The Ragged, Rugged Warriors by Martin Caidin

Author:Martin Caidin [Caidin, Martin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: WW II, World War II
Publisher: Bantam Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

“ALL PILOTS RETURNED AFTER BATTLE DECEMBER 25 SHOT DOWN TEN FIGHTERS NINE BOMBERS STOP BRITISH ACCOUNTED FOR SIX STOP LIKE SHOOTING DUCKS STOP WOULD PUT ENTIRE JAP FORCE OUT OF COMMISSION WITH GROUP HERE STOP HAVE ELEVEN PLANES LEFT STOP OLSON”

But that was only the beginning for the day. Before Christmas was gone, another Japanese bomber force rushed against Rangoon. For the day, the Japanese hurled 108 fighters and bombers against the city. TTie Royal Air Force fighters shot down eight Japanese planes for five of their own lost in battle. The Flying Tigers were able to notch 28 Japanese kills on the AVG scorecard—with only two planes shot down and no pilots killed. It was quite a day!

The men of the AGV were a cross representation of the American military services, with the exception that they were under no compulsory discipline. Like pilots everywhere, the majority of these men were dedicated to the cause for which they fought. Some of the pilots unquestionably were in the deal for the money; others found their reward in the heady excitement of wrestling with death in the air. And there were some—only a very few— who should never have come. One pilot, who remains nameless in these pages, was reported by the other men to have run away during a fight. As he fled, two Japanese fighters whipped onto his tail. Immediately one of the AVG pilots bounced the enemy planes, shooting down both. For his pains, the second AVG pilot was himself shot to ribbons. He came very close to being killed in his parachute when the Japanese tried to turn him into-chopped meat with their guns as he drifted earthward. The pilot who had “run out” on his mates in the air did not fly combat with them again.

Before the Tigers and the British finally moved out of the Kangoon area (the Tigers went back to China), the city of Rangoon seemed to go entirely mad. Every man who witnessed the activities in the city insists that nothing could really describe what went on. The whites fled as quickly as they could. Indians in Rangoon were somewhat more stoic about the Japanese tidal wave rushing down on the city; they “just up and left, starting the long walk back to their own country,” explained one pilot.

City officials released the lepers and the insane, who ran howling and shrieking through the streets and alleys. They rapidly turned the city into a house of horror. Thieves and muggers ran wild. Looters stripped every human corpse of anything they found to their liking. Whole blocks burned fiercely with no attempt to quench the flames. Natives ran amok through the streets, flashing knives and killing on sight anything that moved before their crazed eyes. No one dared to hazard the city at night. The police tried only to survive in the maelstrom of hate and terror that seethed all about them. The Tigers were more than glad to leave that behind them....

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