1/72nd Hasegawa Liberator GR.VI, 8 Sqn (ex 200 Sqn), Special Duties role, SEAC 1945

[Unfinished project]

Love it

[JWM]

Hi,

this story is book (booklet) by K.Janowicz - "Consolidated B 24 LIberator, part 3", series "Monografie Lotnicze" vol. 88 by AJ Press (2004). It is given on pages 59-64, so it is along story. Those are cited momoires of F/O H.V.Smith of 358 Sq. The story starts on 29 May  1945. The destination was region of city of Korat in Thailand. But I have found it also in Internet - the original . I think that you will aprreciate that it is in English

the source iis here:

http://www.rquirk.com/smith.html

I copy-paste it below:

 

"358 SQUADRON, RAF

JESSORE, INDIA.

May 1945

 

Some memories thankfully fade with time and we are able to "carry on" but the terrible brutalities of war will never fade. The events of my 25th sortie are as sharply focused today as they were fifty years ago.

I had just celebrated my 21st birthday and VE Day was a distant 3 weeks in the past. We were however working harder than ever as the allied winter offensive of 1944/45 pushed the Japanese south out of Burma. 357 & 358 Squadrons carried out Special Duty activities throughout South East Asia Command for British SAS, American OSS, and the French SIS transporting agents and supplies into Drop Zones located in Burma, Malaya, Siam, French Indo China and the Dutch East Indies. We flew American B-24 Liberator bombers which had the required range and carrying capacity. Takeoffs were in the afternoons to give the maximum number of hours under the cover of night while over enemy territory. This often provided spectacular sunsets outbound and colourful sunrises many hours later on the return flight. The blackness of night also enabled us to penetrate the monsoon weather fronts by flying between the lightning flashes emitting from the ever present cumulonimbus clouds. The missions were solo, unescorted sorties that penetrated deep into enemy territory. The shortest mission was to Burma and the 8 hour duration was considered only a circuit and bump. A day earlier we completed our longest mission which was to Singapore where four Australians were disrupting the Japanese from a hideout in the mountains. The mission covered 3000 miles and took 23 hours & 50 minutes. It was flown at 500 feet above sea level except for the actual drop at the DZ. The payload was only 4 containers as three of the four bomb bays were required fuel cells. The next day we were being briefed for what was to be our most dangerous and costly sortie.

 

29 MAY 1945

W/C P.G.D. Farr was reading mission orders: " Smith, you will be dropping three OSS agents and 14 containers into a DZ near the town of Korat, Siam. There will be an OSS observer along to witness the drop. Your takeoff time is 00:00 hours to place you over the DZ at dawn. Your aircraft is "P" for Peter. The I.O. will brief you on enemy activities. Good luck."

Well isn’t that just peachy keen. This means we will be returning in broad daylight from 600 miles behind enemy lines with only the tail and mid upper turret. The front turret, ball turret, beam guns and armour plating had all been removed long ago to make room for heavier payloads. It addition, it was to be the first trip under the new policy of making the drops at dawn or dusk. Oh well, there are always plenty of clouds to take cover in. Sure.

Following the briefing we drew our parachutes, weapons and rations from stores and checked out the B-24. Everybody would be fully armed. This was to be the last mission of my tour and I was looking forward to more pleasant pursuits. In fact a plan was already in place to meet up with by best friend Jim Gibson who had remustered to Bomb-aimer and recently arrived at 356 Squadron from Boundary Bay. We had been together all through school and joined up together in May 1942. The reunion was set for July in Darjeeling. As it turned out we did meet in July ‘45 but not as planned.

