Fire by Order: Recollections of Service with 656 Air Observation Post Squadron in BurmaPen and Sword, 19 sept 2012 - 208 páginas Perhaps the most surprising thing about this book is the fact that it has waited fifty years to appear for, as Sir Martin Farndale points out in his foreword, the debt owed by 14th Army to 656 Air OP Squadron in the reconquest of Burma was immeasurable. From 1943 until the end of the war, these three flights of five tiny Auster aircraft provided air observation for the whole of the Army fighting the Japanese in the jungle below. A likely explanation, if Ted Maslen- Jones is typical of his colleagues, is that they were essentially modest men who, in their own eyes, were only doing their job and were in fact rather privileged to be sailing above the canopy while the ground troops were slogging it out somewhere below them. Several times the author refers to the sheer exhilaration of flying over that beautiful but still unhappy country.Now, at last, thanks to the recollections, as well as the diligent research of Ted Maslen-Jones, the true contribution of these 'daring men in their flying machines' can be properly appreciated. As one of the pilots, his own memories are naturally of his flying time, but he never loses sight of the fact that it was the efforts of the fitters, signallers and drivers who kept these flimsy aircraft in the air and rightly points out that the record of serviceability of 656 Squadron was truly remarkable. |
Índice
2 | |
4 | |
Towards the Chindwin | |
Across the Chindwin | |
To the Plains | |
Across the Irrawaddy | |
11 | |
12 | |
13 | |
Appendix | |
Roll of Honour | |
Otras ediciones - Ver todo
Fire by Order: Recollections of Service with 656 Air Observation Post ... Ted Maslen-Jones Vista previa restringida - 2012 |
Fire by Order: Recollections of Service with 656 Air Observation Post ... E. W. Maslen-Jones No hay ninguna vista previa disponible - 1997 |
Términos y frases comunes
25 pounders 33 Corps 656 Squadron Air O P aircraft airfield airstrip Arakan arrived attack Auster battle became began bridgehead Burma Burma Campaign Calcutta campaign Captain casualties Chaung Chindwin Commander crossing decided Denis Coyle Deolali east enemy engine equipment feet Field Regiment fire flew Flight flown flying Force Frank McMath George Deacon going ground crew Gunner guns HMS Trumpeter Imphal Indian Division infantry Irrawaddy Japanese Japs jeep journey jungle Kabaw Valley Kalewa Kohima Kuala Lumpur landing ground Malaya Mandalay Meiktila Mike Gregg miles monsoon Monywa morning moved Myittha Gorge night Officer Operation Zipper operations Pakokku party patrol Pen & Sword pilots Pip Harrison position possible Ranchi range Rangoon reconnaissance river road rounds gunfire Royal Artillery runway Section shoot Sittang River situation sorties Squadron HQ take-off target told took town troops unit village wireless yards