The Call of the Thunder Dragon (2 page)

Falstaff had been
watching from a side alley further up the street. He saw Zam
amongst crowd in front of the hotel. Sensibly the crowds were
starting to disperse, taking cover in doorways or alleys.
clxvii

Colonel Haga-Jin,
gripping the boots in one hand and his pistol in the other berated
the crowd. Demanding they bring him the pilot. Captain Soujiro was
no kinder to the prisoners he ordered the bayonet’s to be pushed
closer. The prisoners jostled in a huddle trying to escape the
scratching bayonets. clxviii

Kawanishi Aircraft
manufacturer. It was founded 1920 in Hyōgo as part of the Kawanishi
conglomerate, which had been funding the Nakajima Aircraft Company.
Best known for float planes, its First aircraft the K-1
Mail-carrying Aircraft in 1921 before the Kawanishi Type 97 H8K
(Emily) flying boat able to carry up to 60 troops. 557

Haji; Japanese for
Shame. Japanese are mindful and evaluate the eyes of others to
avoid shame. They have very high self-esteem, limited only by their
own merit and credentials; thus, they would typically never attempt
to do the work of others or even face higher authority. They always
think how to avoid being put to shame. If one is shamed, they are
wounded emotionally. They are afraid of being in such a situation.
As such, there is a culture of shame in Japan, used as a social
control. 557

Falstaff awoke back in
their room. Zam soothing a bump on his head. He looked at her with
a smile. Had it been a dream he thought? Then he focused on the
noise that had woken him. The roar of one of the four engined
flying boats taking off. clxxiii

Falstaff pulled Zam up
into the cockpit, they crawled into the nacelle, cramped, cosy and
dim, it offered adequate protection from the elements. Falstaff
showed Zam how to light the stove to boil water for hot water
bottles and tea. clxxvi

Colonel Haga-Jin
clasped and up clasped his hands. The cold wind was stinging his
newly stitched face. He pulled the thick overcoat tight against the
stinging buffeting wind. clxxvii

The Police sergeant
stood back shaking his head. Never had the resort ever had such
unwanted guests. He hoped he’d never see the like again. Swearing
to the gods of the river. He would rather the town be drowned and
taken by the river than have to suffer such an invasion again.
clxxx

The snow was thick and
visibility poor. Inside the Kawanishi was chaos. The equipment and
machine guns had been thrown aboard, waiting on the floor to be
stowed. Instead the men pressed their faces to the windows,
searching the skies. clxxxi

Chapter Six
– The Journey Begins clxxxiii

Falstaff steered the
course he’d memorised, checking with Zam against the headings he’d
written down. clxxxiii

Irrawaddy River or
Ayeyarwady River (or 'Irawati' River in Hindi) 557

The Poem Mandalay by
Kipling, 1919 was later adapted to song with Music by Oley Speaks
and was sung by Lawrence Tibet in the 1934 film ‘Mandalay’ 557

557

Jute the name of the
plant fibre that used to make burlap, Hessian or gunny cloth.
557

Zam regularly handed
cups of hot rice, wine or tea to him. The piping hot rice and tea
filled his insides with a warm glow. Mouthfuls of dried beef that
had to be well chewed kept the muscles in his face from freezing
altogether. He encouraged Zam to stay of out the wind, under the
cover of the cabin. After a couple of hours, Zam had become bored
and in the warmth of the cabin fell asleep. clxxxvi

Falstaff was furious,
the rear engine was running rough and irregular. Then Zam come
forward to tell him how much hotter it was. The oil lost was still
trailing in drips behind them. It was the last straw for the pilot.
cxcii

Zam yawned, stretching
and felt the light bounce of the cabin against the air. She stifled
a scream, suddenly realising where she was. High in the air,
sleeping in the clouds, having nodded off again. She felt sick and
elated all at once as she rubbed her eyes to wake herself. She
crawled to the cockpit. Falstaff’s thick outer coat was hard and
frozen. She nudged him again. Terrified at the lack of response she
crawled into the co-pilot seat. cxciii

The Japanese pilot
relayed the news back to Colonel Haga-Jin. It had been an uneasy
flight. Following the slow Caproni had been easy, but the Japanese
Colonel and the troops were cold and impatient. Keeping at high
altitude, they slipped over the mountains, plotting the Caproni’s
course from above. Never losing sight of the red machine, as it
flitted through the white clouds below, trailing a thin black wisp
of oily smoke. cxcv

