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BOUND
FOR CHINA
In
September 1941 Gregory Boyington, as young officer, joined
the third and last batch of a group of American volunteers
leaving for China. This mission, financed by private funds
and clouded in secrecy, beguiled by its adventurous flavour.
It started with a draconion training under supervision of
captain Curtiss Smith, a zealot who left Gregory Boyington
with bad memories.
Somewhat later they embarked on a regular liner from San Francisco
to Batavia on the Isle of Java. Nobody knew that the United
States would enter a war with Japan.
After a rough crossing, littered with fights, carousing and
card games, the group arrived north of Sunda Island in the
Java Sea.
The journey took them to Honolulu, Batavia and finally Singapore.
There, they met the Sultan of Johore whose main activity was
Bourbon smuggling. One among many colourful people adorning
his Asian tour.
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The next departure was for Rangoon, Burma, where he landed
in November 1941. This group ended up in a training center
near Mandalay and took the train to Toungoo where the planes
where waiting.
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Where
is Burma ?
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Where
is Kunming ?
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BOYINGTON
WITH THE FLYING TIGERS
There
Boyington met colonel Claire Chennault, aged 50, chief commander
of their squadron, a future icon of America's aviation. Starting
December 1941, the squadron was equiped with some hundred
Curtiss P 40 fighters. Curiously dubbed "Flying Tigers"
after the shark's head decorating the front of the fuselage.
In spite of his flying experience, Boyington had to follow
lessons to polish up his knowledge of this type of plane and
before flying his first sortie.
December 7, 1941, they where put on stand-by during the attack
on Pearl Harbor. They went to Kunming, a more sheltered place,
to defend themselves against possible enemy attacks. Before
long the first clashes with
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Les
Tigres Volants painted in action by
Robert Taylor |
the
Japanese
fighters, the famous Zero, started. The Japanese easily outclassed
the American machines as well as the RAF's Spitfires; a squadron
of which was almost entirely destroyed in a few days. Thereafter,
Rangoon was regulary bombed and two pilots of Gregory Boyington's
group were shot down.
Nevertheless they scored a few victories and Duke Hedman,
belonging to the third group, dubbed Hell's Angles, was the
first American ace of the second world war. He downed 5 Japanese
aircraft the same day, et the end of 1941, december the 25th
! - February 2, 1942, Gregory Boyington made a sortie with
his group trying to stave off the enemy bombers and got his
first personal
victory but he finished the mission unlucky with a bullet
in
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his arm. Then
he met two Scotsmen, Bill Adams and Bill Tweedy working in
the oil in Burma since several years. The two invited Boyington
and six other pilots to stay with them for nothing in their
home. Against the backdrop of war they knitted by ties of
friendship.
In February 1942, in full war, they enjoyed between missions
all ameneties of their new home : valets, private rooms and
exquisite food. A little later Boyington shot down a Zero
197, and thereafter two other enemy machines but their group
left Rangoon pushed by the alarming turn of events and the
hostility of the locals. In March 1942 they flew for Magwee,
then Mandalay and finally Kumning in April. There he met again
colonel Chennault and he escorted a group of Russian bombers
flown by Chinese on bombing missions to Hanoi and Haiphong
in Indochina. During an aerial combat over Kunming, Boyington
crashed because of the poor mechanical condition of his aircraft.
The military doctor found no bodily injury but he ordered
him to stop drinking to avoid premature death by alcohol abuse.
During the Flying Tigers adventure, Gregory Boyington downed
6 Japanese aircrafts, but he got pinned with only three. It
should be noted that the squadron's pilot's were mercenaries,
mainly paid according to the number of planes downed.
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Claire
Chennault, when he was younger, serving in the US Air Force
acrobatic patrol
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BACK HOME
In
July 1942, about one year after leaving his native country,
he returned on a ship bound for New York to join the Navy.
The administration advised him to go home and wait for an
appointment. To make a living for two monthes, he picked up
his job of eight years ago : car attendant earning less than
one dollar per hour. Finally, in January 1943, he received
his appointment at Espiritu Santo, an island with an American
rear base out of Japanese bomber reach.
During four weeks he's going to fly Wildcat fighters to escort
bombers squadron over various islands from Guadalcanal to
Bougainville without spoting a single Jap. Thereafter Gregory
Boyington. went on leave to Australia having a good time with
booze and women, together with his buddies.
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CREATION OF THE "BLACK
SHEEP"
The return to work doesn't pass well. He's
being confined to administrative tasks for
all the saqudrons. A function so little rewarding
that it made up in his mind an idea submitted
to and approved by the colonel "Sandy"
Sanderson : assemble a squadron from reserve
or supernumerary pilots and planes. So Gregory
Boyington started the search of pilots for
his own squadron. He remembered several young
pilots met during his Pacific journey and
also three pilots of squadron 122 (John Bergert,
Bou Bourgeoise and Stan Bailey) who fitted
perfectly his design despite their lack of
combat experience.
They trained during three weeks and a buddy
relationship developed between Gregory Boyington
and his men, who called him "pappy"
because of his age (30 versus 19 to 22 for
them). The number 214 was assigned to their
squadron, nicknamed the "Black Sheep".
Their problem started when Colonnel "Sandy"
Sanderson was replaced by colonel Lard, a
military code and and discipline zealot, whom
he had known while a cadet at Pensacola. He
ordered him to stop drinking or face disciplinary
action. They detsted each other wholeheartedly,
but Gregory Boyington claimed he always had
the last word.
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The
squadron was outfitted with 20 Corsairs (with
which they had only 30 hours flying experience)
and flew off to the Russel Islands. Then they
were assigned to a first mission September 16,
1943, at 7 A.M - The night before, he had a
troubled sleep fearing failure because of insufficient
pilots' preparation compared to the several
months training of other units. They escorted
50 bombers on their way to attack Ballale, a
small fortified island west of Bougainville.
After getting lost in the clouds they picked
up the tracks of the bombers at the same moment
that some 40 Zeros appeared. Boyington downded
four enemy aircrafts and the squadron, lacking
fuel, returned to Munda in New Georgia. On the
way back he rendered assistance to another pilot
by shooting down two Zeros among the enemy planes
attacking his damaged Corsair.
Thence, the status of the squadron was certified
by General Headquarters, as well as the surname.
The Black Sheep were born !
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Pappy
Boyington in discussion with
a meccanician. |
On
the taxi way with the squadron's mascot
on foreground. |
Boyington
taking off with his Corsair FAU-1D from
Vella la Cava island. |
WHO ARE YOU, PAPPY BOYINGTON
?
By Benjamin Freudenthal
Unlike the character of TV series "Black
Sheep" starring Robert Conrad, you're a
multifaced person. Before the war you were car
attendant, the army confirms your flying passion,
your spirit of adventure and your craving for
booze. Snubbed by the well-educated, wherever
you go, you leave on indelible trails of parties,
unending card games, capers, booze and women.
Dicing with death in various crashes, injuries,
fights and one year and a half in Japanese P.O.W.
camps. Several years of anonimity follow the
war : selling stamps, insurance policies and
even four years as wrestling arbiter ! You drank
your cup to the dregs before steadying your
life and resume doing what you knew the best,
flying. In 1958 you tell your life in a book
establishing your fame.
Some day in 1974, Stephen Cannell calls you
for adapting the glorious squadron's history
to T.V.
Challenging death while young, you lived to
be old, quitting the scene at 76, Jannuary 11,
1988. Leaving behind the image of an insupportable
charismatic character whose life was a sequence
of good chances and bad luck.
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version française
