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About Southern Oregon miner. (Ashland, Or.) 1935-1946 | View Entire Issue (March 15, 1945)
Southern Oregon Miner, Thursday, March 15, 1945 GOD IS MY CO-PILOT -s * C o l. R o b e r t L .S co tt ‘Star (if the East* Easy to Do ( ’loth WNU. R tL tA S t Don't ta lk —don't spread rumors. Don'« c o u g h -d o n 't spread germs. Smith Bros. 8,000-ton freighter surrounded by and told Captain Goss to escort the Cough Drops. B lm k or M enthol, are still as bombers to base. many lighters, there in the river. soothing and delicious as ever —and they The others of us broke away look The smoke from the single stack Still cost only a nickel. was lazily going straight up. Mor ing for straggling Japs. 1 took my flight over towards White Cloud air gan’s bombardier was bending SMITH BROS. COUGH DROPS tensely over his bomb-sight now. drome. where ack-ack was so heavy BLACK OR M IN T H O l-5 » VSAD keeping the cross hairs on the tar that it was Just about making the sky black. I guess I must have thought get I knew the A .F C .E . was fly ing the lead bomber as we went on of Lieutenant Daniels—for I dove I the straight bombing run towards hadn't heard a single P-40 call for help; so I was fairly confident that our target. we had won the battle My wing I saw the string of bomba bracket man must have got lost In my dive. the freighter perfectly, and later From the altitude at which I had photos showed (our direct hits from the first flight. The lighters around started my dive I couldn't see what the doomed vessel were blown high was on White Cloud field, but as I and in all directions. Down to our pulled half out of the four-hundred- left. Holloway, escorting the other mile-an-hour dive over the hills CHAPTER X X V I flight whose target was a freighter, South of the airdrome. I saw an a ir plane. It was a big ship, which I We figured that some Important saw the vessel hit. then saw the soon saw had three engines. The smoke. Alison had his fighter force innouncement was about to be made, door was open, and I think men ind out there in the hostel area with the third flight; they had al were hurrying to get in or out. Two ready bombed the docks and were sverything was quiet The amber cars were driving away from the liquid was divided among some forty fighting Zeros from getting to the ship. Even at my speed I tried a men, and each of us got a few bombers. burst at the tri-motored Junkers 52. Then, under the lead flight of irops in a Chinese teacup—but it but I saw the tracers go short, and bombers. 1 saw the enemy fighters when I not closer I coud see th e , tvas enough for the ceremony» ... • The General grinned at us and coming up and I knew we had them. dust far to the left of the target. My | T S so qu ickly m em orized, so in laid. "We've got the Japs worried All the enemy planes were below speed was so great that I couldn't, 1 easy, and so e ffe c tn e now, we've hit everywhere except us. climbing steeply for the bellies hold enough pressure on the rudder spreads cloths, scarfs or pillows, what he thought we'd attack. To of the bombers. They had waited steadily (or accurate shooting. But this crocheted, medallion. lit this LIGHTNING f AST morrow is the Day." We could hard on the ground too long, had waited I must have gotten a few tracers The beginner's delight, the expert's pride rM IA T TRRATMIHT H U F YOU ly keep from cheering. But we held for us to pass Canton and go on to in, for as I swept low over the ship —Star of the East medallion. Pattern ^Nothing con iwoke yau n»«ro m U etabla Hongkong. Now we had every ad 7240 contains directions for medallion; up our "brimming cups" and just it seemed that dust was churned up than nogglng mwtcular achat and p a in t . stitches. General Chennault had laid. "To you. General." The drops vantage. all about. Nothing is more w slcosit thon the glori foxed them again, and I had an idea LC i « sever tasted better. ous relief Jloon's linlnsont brings. Just Sewing Circle Needlecraft Uept. Turning low, i came back for a that we were in for a profitable day. That night after the announce Box 3217 San Francisco ». Calif. got It on and fool this "h o o t trootnsont better shot. The ack-ack was so 1 called directions to the Group as ponotrato In s tan tly , bringing worn», ment. we closed the post and kept Enclose 18 cents for Pattern thick that I nearly forgot and turned comforting roliof. all men from going into town. This the bombers closed up and I started back. After all. that which I could N o ._------------------------ would cause talk in the right places. down. Alison was even now shoot- see had already exploded, and if I N am e— Colonel Cooper went into Kweilin FOR QUICK RELIEF FROM wasn't hit yet I was as well off one gnd discreetly passed out the news Address- place as another. My burst caught that we were ready for the main Tired A ching Muscle» • Sprain» the engines of the transport, which attack. Somehow he arranged for I could see now were running. Uni |ust the right information to begin S tiff Jo in t* • Strain» • Brul»e» Windowpanes of Shells formed passengers were Jumping its round-about journey to the Jap out of the door. I turned steeply and Many homes in Asia have win anese. fired on the door, then into the The seed had now been sown. fuselage. The ship was smoking, dowpanes m ade of the thin and On November 27 the largest force and the engines had either been shot translucent shells of the window of bombers we had ever used in Chi up or had been cut off. for they had yyster because they are cheap and na, escorted by the largest force of admit an adequate amount of stopped. fighters, rolled down the runway at My engine missed several times, light. Kweilin There were fourteen bomb as it had done from some poor gaso ers. with twenty-two P-W’s for es line earlier in the flight, and I de cort We had also left a strong cided to let well enough alone and force on the ground at Kweilin, just get away from White Cloud. Keep in case the Jap tried something ing just about down in the rice. I while we were away. I led the went straight North to the river. headquarters section of the fighter With the engine missing every now escort and made up the reserve. My and then. I spent n miserable few . *•’ • ■*.