Zam wriggled into the
co-pilot’s seat, urgently tugging at Falstaff’s arm. cxcvi

The machine gunner in
the bow fired in frustration as soon as Falstaff turned. The red
flying boat’s approach was too fast for him to follow, even as he
corrected his aim, the Caproni suddenly rose into the air and
flashed overhead. cxcvi

Colonel Haga-Jin was
furious. His rage vented over the intercom had done nothing to slow
him down. He entered the cockpit shaking his fist and pointing at
the pilot. cxcix

Taking one bag between
them they left the Caproni moored on the riverbank amongst the
trees. A short walk brought them out on the side of a field.
Skirting the edge they found a path leading to a dirt track road.
ccvi

Saya – Japanese wooden
scabbard for the blade. 557

Falstaff standing in
the middle of the road cocked his ear. “Hullo! I hear something.”
ccx

Gefreiter rank, since
the 16th century, usually the second rank or grade to which an
enlisted soldier could be promoted. 557

Colonel Haga-Jin,
Captain Soujiro and the paratroopers jumped as their plane passed
over the river. The Kawanishi turned eastward back over the border,
radioing for an unmarked aircraft to be sent as soon as possible,
to rendezvous with the men for later extraction. ccxiv

The Myitkyina hotel
may not of been 5-star according to the Michelin guide, but it
employed the best available staff; English-speaking Indians, Sikhs
and Japanese laundrymen. ccxv

Captain Akira
considered himself to be a great pilot. He had been the best in
class in the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service, worked with
imperial Japanese airways, watched and flown with many foreign
pilots. The Imperial Japanese Navy had used his experience and
knowledge he was amongst the first to fly off the new aircraft
carriers. ccxvi

Alistair and waved
Ludwig off as he carried on up the road to the boarding house. They
each had two rooms, a bedroom and living room over the house of a
large Burmese family, who provided breakfast and clean sheets every
morning. ccxviii

Falstaff had just
finished bathing. Zam was reapplying his bandages. There was less
fuss from Falstaff, almost none in fact. Zam was relieved, her ears
were ringing from the drone of the engines and wind, having to hear
Falstaff moan and curse would have distressed her nerves beyond the
brink. She thought the ribs must be healing even if the scar was
still seeping blood. ccxx

By Jan 1942, The
British faced growing numbers of Burmese insurgents. The British in
Burma suffered from a confused, rapidly changing command. Until
1937, the defence of Burma had been the responsibility of the
Indian Gov. From 37 the Burmese gov. was in charge until Sept.39
then Comander-of-Staff in London took operational control while the
Burmese government retained administrative control. In Nov. 40
operational control moved to Far East Command in Singapore, while
administrative control was split between the War Office & the
Burmese government. Dec.41 control went back to the
Comander-in-Chief in India, two weeks after the first Japanese
troops invaded, Burma control was given to Gen. Wavell's new S-W
Pacific Command, which was promptly overrun by the Japs. 558

A career in the Indian
Police was certainly not the first choice for a gentleman. Dickens'
son; Francis Jeffrey tried several careers before joining the
Bengal Police in 1864. 558

There was a Japanese
dentist in every garrison town in India looking after the teeth of
the British & their families, providing cheap & excellent
treatment & no doubt learning plenty of military information? A
British army officer believed that his pre-war Japanese barber
outside the army camp in Malaya was later one of the Japanese
officers guarding POW’s in Changi. 558

Leaving the hotel on
the pretence of having been invited out to dine, Zam
surreptitiously carrying their bag they left. Without even paying
the hotel bill might raise alarm, they could always send for it
later. Coming in the other direction they bumped into the two
Prussian pilots; each carrying small bore hunting rifles.
ccxxiv

The little group sat
and watched the Burmese doctor working. He removed the original
three stitches, washed the wound and then proceeded to do the
neatest needlework Falstaff had ever seen. He was so pleased with
the finished job, he almost asked him for some embroidered
handkerchiefs to match. ccxxv

Colonel Haga-Jin sat
at the head of the dirty table; the room was cramped and dingy. The
dirty table filled most of the space. Around the table, sat Captain
Soujiro and his men, less the two currently watching the hotel.
ccxxx

