Air Force the Official Service Journal - Air Force Historical Studies ...

Burma. A Japanese light antiaircraft battery,
hoping it had solved the problem of rnohil
itv m this area, mounted all its equipment
ou the bro.td backs of elephants, .\fter
month-, of intense training, the unit set out
for jnngle maneuvers. Thcv made an imp"cssi\'c
start, wit h a brass band lc.idins; the
clcphnnt herd, and the local cit izcnrv cheermg
them on. TInt again the [ups had outsmarted
thrmsclvcs .. \ week later the batten'
straggled back to camp, tired, hnngn', cml:'
ing one lone Bofors barrel, but ot hcrwi-,c
gunless, cquipmcur k:«; and clcph.intlc-,s. The
Japs had failed to takc into account three
vit.rl factors: I-The prcsence of CO\\' clcph.mt
s in the column. 2-That there is a
ccTt:lin, definite season in cvcrv vc.ir. from
an elephant's point of view. 3~;I'he po\\i
hilit\. of CTTcoTTntering \lild bull elephants in
the jnTTgle,
England. :\ colonel wcut on a misvion as an
observer. 'I'l«: flight ran into serious oppo-.itiou
from both fighters :md fbk over Iurop«.
.u«l the B,I7 was hit. .\ 2lJ n11l1 shell struck
the top turret, and thc gunner fell to t lu:
floor, covered wit h blood, The colonel
rllShcd b.«k to gi\'e first aiel, saw thc bo\''s
still form and thought he 11':lScit her dC:ld or
clme to chillg. 'I'l«. officer \I':lS .rbout to ad,
Jilinister :t lllpodcrlllic whe-n the .gllnner
"pcTTcd his cn's. Thc coloTTcl bcnt over 111m,
pLicillg .m c.ir close to the boy's hps, expcct
mg some l.r.t, fceblc word«.
"C :Cl'l, Col.nnl.' the g"lTTcr said, ''I'm
bcginning to think there's not much [ut ur c
IU this r.ukc t ."
Australia. \\-hcn the \\',\,\T-'s (\ustr:Tli:m
.ur \\:ICS) were first issued shorts, a com-
IILIIllhllg olTicer not iccd th.rt the lICI''- g:lr-
iucnt-, \\TrC gCIlcLdly too ]o1lg. lJ;l1J~ill~
r.r! heT s]o['['ih- below t licir knccs. Iloplllg to
flud ,,0111C ~()11l! ion, the ~l'ntlcIILlll l':liL,,! (Jilt
t lr.. gi:ls :llId lillcd tlum u[' for :111 cxpcr iincut.
lie ;lskeel sc\er:l! of th« nior.: :1["
P,HCllt CIsh to fold the legs of tllelr Sllolts
up to v.niou-. len2ths. l--ilLJ1h' i.. (k,:dcd
u['on the mo-! suit.ihlc length :ITTd Iud ;Ill
lite' girls fold t iu-ir shorts to liTe, s.n u.; 1c-::gtlJ.
The otTiL'er t}«:n reviewed the rcsults and
seemed quite satisfied with his decision. So
"Itistlccl. in fact. that he didn't realize how
his next couun.md would sound: ".\II right,
girls, 0:011' you can let your pants down,"
England. In the 9th Air Force is a B,26
whoso nose will probnblv never catch up
wit h its tail. It h.rppcus th.it a plane n.nucd
\lartv \lar:lUder collided wit h :1plane n.uucd
Coutee I Icll. The no-«: \I';IS ,hC:llL'C1from one
aircraft, and the tail from the other. \ lcch.mics
sk illf ullv put the tim ends together
to produce a B,26 now known as \larty
\ laraudcr-Coatee Hell. The n()\e has made
51 missions, the tail is credited with 57.
England. An /\.\1' lieutenant had golf clubs,
but no .golf balls, Taking his problem directlv
to the English public, he iuscrtcd a w.mtad
in :1 local ne\\'Sp:lper. lie reeeil-cd this
rcplv: "Dear Amcnc.m officer, I am Peter
Turner, aged 9. I will trade m v four golf
halls for two p:lek:l[;cs of Cindy 'or chcwint;
gnm. But if vou Ill- a B,I7 or a B,2-f. you
c.m h.ivc them for nothing,"
Bougainville. The Jap hattle flag \I'as soiled
Ill' mudclv hands, and in one corner there
II:as a sm:ill pat-ch which looked im prcssi\Thl.kc
blood. The tr.msicnt colonel. \I:lltmg
for the next plane, w.uit cd the flag to rcmind
him of his twelve hours on this his,
torie gronnd. Something nice to have, a [ap
b.itt lc flag. The officer h:m;:lined shrcwcllv,
secreth' \lilling to P:l\' whatever price \I'as
fin.illv asked Lvcntuallv he h:lgg1cel the
price clown to 52:;, .md a fc\\' hourx later \I'as
on his \1':1\' hack to the Statcs. On the plane
he di-pl.ivcd it proucllv, uu.rw.irc of the
kncJ\\'in.g .glanccs which p;1"ed behn'en nicrnhers
of the erc\l'. Back in San lr.u.ci-«o. the
colonel sllO\lTel the fl:lg to a friend wh».
ironir.rllv, could reael [up.mcsc. He happil\'
lr.ur-l.it cd the ;:Ip cluLlCfcrs t h.it tile C:I
jokeskls li.rcl prinled on the counfcrfeit flag,
"Souvenir of Yom \ 'isit to Boug:linl'l1le."
India. ,\11 S:. \l1j() c