RAF FIGHTER PILOTS OVER BURMA.pdf

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First published in Great Britain in 2014 by
PEN & SWORD AVIATION
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd,
47 Church Street,
Barnsley,
South Yorkshire.
S70 2AS
Copyright © Norman Franks, 2014.
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978 1 78337 614 8.
eISBN 9781473832633
The right of Norman Franks to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted by
him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.
Printed and bound by CPI UK
Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the Imprints of Pen & Sword Aviation, Pen & Sword
Maritime, Pen & Sword Military, Wharncliffe Local History, Pen & Sword Select, Pen &
Sword Military Classics and Leo Cooper.
For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact
Pen & Sword Books Limited
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England
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Website:
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Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 – Caught on the Hop
Chapter 2 – Retreat from Rangoon
Chapter 3 – Life on the Airstrips
Chapter 4 – The First Arakan Campaign
Chapter 5 – The Arrival of the Spitfires
Chapter 6 – Calcutta, Second Arakan & Operation THURSDAY
Chapter 7 – The Defence of Imphal and Kohima
Chapter 8 – Air Battles over Imphal & the ‘Late Arrivals Club’
Chapter 9 – Finalé
Maps
Photographic Images
Bibliography
INTRODUCTION
When the Japanese attacked the American Fleet in Pearl Harbor on 7
December 1941, the war in Europe was two years and three months old.
Britain was just about holding its own, having been kicked out of France in
May 1940, managed to survive the Battle of Britain and then the RAF had
staged something of a comeback over Northern France in 1941, although not
without severe losses of fighter pilots and fighter aeroplanes.
Fighting in North Africa had not gone well, with British forces retreating
and advancing across the Western Desert in desperate attempts to keep the
Axis forces away from the Middle East oilfields. Malta was holding off
massive air attack and, like the Desert, was yet another drain on fighter
aircraft and personnel. All this time anxious eyes had been looking towards
the Far East, wondering if the Japanese Empire would attempt to spread its
influence across the Pacific and the South Seas, even into British territory of
Malaya and India itself. Burma, too, would be an obvious staging post for an
assault on India and, if the Japanese headed south, Australia would also come
under threat.
Despite these worries it was obvious that the war in Europe would be
using most of the resources available, and even Malta and North Africa
would take second place in the pecking order. Some thought had been given
to the defence of Britain’s major base in the Far East, Singapore, but the
handful of RAF and Australian squadrons based there were using a fairly
antiquated fighter aeroplane, the American Brewster Buffalo. This stubby
little fighter, designed for the US Navy, was more like a flying club machine
of the 1930s. It was lightly armed and when examples were bought by the

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