We had a long flight of over 15 hours ahead but I was too keyed up to rest. I finished reading a Mickey Spillany novel "You only Die Once" and after dinner sat through the station movie "For Whom the Bell Tolls". What could be more prophetic. Everyone arrived at the aircraft at 22:30 where we met the OSS agents Major John Gildee, Sgt. E.J."Mac" McCarthy, Cpl. "Nap" Naparolski and the observer Lt. Reid S. Moore for the first time. Take off was made at 23:59 in total darkness. At 06:30 with the coastal mountains far behind , we began a descent to reach 500 ft. at the DZ in Siam. This was when, one by one, things started to go wrong. The sun was rising earlier than expected and for the first time in 1 1/2 years the sky was completely clear. Wall to wall CAVU. No hiding place today! Just then the intercom came alive when Bomb-aimer Jack Draper called "enemy fighters at 2 o’clock." Nine Oscar type fighter planes were closing in fast. Three set up a race track for head-on attacks; three did the same on the starboard quarter and three strafed from below and above. Mostly they stayed away from the tail turret. I began violent evasive manoeuvres and dove for the deck. The frontal attacks were devastating. We were systematically being shot to pieces. "Lofty" Brenchley, navigator, was killed in one of the first attacks. Bill Pinckney, mid-upper gunner fired steady bursts at the fighters coming in head-on until he too was hit. Soon the flight deck was in a shambles with the cannon shells and bullets slamming about everywhere. The noise was deafening. I couldn't raise the Bomb-aimer on the intercom so I gave Bob Poole, my co-pilot, the order to jettison the containers. The jettison toggle is located between the pilots seats and just as Bob began to pull the toggle up he was mortally hit full in the chest which caused him to straighten and pull the toggle right through without the pause needed to let the bomb bay doors open. Five containers dropped free but the rest were hung up inside the bomb bay. The fighters kept up the their attacks destroying the starboard elevator, radios, generator panel, engine controls, instruments and what was left of the engines. The last of our airspeed was bleeding off as I gave the "Crash Landing" order. We had rehearsed this drill many times and I prayed the crew in the aft section would hear it and act quickly. We were too low to parachute even if we had wanted to. The only hope of survival was to try the tree top landing technique used by Canadian Bush Pilots. At the last minute I lowered the flaps to reduce the airspeed and dropped the undercarriage to absorb some of the energy of the impact. When the sound of the trees began scraping along the belly of the aircraft I braced both feet against the instrument panel and hauled back on the control column with all my might. Even with the co-pilots inert body draped over the controls, the strength born of necessity helped me put the B-24 into a full stall. There was a colossal rendering of metal as the plane crashed through the trees. The wings, with their load of fuel, sheared off right away: good riddance I thought. The fuselage careened on hitting more trees before coming to rest deep in the forest. The impact knocked the wind out of me and when I recovered I was folded up around the control column. There was a small hole in the side of the fuselage which I soon made large enough to crawl out and was quickly followed by Bill Pugh the 2nd Wireless operator. His foot caught in some jagged metal and he ended hanging upside down. A bullet through his hand made it quite useless but with my new found strength I just picked him up and lowered him to the ground. I made my way to where the aft section of the B-24 had come to rest. Most of the bomb bay had been destroyed when the wings sheared off. What was left was in flames with ammunition from the containers that had hung up exploding in all directions.

