Flt. Lt John Dunbar DFC (RIP) Five into four won't go
Taken from three tapes. This account from the third 'missing' tape
Continued after a break from P479 – with apologies!
At one stage we were based on an airfield along with an American squadron of Dakotas. There were bods coming in at nought feet from all directions so I went over to their admin tent to have a conversation. I said to this guy “Look, someone is going to get hurt. Can you at least get your guys to conform to a circuit pattern?” He didn't really understand what I was saying and said “You had better talk to Jackie Coogan” I said “Who?” “Well, he's one of the pilots, one of the boys you are complaining about. I would like you to meet him”. He went to the end of the tent and yelled “Jackie” and in comes Jackie Coogan.
At this time we were going through a very nasty spell when we were landing in a place that was under attack by the japs and there were a lot of casualties to get out. Although our prime job was not casualty evacuation, there were occasions when they couldn't cope when the casualties were too much and this was one such occasion. I can remember going to a briefing where there was very sketchy information on the jap situation and as we walked away there were two American pilots just ahead of me. One tells the other “ I'm going to go in there right on the deck, in fact I'm going to to stay right on the deck from take off until the time I get back” The other chap said it sounded like a good idea. I thought, I'm going to watch this. They were flying down the river, the Irrawady, they both bought it. The japs used to string wires across the river.
We had captured Meiktila two months before the monsoon started. and needed to get to Rangoon by May 5th otherwise we would be in real trouble. Everything was flown and dropped to us, even the petrol for our aircraft. Also water because the japs poisoned all water sources. For the last month of the war we were on one eighth rations, one pint of water per day per man, all except the Americans. We got to the stage where flying all day feeding was becoming a problem. A Group Captain somewhere had a word with the Army and they agreed to give us a cook. So this cook Arrives. “Hello corporal. Nice to have you with us. Now can you cook?” It turned out he had never cooked in his life!
The dash to Meiktila was the worst month of my life. Once we were there the japs were still around the edge of the field. It took 28 days to clear the surrounding jungle. As we took off or landed they were able to fire at us. I tried various techniques, but soon settled on approaching just inches above the the ground. After we had captured Meiktila everyone was on a high from the General down, and I was asked to fly him to Yamatain, a town some 30 or 40 miles south of Meiktila, for a conference with his divisional commanders. We landed on the strip and there were his commanders by a jeep with maps spread on the bonnet and I was once again very lucky to be privy to the discussions of how the army were going to take Rangoon. Amusingly, they were even arguing as to whose turn it was to lead.
Just as the decision was being made on the disposition of the British forces there was the crack of a rifle shot and a bullet whistled acrossthe little gathering. Ginger Dunbar, who was not trained in ground warfare and who considered it nothing to with him, dived face first into a slit trench, trying to appear dignified. A burst of machine gun fire was followed by a 'plop' as a sniper fell out of a tree. I crawled out of the trench, trying to be dignified. Suddenly I noticed that not one of the commnders had moved and they were carrying on with their discussions. General Messervy just looked at me, and I felt that I had gone down in his estimation and let the Air Force down.
An ADC to General Messervey was Major Bob Nottingham who had been severely wounded and suffered from shell shock. Really he should have been sent home. What Messervey did was to make his ADC to keep him safe. We had captured a jap HQ which had a lake nearby and of course there was a small boat. On the way back the General mentioned that on take off he had noticed Bob “ He's got MY boat on MY lake. I want you to dive on him and put the fear of god in him”