■• - • . . „ position in the escort would be three minutes that seemed like a year . —<%• >.'7'..'C-t ' í 1 V * J»- » i f >» thousand feet above 'the bombers. until I got out of Jap territory. Down below me a thousand feet was I landed at Kweilin, and while I Johnny Alison with his flight of counted the holes in my plane I eight, on the right flank of Morgan's watched for the last of the fighters I in v ; bombers. Colonel Bruce Holloway to come in—half trying to count the had the flight on the left flank, an twenty-seven holes from the ground- other thousand feet lower. Colonel fire around White Cloud and half Cooper was riding in the lead bomb The Flying Tiger of the AVG trying to sweat all the twenty-two er as intelligence officer, and that jumps through the Chinese Sun and fighters back. All the bombers were day was going to demonstrate the tears Jap flag. in and were being serviced and teamwork that he had striven for, bombed up again. Eighteen fight between the fighters and the bomb- ing down ¿eras around the last for ers finally came in. and we worried mation of bombers. Holloway called until we got word that the other Cooper had been so anxious to ac- to one of his elements to take the four were at another field and would mpany our raids that he seemed climbing Jap ships and return to be back later In the afternoon. enly disappointed whenever other formation. We were fighting this We made our reports to the Gen ities interfered. He was threaten- battle like a business, and we were eral and we knew he was pleased. g today to take over one of the tur- going to keep together until every Out of 45 Zeros that had come up ts in the lead bomber and shoot bomber was safely on the way home for us over Canton we had shot iwn the first Jap I joked with to lunch at Kweilin. down 29 that were confirmed. Ali >op on the way to our fighters that About four thousana feet under son had stayed back there for twen oming. and told him that we in the the leading three bombers 1 could ty-five minutes and definitely had ;hters were so glad to have him gee the first of the steeply climbing seen that the two freighters loaded ong that we were going to let one Japs. As I dove closer I could even with Zeros and engine« had been 16% extra pull at the drawbar. ears of time and experience ip through, just so he could shoot it see the white smoke rings that sunk. The nature of the cargo waa The patented Ground Grip tread prove that Firestone Ground iwn and get the pilot's ears for his formed in front of his wings, and 1 eventually confirmed. Three weeks has up to 215 extra inches of tie boy. We laughed as we sep- knew from experience that he was G rip tractor tires o u tp u ll any later we dive-bombed the salvage traction bar length per tractor. ated. firing his cannon at the bottom of parties that were diligently trying other tractor tires in any so il The large formation—large for us the bombers as he climbed. The Jap No wonder it pulls better. It has to raise the sunken freighters Evi condition any time, anywhere. China—assembled over the air- carries in his wings smaller guns no broken center tread bars. dently there had been something Obviously, others would like to ■ome and took a course North in that have tracers: he gets these on That means no traction leaks. It very valuable to the Japanese on e direction of Hankow. We want- his target, then shoots his cannon. duplicate the Firestone Ground has no trash-catching bar stubs. the two big vessels. I reports from other spies in Kwei- As I took this first enemy ship, I Grip design but they can only We went on back to Kunming. Of course, it cleans better. i to get started, for this mission had one moment of panic: it seemed Sometimes I wonder if the Jap ever imitate i t . . . because the Ground Be sure you get patented as planned mainly to get the Jap very close to Morgan’s lead ship— did find out where General Chen Grip design is patented. Firestone Ground Grip tractor lr Force into the air where we maybe I couldn't get to it in time. nault was going. Years after may »uld get at i t We usually evaded Then my dive took me right up Put your tractor on Firestone tires- D on ’t com prom ise with be they’d still be flying that patrol wns as we began our attacks, but above the Zero, between him and imitations. Ground Grip tires and get up to over Hongkong, waiting for the at day we went low over Kweilin, the bomber. 