Nov 1941, U Saw went
to London, to illicit a promise from Churchill that Burma be
granted Dominion status after hostilities in Europe; at the same
time, Saw was already in contact with Japanese to secure his own
political future in event of Japanese invasion of Burma. The
British discovered incriminating papers relating to these
communications & he was detained for 4 years in Uganda. This
proved Saw may have been a unique position to inform the British of
Japanese invasion plans (Dec 1941) before they were enacted on.
558

Ba Maw was arrested
for sedition 6 Aug 1940 & spent over a year in jail as a
political prisoner; he was incarcerated in east Burma. During the
Japanese invasion, 1942, Maw was freed & asked by the Japanese
to head a provisional civilian administration subordinate to the
Japanese military. Ba Maw’s ‘independent’ Burma decaled war on the
allies... until the war turned against the Japanese. 558

Falstaff awoke in the
warm embrace of Zam. They slept together in the covered cabin,
covered in layers of bedding and coats. The sun had risen and was
already climbing into a bright blue sky. ccxxxii

Alistair and Ludwig
arrived at the airstrip after two o’clock, with them they brought a
Chinese welder, a part-time tinsmith and toy maker. The type who
could build a doll’s pram or car from any discarded cans or hammer
and weld a new wing for a car, matching it by eye and hand. Ludwig
invited him to sit down outside the tool shed while he brewed
coffee. ccxxxiii

Soujiro lay flat
watching the mechanics go about their business through a pair of
field-glasses. They carried on refuelling the first aircraft. There
was no sign of Falstaff. ccxxxiii

Kimpatsu – blonde
hair. Un-Japanese. 558

Falstaff woke with
Zam’s head upon his shoulder. Still warm and cosy, he was tempted
to sleep on for longer, but his stomach requested attention. The
pangs of hunger could not be ignored. ccxxxv

Abe stood gawking at
the aircraft. He’d given Alistair his feeble excuse for being there
and retreated to the grass covered shack beside the runway to wait.
ccxxxvi

Alistair and Ludwig
watched suspiciously as Abe greeted the stranger. The two pilot’s
approached, pausing to watch the Puss Moth receding into the sky.
ccxxxvii

Soujiro gaped. He
lowered his field glasses. With the departure of the Dolphin flying
boat the air strip was deserted and worse, Abe was now with their
agent Ono Itchi heading who knew where. ccxxxviii

Falstaff was standing
on one of the floats, turning the little motor boat they’d used to
come downstream the night before. ccxxxviii

Zam had wondered into
the trees to attend a call of nature. Subsequently curious and
hopeful since the speculation that the Japanese had simply climbed
aboard and left. She climbed the riverside embankment to get a
better view of the surrounding area. ccxl

Captain Soujiro sat
back down in the ditch, staring at the fields behind them. ccxl

Colonel Haga-Jin sat
in the rear of the cramped little taxi with the small company’s
radio operator. Biding his time, he waited for his revenge on
Falstaff, not just for the damage he did as a fighter pilot, but
personal revenge. He felt sure Soujiro felt the same. They would
identify the woman with him and kill them slowly. He would make
them beg for mercy. In his mind, he pictured a fire and the
white-hot blades he would use to carve his name in Falstaff’s
flesh. Killing him would not be enough. ccxliii

Zam lay on the taxi
floor. The soldiers had piled into the taxi cursing and swearing
with vicious Japanese humour, careless of where their boots landed.
She curled up, hunching her shoulders in an attempt to protect her
head. Her hands wrapped around her legs couldn’t be lifted higher
than her knee and were useless to shield herself. ccxlv

Li had carried on with
his welding, oblivious to the noise. He had patched and soldered
one side and painted the metal with grey primer. Calmly he packed
and moved his tools to the top of the damaged tank, then started
over on the second hole on the outside of the aircraft. ccxlvi

Zam found herself
being lifted between two men, looking around she could see little;
glimpses of a dark, shadowy back street, it could be anywhere. She
was taken upstairs dropped onto a table. She glanced around, she
saw two faded posters on the wall: Hair tonic and cigarettes. It
was the barber shop then she thought, she’d heard Falstaff and
Alistair talking about it. Her spirits lifted, perhaps there was
hope. ccxlvii