More chaos was added as the fighters kept strafing the crash site. To my great relief I found the OSS agents and the rest of the crew in the wreckage of the aft section of the aircraft where they were struggling to escape with the wounded. Just then "Curly" Copley the tail gunner approached from the remains of the tail section. We made two trips into wreck to bring all the survivors out. The list of injuries was daunting. Cpl. Naparolski had a gaping hole in his abdomen and would not survive the day. Major Gildee had a broken collar bone. Sgt. McCarthy had a fractured back and other injuries. Lt. Reid had burns to his left thigh but he was able to hobble about. Bill "Taffy" Parsons had a bullet through his foot but was mobile. Ramsey Roe the "Screen" Dispatcher and Curly Copley were relatively unscathed. Flight Sergeants Poole, Brenchely, Draper and Bill Pinckney sadly all perished. In all nine had survived the action. It was small consolation to realise that we were probably the first to ever live through a crash landing in a B-24. We began taking stock and tending to injuries. I had just started to cut some small trees to make a litter when voices were heard. They may belong to Japanese soldiers so it was decided to leave the site and find a place to hide. McCarthy would have to be carried but we couldn’t carry Naparolski as well and because of his grim condition I decided to send the group away under Major Gildee as he was the senior and most experienced man on the ground. I elected to stay behind with Cpl. Naparolski and give the rest a chance to escape. Not an easy decision but who ever said war was easy. I gave Major Gilder my S&W revolver, a compass and a map showing our present location and told him to head south as there were some 300,000 Japanese troops north of us who were on the run from Burma. After the group left I tried to comfort Naparolski but he was in a desperate condition and died without waking. I checked the crew members who had perished and destroyed maps etc. I had lost a lot of blood from a head wound and rested against a tree for a while trying not to think of the consequences if the voices were from Japanese soldiers. The treatment of captured aircrew by the Japanese was brutal and final. A crew from 159 Squadron, which crashed in Burma in 1945, was systematically tortured then beheaded. The three Japanese officers and three NCO’s were later tried and executed for this atrocity. There were other similar reports. I had kept a Sten gun just in case. I came fully alert when I heard voices but happily they belonged to natives and not military uniforms. They were local natives from a nearby village who had found the main party and had been sent back for Nap and I. So far so good. I stopped for a rest during the walk to the village and woke when I felt a tugging on my arm. It was a native who took a fancy to my wrist watch. The last I saw he was making off with it on a white horse. Well I thought, he’s welcome. I was given a bowl of hot rice broth which helped revive me. A mirror was produced and I soon realised the extent of my head wound. I got the flap of scalp more or less in place and wrapped it with a bandage. By evening we had all been reunited at a village which was just like something out of National Geographic. The small huts were bamboo and thatch structures supported off the ground on spindly legs. We were very happy to have this shelter.

Next morning we were startled awake when a group rode up on horseback. .The leader was a Thai police lieutenant who had come to help us. He warned that a Japanese patrol was coming and we had to leave the village immediately. We went by bullock cart to a hiding place by a nearby stream. The last ‘K’ ration was produced and we shared four Camel cigarettes and chuckled at the incredible message inside the book of matches which read: "JOLLY GOOD LUCK TO YOU WHEREVER YOU ARE FROM DROMEDARY FOODS, Chicago, Ill. USA."

We travelled for two days with bullock carts carrying the wounded and eventually came to a river where a boat was waiting to take us south to Bangkok. The first night on the river we stopped at a house located on an island where a Chinese couple fed us a hot meal, rice and something. Using two chop sticks, the wife rolled some cigarettes that looked as big as cigars. The tobacco was rolled up in a large leaf and tasted just fine. I don’t know what the ingredients were but it hit the spot and we slept like logs despite the hoards of mosquitoes. Next morning Lt. Reid Moore related a dream he had where, he said, we were taken to a BOAC building, fed ice cream, weighed our baggage then boarded a flying boat for home. All this after only one smoke.

The next day we arrived at the house of Captain Rian Pacheetool, police captain for the province of Nakorn-Sawarn. After some food and first aid we next had to cross a rail line which was constantly guarded by Japanese patrols. One by one we sneaked across. Copley and Roe carried the helpless McCarthy who never once uttered a sound although he must have been in serious pain. The next two days were spent on an old motor launch crouched down most of the time to avoid being seen by Japanese patrol boats. We arrived in Bangkok where some 15,000 Japanese soldiers manned the local garrison. They seemed to be everywhere. An ancient bus arrived and we piled on board for the next leg of our journey. Straw mats covered the windows which concealed us until a breeze would blow them open. The soldiers were so close we could have touched them and several stared at us for uncomfortably long periods. It was broad daylight and our disguises were not really very good being mostly those conical rain hat seen in the Orient. We were taken to the Thai Police headquarters and that night went to bed in a cell-like dorm on straw mats laid on solid boards. Before sleep we were led outside to a rain filled mud hole for a much needed bath. I was reminded of the water holes seen on many prairie farms. Even though we were standing ankle deep in mud, it was a welcome dip, at least until I lost what was apparently the last bar of soap in the entire army. One guard was very upset. Earlier a RAF bombing raid had knocked out the electric and water services so maybe he didn’t think too kindly of British airmen. I learned months later that 356 Squadron had made the raid on Bangkok and my best friend (and Bomb-aimer) Jim Gibson carried the movie camera in his aircraft. Fortunately no one was injured.