1 held my fire until tack that we were supposed to make. V» id then to the North. When we the last two hundred yards, and f a r tbr boll »'• tattlie, In ln t I» ib r "Voter of P irtila a t" tailb R u b a ti As we carried out the long mis ere beyond the prying and ready shot the Zero down with a two-sec C ro ati a tti ( t la iji Staarlbottl atti lho firtilotta Simphntti Orchtnra to a itu tti by Hotaari Boriata ttrry M o ttiaj a tta in t orar NBC nnworb. irs of any spies, we turned to a ond burst. It exploded within a sions into Burma in the days that followed. I thought about how the rect heading for Hongkong. hundred yards of the ship in which spirit of our air warfare had changed Now we climbed above high over- Colonel Cooper was—he confirmed ist to twenty-thousand feet, and it for me later. But as I pulled up from what I had heard about and ►tiled down for the three hundred and looked for the next enemy ship. read of the last World War in the liles ahead. In flfty-flve minutes I recalled that I had almost made air. There had been an element of le clouds began to break and scat* my Joking threat too good. For the knighthood depicted in that first :r, and we approached enemy ter- Jap had got too close to the bomber struggle in the skies. Now I thought' tory with a cloudless sky and per- in which the Chief n* <s»»ff was rid I knew why. Back there the pilots had been set visibility. Over to the right ing. carefully hand-picked. They were □w I caught the glint of the sun on My wing man stayed with me and the adventurous, devil-may-care hot- le junction of the three rivers that ieet near Canton in a figure like a we fired on the second Zero together. bloods. like those boys who had been ■¡dent. Far ahead I saw the hills I could see his tracers coming from the Confederate cavalry in the War Between the States. More than like f Hongkong Island and the ever- my right. I closed in with a full deflection shot and held a burst ly when they fired at another pilot resent fog banks out in the Pacific. We crossed the East River that ahead of the next enemy ship. He and then saw that their victim's climbed on up towards the bomb guns were "jam m ed," they may ;d down to Canton, and the bomb- rs turned ninety degrees to the ers and flew right through my have “ saluted” and dived away, un ight, away from Hongkong—and we tracers. His ship turned in a slow, willing to destroy the helpless ene wept towards Canton. For again almost too deliberate half-loop, my. But this was a different type ie were going where the enemy stalled out, then dove straight down. of war. against a race of fanatics,- /ere not expecting us. The Gen- At first I thought that I had fired too who had been repressed for so long ral was about to outguess the Japa- far in front of him and he'd turned in their warped minds that they to evade the fire; then, as I watched were barbaric madmen. ese as always. From what I had already seen. I 1 could imagine the small aerial the speeding ship go straight into the creen over Hongkong watching and hills between Tien Ho field and knew that the Japanese soldier and /siting, while on the ground at Kai White Cloud. I knew I had shot the the Japanese war machine were not 'ak in Kowloon, on Sanchau Island, pilot. The ship did not burn until out merely to beat us In war—they were out to E X T E R M IN A T E US. t Tien Ho and White Cloud In Can it crashed. I fired at six Japanese fighters so even to the extent of killing our pi on. the enemy Zeros were waiting o take off after we had passed Can- fast that I didn't see what happened lots whom they captured as prison You get a snap ers. And we knew that this had on, to come and get us over Hong- to any of them ong or to intercept us on the way shot and then the Zero is gone, been done even in April of 1942. We lome. We bored in towards our tar- rolling over, or you're turning for learned of it again after the Hong ;ets— shipping on the East River at another one, or you're getting your kong raid. They would never give lanton and at Whangpoo Docks. We nose down to make sure that you up—they had gone all-out in a war to lad special reports that two frelght- never lose your speed and too much the bitter end. There was no ro rs were unloading new Zeros and altitude when you’re fighting those mance about it. We knew that if we were shot down and were not pare airplane engines at Canton highly maneuverable ships. One other I saw trailing smoke as killed in the crash, or if we were hat morning. Just South of Tien Ho airdrome, he rolled over, but I didn’t get to captured, we would most certainly ve split the bomber formation, and see him catch fire or crash. The be tortured and executed. That's me of the fighter echelons went with bombers had outrun our dog-fight why all of us never considered the lach of the three bomber flights, and were going down-hill fast for element of capture. Get out of the lach with an assigned target. My Kweilin. I heard Morgan call that crash-landing shooting, we always light stayed with the lead bomber chow was on, and I knew he con said. and I saw our target, an sidered his bombers safe. 1 called Tfe* « to o that to t: After graduxUng from Weal Point. Robert Scott wl»a bla w iagt at Kelly Field and takes up combat tyin g. He has been an Instructor for lour years when th e w ar breaks out, and la told be Is now loo old for combat tyin g . He appeals to several Generals and Is tn a lly o te re d an opportunity to gel Into the tgb u After tyin g a bomber to India be Is made a ferry pilot but this does not suit him. He lalks Gen. Cbennaull Into giving him a K lttyhaw k for combat t y ing. and soon Is tyin g the skies over B urm a, becoming known as tbe "one m an a ir force." Later be Is made C.O. of tbe M rd F ighter Group, but be still keeps knocking Jap planes out of tbe skies. Invest in Liberty: liny IFur Bunds aw A Wkat m o , NEED ¿í SLOAN’S LINIMENT OTHERS IMITATE l _ .__ r G RO UND-G RIP TRACTOR TIRE , . . Y F IR E S T O N E P U T ' THE FARM ON RUBBER
