Gaining An R.A.F Pilots Brevet In WW II

[Danny42C]

Danny retells a Strange Tale fom 1945.

The new Thread that has just been opened by draken55 (Dieppe Raid Documentary) tweaks a faint string in my memory. It was of a rumour, current in India at the war's end, of another "Raid" which went spectacularly wrong. As I've never read any documentary evidence to support this rumour (and now Wiki makes no mention of it), it may be pure fiction, and I've not made any reference to it in my Posts of the time. For what it is worth, here is the story:

As the '45 Monsoon was slackening, and the land campaign in Burma was going well for us, it was decided to mount an invasion on the mainland coast at a point just south of Phuket Island. (The idea here was repeated by MacArthur at Inchon in the Korean War - cut all your enemy's front line forces off "at the knees" from their supply lines at a stroke).

Now this operation of ours was supposed to have been the original "Zipper", and Wiki covers that ground fully. The objectives were then supposed to be Ports Swettenham and Dickinson (which are far South of the spot we have in mind).

But our supposed Invasion Task Force was at sea in late July, and it was far more than a probing operation. There was a strong Naval escort, there were LCTs and LCIs carrying a large infantry force. All the intelligence that could possibly be gathered had been minutely studied by the Planners. But it was not enough.

All the old holiday memories and snaps of the landing beaches told of firm, white sand. And there was supposed to be sufficient water depth to allow the LCTs to get inshore. But the intelligence was faulty. Below a six-inch top-dressing of sand lay deep, glutinous mud. And offshore lay an unsuspected sandbar which the LCTs would strand on.

Half way across the Japanese Emperor surrendered. But it was anybody's guess whether the troops in Burma would comply with the order. The Force decided to go on. As they approached land, there was no reaction. They went in.

It was a shambles. Any light-skinned vehicles that had come ashore with the infantry were down to their axles in the mud. The heavily laden infantry floundered about in it. The LCTs couln't get inshore (and their tanks would not have been much use if they could). And above the high-water mark a substantial Japanese force waited impassively. What air support our people had (or even if they had any) I don't know.

The situation was on a knife-edge. It would need only a single Jap soldier to fire the first shot, discipline would break down, and there would be a bloodbath. His officer would cut him down at once, but the harm would have been done. The Navy offshore could not fire into hand-to-hand combat on the beach. It would have been a disaster; Mountbatten's name would have been mud.

But it didn't happen. The Japanese commander offered his sword. And the force (presumably) withdrew and was incorporated into Operation Tiderace.

And that's the story. Make of it what you will.

Danny42C.