I was awakened in the early hours of the morning by Gildee and two Americans I had never seen before. They were Major Dick Greenlee and Captain Howard Palmer who were operating a secret OSS post in Bangkok. Our presence in the country placed the whole underground movement in serious jeopardy. Although the Japanese occupied Siam, all of their army, navy, air force and police made up the Free Thai underground with the Regent of Siam in command. The General of the army was second in command. We had been instructed that if we were ever shot down in Siam to surrender to the Siam forces who would protect us from the Japanese. Well, this certainly applied in our case. A similar underground had been operating in French Indo China until it was discovered by the Japanese with disastrous results. The police patrol that found us had been sent out with orders to prevent, at all costs, our capture by the Japanese. AJapanesepatrol had in fact searched the village half an hour after we left. The patrol was later ambushed by the Thai police and the bodies buried.

A plan had been hastily devised to smuggle the OSS agents out of the country. The OSS agents were being spirited away to keep their presence secret from the Japanese. They also wanted me as Captain of the aircraft out of the reach of the Japanese. There was room for one more British airman and Curly Copley was chosen because of his long service overseas. The rest of the crew would be safe in a Thai internment camp.

With the skipper gone and the Navigator and Bomb-aimer both dead, the AG’s, WOP’s and Dispatchers would tell the Japanese interrogators that all they knew about their mission were routine duties. The idea was that with five graves at the crash site and with four interned crew members, the Japanese could be persuaded to believe that the complete nine man crew had been accounted for. I woke Timber Woods and told him of the plan and instructed him to tell the Japs that the Lib had been on a meteorological flight. The OSS officers would keep tabs on them and get them out as soon as possible. The five of us were taken by auto to the OSS headquarters located in the palace of the Regent of Siam. The Regents’ elegant dining room table served as an operating table for the two Thai doctors who worked for hours repairing our injuries. One had received his training in England and the other in New York. We were obviously in very good hands however there was not much in the way of first aid or medical equipment. The laceration in my scalp was stitched together using a curved shoemakers needle and a pair of electrical lineman’s pliers. A car battery tester was used to flush out the wound. I found out quickly just how tough the scalp really is and I remember wishing I had one of the cigarettes the Chinese lady had made. Major Gildee was a huge man more than six feet tall and over 250 pounds. It took the combined strength of four of us to set his broken collar bone. However during the night his arm came loose from our make-shift bandage and the break needed to be reset. The decision was then made to risk a trip to a hospital and have plaster casts put on Gildee’s and Mac’s fractures. Gildee related later how aJapanesepatrol had come while they had left the car and before reaching the hospital doors. He said he was so scared that he hid behind a tiny nurse. We had a chuckle at that image.

The food at the palace was remarkable. It was prepared at a five star hotel about four miles away and brought on foot by servants using shoulder yokes. We even had ice cream once! After a few days the Regent, whose code name was "Ruth", announced that he had arranged a few days of R & R for everyone. A few months back an OSS agent stationed in Bangkok for several months had gone off his rocker and their were tremendous difficulties getting him out of the country After some half dozen rendezvous with Catalina flying boats and submarines in the Bay of Siam, he was finally evacuated to India. The Regent didn’t want a repeat of this harrowing incident. He believed that the reason for the agent’s difficulty was the confinement and stress of the job and the lack of female companionship. He was probably right, but his idea of R & R was incredible. He had apparently bought a house and stocked it with food, wine and of course female companions. He also cordoned of the area with soldiers for a mile on all four sides. However Greenlee and Palmer considered the plan too dangerous. Anyway, it was clearly "above and beyond the call of duty". The Regent’s last plea was "but Dick, even I can’t afford these women". The matter was resolved as some Chinese had moved in across the street and began spying on the palace. The poverty in the country made it easy to find people willing to spy. A speed boat was kept moored by the rivers edge at the back of the property and some vehicles were kept inside the palace grounds in case a hurried escape became necessary. There was also a company of soldiers next door. Anyway, the decision was made to move out and we began another leg of the journey to freedom.

