RE: B24 pic for Snoopy

Whee!! Thanks, Moggy — add another to the drinks I owe you!! (This could set a precedent, which might do some serious damage to the credit card — but heck; what a great cause!!)

I was able to see the image by clicking on the link — not to worry.

Really hope I manage a trip through the UK in August or thereabouts, after “Duggan” is unveiled …

Thanks again and regards,

Snoopy

RE: Boeing 307 Stratoliner

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 05-04-02 AT 01:07 PM (GMT)]There’s a picture, a 3-view, and some rude comments about the pilots, at the Air Combat Bar. Seems it went down on 28 March.

http://www.acig.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?topic=605&forum=9&2

I think some of the comments on the pilots might be based on incomplete information, if the line in Kabir’s post, about the pilots being “some of Boeing’s most experienced … test pilots”, is accurate. It’s not like elp to get something like this wrong, I know!

Regards,

Snoopy

RE: Warhawks in North Africa

>No one is interested? I finally get the stories up and you
>guys abandon me. 🙂

Hey, PhantomII, give us a break, it was a long weekend! (And you should hear what Mrs Snoopy threatens to do with my laptop if I take it with me on a family weekend trip!!)

First off, thanks for the stories and the link. As Neilly says, a sentiment I fully endorse, most of us come here to learn more about a subject we all enjoy; and this thread has certainly helped us, both to learn and to enjoy. I think many of us have stories tucked away, about a little-known aircraft, theatre or personality; and it’s great when material like that comes out. It’s for these occasional gems that some of us come to this Forum.

And asking questions about little-known successes isn’t by any means to doubt them — the answers will only give more of us ammunition to back up the stories!

Anyway, thanks again for starting this thread — I’ve certainly learned something, and enjoyed the process. Hope you enjoyed the link I posted, too! Regards,

Snoopy

Kittyhawks in North Africa

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 28-03-02 AT 07:45 PM (GMT)]>
>”I have a couple of stories about Indians who flew
>Kittyhawks in North Africa…. any interest in those?”
>
>
>Yes to both of these from me.
>

OK, here’s a few — hope you like them:

The quotation below comes from published interviews with Squadron-Leader Mahinder Singh Pujji, DFC, one of (I think) the first batch of Indian pilots to serve in the European theatre during WW2. He arrived in the UK in late 1940; spent most of 1941 flying Hurricanes with 43 Squadron, RAF, on fighter sweeps over Occupied France; and then spent 1942 flying Kittyhawks in North Africa. He went back to India for the rest of the war, spending 1943 and part of 1944 on the North-West Frontier and eventually commanding No 4 Squadron, RIAF, in Burma.

He’s still alive, bless him; and occasionally pops up in pictures on the UK MoD website.

North Africa was a much more primitive theatre than Europe, and Pujji found the food a particular turn-off; particularly as he wouldn’t, for religious reasons, eat bully beef. But there was plenty of flying, and that kept him happy; though a lot of it was the down-and-dirty business of close air support. Around the time of the fall of Tobruk he was shot down. In his own words:

“I was in a Kittyhawk and … my instrument panel suddenly shattered. … Later I found that a bullet had gone through my overalls – the same one that had shattered the panel. I preserved that as a souvenir for many years.

“Then … suddenly the aeroplane started disintegrating. I immediately throttled back and landed … in the middle of the desert, right in the sand. Every aeroplane had water and these sort of things, so I sat on top of the aircraft, waiting. I knew to the north was the Mediterranean Sea – I couldn’t walk that far. South, east and west there was nothing. There was no choice for me …

“I was there for about nine-ten hours, when I saw a dust column. As it happened, it was our soldiers … retreating. I was picked up.”

As I say, nothing spectacular … just a one among multitudes of stories, covering those long periods of utter boredom, interspersed with short moments of stark terror, which make up the millions of individual experiences and memories of WW2.

For a rather more spectacular story, some of you might remember the one posted here by Jagan, some months ago, about how a batch of Indian pilots (on the Allied side, I hasten to add!) found themselves sharing a Christmas dinner with Erwin Rommel, no less. Makes a truly great story; so much so that I can’t swear it isn’t apocryphal …

For a much more detailed account of Kittyhawk operations in North Africa, Moggy and Phantom II, you might want to check out this site, if you don’t know it already:

http://www.accessweb.com/users/mconstab/edwards.htm

It tells the story of James “Stocky” Edwards, a Canadian ace who also flew Kittyhawks in North Africa. He later flew Spitfires in Italy and Europe, and succeeded “Johnnie” Johnson as WingCo Flying of 127 Wing towards the end of the war.

Warning — it’s long-ish. Ran to 39 pages when I printed it – but I found them all eminently worth reading. Includes an uncaptioned photograph of a bearded pilot in North Africa. Can anyone tell, is that “Imshi” Mason? (I’ve read somewhere that he was “the only bearded pilot in the RAF” – presumably, whoever bestowed that title on him overlooked the handful of Sikhs who flew for the RAF!) Or could it be a Sikh pilot, such as Pujji? The helmet does look to me as though there might be a turban underneath.

I’m guessing the photo came from one of the other publications listed right at the end of this account as image sources. Can I make a special appeal, if anyone recognises that photograph, to please let me know? Many thanks in advance!

PII, look forward to the rest of your P-40 stories. Regards,

Snoopy

RE: The RAF during UDI

Thanks, Uncle KeithMac. I’ve certainly met a few old Rhodies myself, who maintain with absolute conviction that RAF crews stationed in the region would never have actually opened fire on the Rhodesians (many of whom had themselves served in the RAF).

Regards,

Snoopy

Thanks

Thanks Ja — interesting info. I’m sure there’s a heap more to read up on the Akagi — now where did I put that library card?

Rabie — the Indian Navy was operating the Breguet Alize till not too long ago — can’t remember the year they retired, but they were still in use in approx 1989-90 or so.

Regards,

Snoopy

RE: IAF Vampire’s last flight log book – Author

>
> … Having read
>this piece I am sure you’ll excuse me if once in a while I
>get a bit emotional about that pile of metal and plywood with
>twin-booms that lies within a hundred meters of my present
>residence
>_______________________________
>
>

Nice story, Kabir.

You might want to add that the author of this piece was the Commandant of the Air Force Academy, when he wrote this article — it kinda helps explain that last phrase, “that lies within a hundred meters of my present residence”! Regards,

Snoopy