
place on top of hill. The single
runway, if you could call it that,
was just nine hundred feet long.
There were tracks where ships had
landed, but we found later that they
had been slow Raj biplanes. There
was makeshift bridge at one end
two trees across a stream-and
four markers made from dead trees
which showed the other end of the
runway" Everything else was jun
gle. AS Payne throttled the engines
for the landing, he let down the
wheels and said:
when l say okay, give me full
flaps-then if don't hit the first ten
feet of that field, spill 'em, for we'n
60 around again"
Well, Johnny Payne brought that
heavy ship in like a master. He
didn't hit the first ten feet-I honest
ly think he put those wheels down
the first foot of the available run
way, and we had stopped at least
fifty feet before we got to the other
end. You ask a transport pilot If
eight hundred feet isn't damn good
landing.
Johnny stayed back to unload the
ship and guard it, for the Japs were
supposed to be fairly close and we
had learned that when people are
in the panic of evacuation and star
walton you can trust no one. I
walked down the trail to contact the
General of the Fifth Chinese Army.
/ wanted to ask him If he was get
ting the rice, and find out why he
needed rice when there were bull
locks all around; / guess I really
wanted to see for myself if the sto-
ries of sickness and starvation were
true. What l saw and found was
proof enough.
General Ho took me about three
miles down the road that led to SUI
prabum, and counted fifty-ive bod
les of soldiers who had died either
of cholera or from starvation. AS I
walked among them, with the harsh
smell of death in the air, this Chi