At midnight of the next day we piled into a battered old bus and headed out. An Australian who had escaped from a prisoner of war camp on theJapaneserailway came with us. He was just skin and bones and crouched in a corner all the time without ever speaking. The plan was to proceeded to a rendezvous about 150 miles north of Bangkok. We hadn’t travelled very far however when trouble started. Half way up a hill in heart of the city the bus began back-firing. There was a curfew in force and it wasn’t very long before aJapanesepatrol arrived. The clicking of breach blocks inside the bus announced that we all intended to fight if necessary. The straw curtains on the windows were held closed while the driver explained to the patrol that he was transporting prisoners to jail. All the time he kept the starter engaged and the bus slowly crested the hill and coasted down the other side. We turned into an old race track and hid in the abandoned horse stalls. Luckily the Japs had decided to let us pass. Our Thai police driver and escort showed incredible ingenuity, courage and control in saving the situation. A runner was sent back and soon two British type cars arrived to take us back to the Palace. There was no problem fitting our bulk into these small cars. The next night we left Bangkok with a tow truck and a spare bus following along and travelled several hours north to a small airfield in the village of Ban-Pe. Lt.Moore, Major Gildee and I were passengers in an antique Fairchild piloted by no less than the head of the entire Thai air force. The mag drop on run up was a whopping 400 RPM but we took off anyway. There was a tense moment in route until we crested a hill along the flight path. Curly was in a Taylor craft that became lost and had to make an emergency landing but another plane arrived to take him to the rendezvous site. A small twin engined Beechcraft-11A twin engined aircraft carried rest of the group. We were all relieved when we landed and were back together.

On June 14th a DC-3 from 357 Squadron piloted by F/L Lewis arrived to fly us back to India. A replacement OSS group was on board as well as a few cases of American beer in cans and cigarettes. This was my first taste of the famous Budweiser beer and I order it today just to relish the memory of that first taste.

The DC-3 had suffered a tear in the fabric of one elevator during the landing in the rough field and there was a moment of panic until a piece of cloth and some glue were produced. The beer and smokes were heaven sent and our spirits rose . Within the hour we were airborne and headed for home. A refuelling stop was made at Rangoon which had just been captured from the Japanese. Seven hours later we landed at the Alipore airport in Calcutta. It was difficult to believe that the entire episode had taken only three weeks.

Curly and I and the Aussie spent two weeks at Escape and Evasion HQ in Calcutta operated by Squadron Leader Huxley. A period of hiding was necessary for the safety the Siamese villagers and others who helped in the escape and until the crew were secure in the internment camp. It was here I learned that some Japanese fighter squadrons had moved in the same day that we had left on our mission and our flight path took us right near their base. The Aussie stayed with us and after awhile started to converse a bit. However, one evening when we were taken to a movie for a bit of relaxation, he freaked right out when Pathe News showed film of the allies entering the German concentration camps. We were greatly troubled and spent as much time as possible helping him to recover.

We made a clandestine visit to the Calcutta General Hospital for a checkup and returned to the squadron at the end of June 1945. The rest of the crew were brought out about two months later for a grand celebration. The four crew members who died have been buried at the KANCHANABURI WAR CEMENTERY in Malay. This is a picturesque, beautifully kept and very large cemetery located by the Khwai Noi river. It also contains the remains of the many allied prisoners of war who perished while building the infamous Japanese railway in Malay.

The following week I travelled to Darjeeling for some R & R and the reunion with Jim Gibson that we had planned earlier in the year. It was here that I made my second escape but that is another story.

This story was made more complete by details related in "Escape From Siam" as told by Curly Copley back in 1954.

Over and Out.

 

F/O Harry V, Smith, RCAF, Retired

DFC; Croix de Guerre.  

