The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1945-01-05
CHAPTER VIII

well, the AIT DdSe 1ChShoi noN
to ask us to carry out the mission,
and to ease the monotony we were
glad to comply. Taking the bomb
bay tanks from the ship, we loaded
with Acknowledgment bombs ana
off we went, eight hundred miles
into the Arabian Sea, looking for q
Jap naval force composed OF three
warships, Ave destroyers, five cruis-
ers, and two aircraft carriers-with
our one bomber. Due to the low
weather we had to fly beneath the
cloud base at seven thousand rect.
Reaching our patrol area, we
searched until it was necessary to
return to base for fuel. / have Of
ten wondered what we would have
done had we had the fortune or
misfortune to find that task force-n
1t existed. After all, from seven
thousand feet we could have done
very little damage with a single
ship. Somehow I'm glad we did
not engage the enemy-I always
hated to be a clay pigeon, and
though the future looked dark, there
were interesting days ahead.
Slowly, though, through days in
which some of the others took their
ships to bomb Rangoon and the
Andaman Islands, and finally when
Haynes returned from Delhi, the
realization sank in that our mission
was cancelled. I have never seen
thirteen crews of bombers carrying
80 many broken hearts. Morale
dropped like stone. On April 81,
when the base took our ships, l
think we would have been justified
in getting sinking drunk.
New orders came for Colonel
Haynes and most of us in the ILL
fated dream mission" to report to
a remote base in eastern Assam, on
the India Burma border, to run the
A. B. c. Ferrying Command. This
Assam Burma-C China transport COM
mand was for the purpose of carry
ing supplies to China and Burma,
to make up as much as possible for
the fall of the Burma road.
When Colonel Haynes and I ar
rived in Assam we both considered
ourselves ''shanghaied." could tell,
as we faced each other across the
breakfast table that first morning,
that we both knew that things were
going to be bad. Our status had
changed from participating in what
we considered the greatest mis-
sion in the world" to the insight
icant task Of running a ferry COM
mand from India to Burma. Once,
again combat duty seemed far
away.
Our first job was to begin the
construction Of other fields in the.
area-this was to permit us to have
more than one base from which to
work. For our job was that of being
ferry pilots for both the Chinese
Army and General Chennault's AVG
down in Burma. We were to car
ny high octane gas, ammunition, and
food into Burma, and later into Chi
ma. We were soon to find ourselves
returning from Burma with our
ships completely filed and overflow
ing with wounded British soldiers.
Col. c. v. Haynes was boss; he
was Commanding Officer of the A.
B. C. Ferrying Command, and I
was his Executive Officer.
We began our work the day after
we arrived in Assam. This was
April 81. We had thirteen trans
ports manned by the Army and Pam
American pilots. Our job in flying
supplies into Burma was a tough
one with unarmed transports, for
by this time the Japanese had
crossed the Sittang and the IRA
waddy and had taken Rangoon.
On April "a, Colonel Haynes and
Colonel Cooper transported a load
of ammunition and aviation fuel to
Lashio for the Flying Tigers, and on
their way back an enemy fighter
plane made an attack on their trans
port. Recognizing the ship as an
enemy Zero, Haynes and Cooper left
the flying Of the plane to the CO.
pilot and went back into the fuse
lage, to ward off the attack as best
they could with Tommy Guns. Don
Old, the co-pilot, dove the transport
until they were actually Swimming
over the jungle trees. These eva
sive tactics kept the Jap ship from
coming up under the vulnerable
transport. Just one of the Jap trac-
ers in that Douglas would have set
It afire.
AS the Jap dived towards them.
Cooper and Haynes and their crew
chief, Sergeant Bonner, fired mag
azine after magazine at the Jap.
This either discouraged him or the
enemy ship lost the transport in a
turn, for they got away. But even
considering the bravery of these
flyers in using their meager arma-
ment against q fighter ship, it is a
poor policy to shoot Zeros with Tom
my guns; 45-caliber ammunition is
not very effective against aircraft,
but, as usual in a case like this, if
you have only pop-gun TO point
at the enemy, it helps the morale.
Most Of our pilots had been chosen