The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1945-04-12
W.Nu. RELEASE


tower; a soldier in a field with a
walkie-talkie radio. All reports final
ly get in to the outer circle, where
some of the information is refill
tered, and finally it goes to the plot
ting-board in our cave or opera
tions shack. There Chinese inter-
prefers get the reports and move
little pin flags along the map OF
China--and we know where every
enemy ship is in our territory and
can see where ours are. The net
works so efficiently in certain areas
that we don't take off until the
Japs are within the one-hundred-
kilometer circle; this gives us more
fuel with which to fight.
When the Japs come we know at
what altitude they are approaching
and from exactly what direction. We
know their speed and their num-
bers. It's kind of a joke, too, that
in several places we know when the
japanese roll their ships from their
hangers or revetments, when they
start their engines, and when they
the obvious purpose of defense but
has permitted us in many cases to
locate lost pilots, for the navigation
facilities in China are not the
worlds best.
Of course the locating of lost,
friendly ships took another element
besides the warning net. It required
the existence of intelligent radio OPP
orators who knew the country and
had common sense. These men,
like Richardson, Mihalko, Miller,
and Sasser, with others, stayed out
there with us, and IL you count the
AVG aces as the first factor that
permitted us to carry on in man.
ner that didn't discredit the Flying
Tigers, then these men who helped
us by radio were the close second
factor.
Suppose that one of our pilots, re-
turning from flight, loses his posi-
ton on his map because OF a cross
wind, because of unfamiliarity with
the country, because of his own stu
pidity-which we call short cir
cult between the head-phones"-or
just because the maps Of China are
very inaccurate. In many such in
stances we would have lost an air
plane worth virtually millions in
our combat zone, and perhaps the
pilot too.
The pilot who is lost calls the ra-
dio station that he thinks is closest
to him, and in code tells the trou-
BILE. The radioman tells him to cir
Gle the next town he passes for a
few minutes. Down in that town,
marked on his map with an unknown
Chinese character, some member OF
this warning net sees him and re-
ports one P-40 circling. In few
minutes the radio operator gets the
report and tells the pilot: You're
reported over Lufeng-fy fifty-eight
degrees at two hundred miles an
hour and we'll have supper ready
we've got grits tonight-yeah."
One amusing but near-tragic In
stance OF this orientation by means
of the air-warning net happened
about the time the AVG induction
board came to China. Another fight
er group commander had waited for
several days over in India to come
into China with large fight of
P-40E Is. He finally came over on
transport and eventually got tired
Of waiting for the fighters. He didn't
know that the weather was very
bad in Burma, and that the mon
soon winds from the South could
take them so far off course in a
few minutes that the entire flight
might easily get lost. s>-~.s~
After a long wait he came back
to Assam in the transport and led
his pilots towards Running. First
of all, he corrected too much for
the southerly wind, and in a very
short time he was fifty miles South
of his course and near two Japanese
fields. His unbashful deputy lead
| ers herded him to the North. And
| then the monsoon wind from out the
| Indian Ocean began to work on his
| navigation, and in another hour he
was lost far to the North of the
course. Night was falling, and the
hills of North China were rising
threateningly.
Then the net, if it hadn't justified
its existence long before, would have
begun to pay for itself. The leader
called Running, and the operator
there, tough old former Navy man,
heard him and gave the instruc-
tions: Circle the first town you
see." The group commander began
to argue at once-said he didn't
have enough gas to waste circling;
but the AVG radio-man talked him
into doing it. Then the net report
ed, and Running operator said,
You're over Yangpi-fly 240 de-
grees for twenty minutes and you'll
see the lake Running is on"