Danny does a Good Deed.
Early in December, they decided to get some value from their new Squadron. A signal came in to move to Double Moorings. "Double Moorings?"........"Never heard of it !".......A lat & long was given, we plotted it..... "It's Chittagong !"... .."No, it isn't".....The fix was a couple of miles away, between Chittagong and the sea. Most of us knew the area well..... "There's nothing there !"........ It was pointless, we'll just have to go and see. If we can't find anything at the spot, we'll land at Chittagong and take it from there.
The RAF (B) Flight took the lead in this bemused frame of mind, crossed straight over the Bay and reached the coast just off the position. Our Flight Commander, "Bill" Boyd Berry (henceforth "BBB") took our box round in a wide sweep. It really did look as if there was nothing there. We were in loose formation, spread out so that everyone could have a good look.
I spotted it first - or thought I did; the outline of a strip seemed to swim out of the bare paddy fields like a figure in a Ishihara plate.* I was on BBB's wing, I waggled and pointed downwards. He signalled me to take over the lead, and the rest strung out behind; I sincerely hoped that I was right. BBB hung some way back, ready to overshoot with the rest if I rolled myself into a ball on touchdown.
* Used to test for colour blindness: if you're colour blind, you can't see the numeral which is "hidden" among other colours.
But I was right. There was a strip there, but only recently bulldozed out of the paddy bunds, never been used, unworn and so perfectly camouflaged. The rest trundled in after me, and we surveyed our new home. It didn't amount to much, and we didn't stay there long, moving very soon down to the "forward" strips inland and south of Cox's Bazar. We moved several times, Joari was one, and I think Ramu II was my last place (but S/Ldr Thomas seems sure we started at a place called Mumbir - never heard of it! - which is not to say that he wasn't right, and that was where we first moved).
In fact, Double Moorings would hardly rate a mention, were it not for a Good Deed I did there one night, and these were so rare that the memory has stuck with me for a lifetime. The circumstances were unusual. At Chittagong there was a Hurricane squadron. Two or three pairs were detailed for a night attack on Akyab airfield. But on return, for some reason, they were to land back with us, and recover their aircraft back to Chittagong the following morning.
So far so strange, but perhaps they were going to do some quick, urgent repair to their runway in the rest of the night after their chaps had taken off. It was a nuisance to us; we would have to find and lay a gooseneck flarepath along our strip, whereas Chittagong had proper lighting on its runway. Still, there had to be a reason, even if we didn't know it.
What made no sense at all, was that they were also to leave the pilots with us for the rest of the night after they got back after midnight. (They'd only need a 15 cwt truck to pick them all up, and it was only a two-mile trip back to their bashas in Chittagong.....Why ?) And we had no spare accomodation - we'd have to "double-bunk"; there was only one charpoy per head. People would have to sleep on the floor.
To cut a long story short, after a short struggle with my conscience, noblesse oblige-d; my chap could have my de-luxe DIY bed (Mk.2); I would kip on the woven palm matting floor. The bearer made up my bed for the stranger, I found a spare mossie net, wrapped it round me and settled down, trying not to think of the "long-leggity beasties" of the night.
My houseguest came in about 0100, and lit the hurricane lamp. "How did you get on?".........."I gave Akyab a 'jao' - Akyab gave me a 'jao' ". I deduced that there had been an inconclusive exchange of fire, but little more. He was very grateful for the bed, I struggled off to sleep in a warm glow of quixotic nobility (didn't last).
(Jao is the imperative of Jana - is that right? - "to go"). Col. John Masters ("Bhowani Junction" - "Bugles and a Tiger") scathingly notes that most of us British out there learned only the imperative case of any verb ("Jai Hind" - "Quit India" - was a bit of graffiti (directed at us) often seen on walls, etc. in the last years of the Raj).
However, we started operating at Double Moorings - I see from my log that we flew in on the 12th December, I flew my first 'op' with 8 on the 17th from there, and we stayed until the 22nd January, when we moved to Mumbir (?)
Nearly all our 'ops' are entered in my log as 'A.S.C.' (Army Support Close), and I was a bit curious to read on three consecutive days: ASC "as on 10th" (January '44). Looking back to the 10th, I find "Kyathwengyaungwya" (think I mentioned that before), so writing it out once had been enough! (It was said that everywhere in Burma ended in 'bong, chaung or dong': it was not far from the truth).
At last we had our teeth into the job that the Vengeance might have been designed for. And now I'm going to abandon (for the time being) my chronological tale to revert to my "Jottings" format: two essays, one on "Vengeance in Offence". and the other (not surprisingly). "Vengeance in Defence". (I hope the Moderator will permit).
Bedtime now, Goodnight all,
Danny42C
Not to worry
Last edited by Danny42C; 18th Jul 2012 at 14:45.
Reason: Correct typo.