29 May 1995.

Revised May 12, 1996

 

This story originally appeared in "Contact" the magazine of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum. "

 

 

 

 

[russ c]

Really nice Tony, loving your SEAC Liberator thing you`ve got going, great stuff

[Cookenbacher]

Amazing build Tony, and thanks for the story J-W.

[Michael-S]

Good work!

Best regards.

Michael.

[tonyot]

Cheers again for the kind comments everybody.

10 hours ago, JWM said:

Hi,

this story is book (booklet) by K.Janowicz - "Consolidated B 24 LIberator, part 3", series "Monografie Lotnicze" vol. 88 by AJ Press (2004). It is given on pages 59-64, so it is along story. Those are cited momoires of F/O H.V.Smith of 358 Sq. The story starts on 29 May  1945. The destination was region of city of Korat in Thailand. But I have found it also in Internet - the original . I think that you will aprreciate that it is in English

the source iis here:

http://www.rquirk.com/smith.html

I copy-paste it below:

 

"358 SQUADRON, RAF

JESSORE, INDIA.

May 1945

 

Thanks for the full story J-W,..... strangely enough I actually read about this last night but in nowhere near as much detail. It seems that they were just unlucky enough to come across a Japanese fighter squadron which was re locating from one base to another. This is the book, which I finished last night,... written by the Dakota flight commander of 358 Sqn which also covered Liberator and Lysander ops too,....... a very good read;

 

Cheers

         Tony

[JWM]

Strange indeed  I am thinking about this Fairchild used for escape along with Beech At 11 - it looks that it was UC 61 Forwarder/Argus in Thai colours (the white Elephants on red since in was still under Japanesse occupation). It was in use there from 1938 till 1958 (http://www.niehorster.org/082_thailand/_aircraft.htm). In Bangkok museum it is in all silver the after war markings. Do you know a wartime photo of it by chance? I will ask this question in WWII section...

Regards

J-W

 

 

[tonyot]

32 minutes ago, JWM said:

Strange indeed  I am thinking about this Fairchild used for escape along with Beech At 11 - it looks that it was UC 61 Forwarder/Argus in Thai colours (the white Elephants on red since in was still under Japanesse occupation). It was in use there from 1938 till 1958 (http://www.niehorster.org/082_thailand/_aircraft.htm). In Bangkok museum it is in all silver the after war markings. Do you know a wartime photo of it by chance? I will ask this question in WWII section...

Regards

J-W

 

 

The book I read mentioned the Thai`s flying Allied agents around in a motley mixture of old aircraft including some old Junkers,..... that was the only reference I`m afraid.  I know that they were picked up from a Thai landing strip by a long range 358 Sqn Dakota, with fuel tanks strapped to the floor. 

Cheers

          Tony

[camper1]

Very nice Tony,not content with running Halifax Modellers World out of yellow and black paint you"ve now started on white!!!!!!!

 

Cheers

 

Ian

[kiwitrogg]

Brilliant, I love it.  Superb finish, up to your usual very high standard.

 

I do wish at least some of those interesting DK Decals RAF B-24 subjects were available in 1/48th though. I did write to them once but I guess there's probably not much demand.

 

Cheers

Gaz  

 

 

 

Edited April 6, 2018 by kiwitrogg
Fat finger trouble

[tonyot]

18 hours ago, kiwitrogg said:

Brilliant, I love it.  Superb finish, up to your usual very high standard.

 

I do wish at least some of those interesting DK Decals RAF B-24 subjects were available in 1/48th though. I did write to them once but I guess there's probably not much demand.

 

Cheers

Gaz  

 

 

 

Thanks Gaz,....... I help with some of the research for Franta at DK Decals and I have been trying to get him to do some 48th scale RAF Liberators and Venturas,....  so maybe if enough people contact him he may consider it? He has done a couple of the 100 Group Lib`s on his 48th scale 100 Group sheet.

 

Cheers

        Tony 

[F-32]

Top modelling!

[kapam]

Having a Hasegawa B-24J kit in my to-be-built pile, I can only say that you have set the bar incredibly high.

Brilliant work!