Show J witness Story j S. S Air Attack eaves aves Japs Japs' lase rase in inFlames Flames Newsman With Raiders Sees Bombs Crash Into Burma Barracks fighters Fighters Destroy Grounded Craft gj By KARL ESKELUND I Copyright 1942 by United Press WITH THE UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCE IN INA NINA A Aug 26 Delayed Delayed I I flew today with American bomb- bomb s r-s and d fighters in a big aton at- at Ick on which left the base in north Burma lazing laing g with wilh fed bomb-fed fires It vas as one of the biggest at- at Ick s yet et carried out by the merican air force based in China de e with one of our planes as ase e wok took off from secret China base id td flew w south through heavy rain gh over the old Burma road Inc twisted beneath us like a chow snake We swept in over just the sun broke from the clouds d db before fore my enthralled eyes our rubs slipped down in the bright and exploded the Janese buildings on the ground Dur ur ur force left Japanese military Id including troop barks barks bars bar bar- ks s aflame and destroyed the they they y four Japanese planes they found on the big airdrome Colonel Caleb V. V Haynes of North Carolina and Colonel Robert Robert Robert Rob Rob- ert L. L Scott of Macon Ga com- com n Winding inding the United States bomber omber and pursuit forces led in person the devastating raid Intelligence reports had revealed the concentration of new Japanese shock troops at for an offensive on at atthe atthe atthe the other end of the Kun ming Burma road and the United States army air force went into action While the great bombing planes attacked from high altitude the fighters in in imminent danger darted in through a hail of the big planes' planes bombs to attack with machine guns at ground level Japanese military buildings all allover allover allover over the airdrome burst Continued on Page Three Column Five 1 Big U. U US U.S. s. s Air Attack in Burma Leaves Buildings l lAnd And Grounded Planes at Jap Base in Flames Continued from Page One Into flames Barrack grounds and fields were left strewn with Japanese Japanese Japanese Japa Japa- nese dead and wounded The bombers took care of city while the fighters attacked the airdrome sweeping in at 50 feet altitude with their machine guns guns' blazing We flew low because of the rain and again and again I feared we were going to fly right into one of the green mountain tops which we seemed almost to skim We waited vainly for a burst of antiaircraft fire I watched the bombs drop from Colonel Haynes' Haynes plane like shiny cigars and seconds later I saw them explode right in the middle of a big group of buildings probably probably probably ably troop barracks Hurled Into Sky The buildings were hurled Into the sky Our bombardier Lieutenant Robert Davis Savannah Ga released released released re re- re- re leased his bombs They hit another another another an an- other large building Lieutenant Everett Holstrom I Tacoma Wash jerked the plane I into a sickening turn which threw me against the side as our plane shot almost directly upward As soon as he straightened the plane Holstrom made another pass at This time we dropped our bombs along a one-mile one line at selected targets and started at least three big fires looked different now from what it had a few seconds before Half a dozen fires were burn burn- ing Smoke and dust caused by the explosions covered a big area Fighters Rake Airport When we turned homeward I saw our pursuit planes flying low over the airdrome their guns blaz blaz- ing There was a small explosion as one Japanese plane blew up A few minutes after the bombers bomb bomb- ers landed at this base the first escorting pursuit planes came down The pilot of one jumped out and ran over Who in hell dropped that last bomb he demanded It damned near killed me It was Colonel Scott the fighter commander I was machine gunning a group of Jap soldiers near the field he went on They were firing at me with their rifles when the explosion shook m my plane It was one of your damned bombs Next time I escort you be more careful or Ill I'll make a pass pass at you |