Struan 1964 - Adm.monash.edu.au

Dave 's a irc raft jerked as it hit the chocks on th e catapult and came to
a sto p - he wa s in position. The flight deck crew attached the w ires to the
plane and the ca tap ult took up the st ra in. The Flight Deck Offi ce r circ led
his green flag. Dave o pened up the throttle and checked hi s gauges o nce
more. He then gave a " th um bs- up" to th e Officer wh o d ro pped hi s arm
holding the flag . Dave experienced a m ighty th ump in th e ba ck and the a ircraft
was airborne, climbing away from the sh ip.
positio n .
Dave steered to hi s w aiting
As he ci rcled he ga zed at the s h ip. It wo uld be good to get ba ck to
her. He always felt sl ightly nervou s o n the fi rst mission of a ne w tour of duty.
The ship had left the Japanese port of Sasebo the prev io us day. His thoughts
slid back to a fortn ight ag o. Th e sh ip had fini shed its to ur of duty in Ko rea
and was heading for Ku re. Dave was in hi s cabin, sp rucing up h is u n ifo rms
fo r the sho re leave to come.
" Hey, Dave ! Have yo u heard the ne ws?"
I t was Pete. He had the next-door cabi n.
" What ne ws?" asked Dave.
" Whac ko , cob be r. We' re going to Sas ebo instead of Kure. The Yank
admiral wan ts to entertain us. Ju st think of th e ball we ' ll have. Th o se
Yank nurses - whacko! "
" Youre jo k ing," said Dave.
" No, I'm not. We were [u st told. Yo u wait and see .
Just then the loudspeakers crack led.
" This is the Captain spe ak ing .. . " As the Capta in co nti nued Dave 's
face fell in d isappointment. He w as loo k ing forward to Ku re as he had plan ned
to as k Natalie to marry h im.
The other Fireflies had joi ned up w ith Dave no w . All the aircraft he aded
towards the Korean co as t , the Furies ah ead of and sligh t ly ab ove the bombers.
All crews kept a sharp look-out, but no Mig 's had been see n in thi s area . The
famed Mig Alley was further north, but o ne nev e r knew . They co uld be there.
As they crossed the ru gged coast Dave let his th oughts slip awa y aga in.
He had met Natalie at a cocktail party aboa rd the ship in Kure. She w as
a nu rse in the army Hospital at Hiro.
argument w ith Pete.
Dave had bee n in the m iddle of an
" The on ly good Red is a dea d Red -
ch ild," Pet e stated .
so ld ier, civ ilian, man , woma n o r
" I can't help feeling so rry for the women and chi ldren," Dave replied .
" Th is war isn 't theirs."
" The trouble w it h yo u is th at you're too soft, cobber," scoff ed Pete.
" Am I really too so ft ?" th ought Dave, as he had turned away. He knew
Pete lived for flying and loved nothi ng better than combat mi ssions. He hated
the Communist s w ith an intense hatred . Dave di d n't know wh y. He had re ad
a lot about Korea and could feel compas sion for its people.
They had crossed th e co as t now, and we re flying over mountain s an d
occasional rice paddies. The Furies turned sligh tly and set course for Pyong-do ,
about fifteen minutes away .
"What a pla ce to fight for !" m us ed Dave looking d own at the countryside .
After the cocktail party Dave had taken Natalie to a Japanese cinema.
The dialogue wa s in Ja pan ese but th ey didn' t care . A newsreel on Korea w as
sho wn. American and Co m monw ea lth troops we re taking a vi llage. Th e
English sub-title said sim ply th at the village had been pa rt ly de stroyed
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