Gibson's Braveheart in a bra puts fear into historians By Dalya Alberge A planned film about the British warrior queen is worrying the experts

AFTER Christ comes the warrior queen: Mel Gibson is planning a film on Boadicea as his next production, the industry magazine Variety says. Archaeologists and historians fear that Gibson might mangle history in Warrior, which is expected to be a bloodthirsty depiction of the Queen of the Iceni — the female equivalent of William Wallace in Gibson’s Braveheart. Variety reported yesterday that cash from The Passion of the Christ has placed Gibson’s company, Icon, in a strong position to make another period picture, “Braveheart with a bra”. Historians, criticising the graphic violence in those films and Gibson’s Scottish accent as the 13th-century hero William Wallace, fear the Australian producer will portray his 1st-century heroine as the wild, British freedom fighter of popular myth, who threw off the Roman yoke. They say this distorts historical reality; Boadicea was probably a member of Britain’s romanised elite, or might never have existed. Gavin O’Connor, who has been named as the director of Warrior, told Variety: “What drew me is that Boadicea was driven by personal revenge. Her goals were never political and never went beyond avenging her slain husband and child. She managed to bring together all of these warring tribes to stand against the Roman Empire. It is a masculine story with a female point of view.” Boadicea led a rebellion in AD60. Her forces defeated a Roman army and destroyed the capital of Roman Britain, Canulodunum (Colchester), London and Verulamium (St Albans). The Romans are said to have whipped her and raped her daughters. Boadicea was finally defeated by the Roman army led by Gaius Suetonius Paullinus and may have killed herself with poison. Jeremy Hill, the British Museum’s curator of Iron Age artefacts, said that Gibson might be attracted by Roman reports that Boadicea’s army cut off women’s breasts. “It’s a gruesome account,” he said. “I can see a Mel Gibson film now.” The script, which will chronicle Boadicea’s rise from peasant girl to military leader, has been written by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal, who said they spent more than a year researching her, Celtic Britain and the Roman Empire. Dr Hill said that our knowledge of Boadicea is limited to 40 or 50 lines of Latin in three different sources, including Tacitus, writing some 20 or 30 years after the event. Dr Hill also said that she was no peasant, but a member of the aristocracy: “She was living and dressing in a Roman way. We tend to see her as a wild Briton, but she’s probably a very refined person who knows a lot about Roman aristocratic ways. That’s the circle she mixes in.” John Davies, chief curator at Norfolk Museums, said that the archaeological evidence does not actually prove that she even existed. He said she may have been invented by the Romans, who “personified” defeated provinces with images on coins. “Bouda means ‘victory’, so Boadicea would be ‘Victoria’. It’s a contrived name. People should question what sort of evidence we have.” Neither historian was impressed by Braveheart. Andrew Martin, a specialist author on Scots film accents, said that the star’s William Wallace “sounds like a Melbourne traffic warden, chewing on a mouthful of woad”. Dr Hill said that “as a piece of historical drama, it’s pretty inaccurate”. Dr Davies dismissed its “loaded” anti-English bias and described The Passion, which has been denounced as anti-Semitic, as “highly offensive on all fronts”.

Dieu et mon Droit

Don\'t Cry for me Argentian...
The Truth is that were gona beat ya
With out Sea Harrier
Well Sink you carrier
and that\'s our promise
So keep your Distance

At least he's not killing Englishmen in this one

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"ONCE A HOWARD, ALWAYS A HOWARD"

hehe he will find a way to demonise us somehow ;p



______

Who fvcking care about historical accuracy as long as it is entertaining. Anything we know during this period is just .So what the heck.

----------------------------------------------
The dual nature of Robespierre: One day preaching about the virtues of Liberty, Fraternity and Equality. Another day, the virtue of terror.



Turenne mastered the art of mobile warfare and surprising the enemy.

So we've got Tom Cruise winning the Battle of Britain for us, Jerry Bruckheimer making King Arthur and now that Australian-American-Irish bible bashing wanker making a film about Boudicea.

Should be interesting!


You'd think British filmakers might take note and get off their arses and start putting British history on film.

i doubt it though ;£






Francia, seo mæs idel folclond god æfre gescieppan.



"Garlic......and bread?? Garlic bread??"

"Francia, seo mæs idel folclond god æfre gescieppan."

WTF?

----------------------------------------------
The dual nature of Robespierre: One day preaching about the virtues of Liberty, Fraternity and Equality. Another day, the virtue of terror.



Turenne mastered the art of mobile warfare and surprising the enemy.

I'm a historian but even I will admit that when historical facts consist of "They say this distorts historical reality; Boadicea was probably a member of Britain’s romanised elite, or might never have existed," that one theory at this point is just as good as another.

I wonder how they'll film the final battle? Boudicca's 80,000 - 100,000 rampaging Celts get cut to shreds by a Roman force not numbering over 10,000 men. IIRC the Roman commander selected a position that could only be assaulted from one direction, negating Boudicca's numerical advantage. The Britons were overconfident of victory and brought their wives & children to come watch the slaughter. The Romans eventually pushed forward and pinned the Britons against their own wagons. A wholesale slaughter did ensue, except it was the Britons being butchered. (the Romans slaughtered the spectators too)
Some mopping up remained but for all practical purposes the rebellion was over.

It won't exactly be dramatic to have the film build up for 2 hours only to have the Celts get completely routed at the end. I suspect in the Hollywood version, Boudicca will be outnumbered and will only lose because of treachery.

Of course the film will probably ignore the darker side of Boudicca too. Before being finally defeated her force razed several towns and butchered the inhabitants, many of whom were also Britons.

>> I suspect in the Hollywood version, Boudicca will be outnumbered and will only lose because of treachery.<<


Of course, LOL.

I dont think Mel Gibson would have a problem if it came to altering a Battle afterall this is the man that showed us the Irish switching sides at the battle of Falkirk and the battle of Stirling Bridge, minus the bridge!


Eryx,

Its nothing to do with France so dont start whining and moaning.





Francia, seo mæs idel folclond god æfre gescieppan.



"Garlic......and bread?? Garlic bread??"

"I'm a historian but even I will admit that when historical facts consist of "They say this distorts historical reality; Boadicea was probably a member of Britain’s romanised elite, or might never have existed"


Thats about as much as we know.

As usual i doubt there will be any real relationship between
what happened and the depiction

______

"Who fvcking care about historical accuracy as long as it is entertaining.

Well, me for one.

I have had a love for history since my schooldays and know it pretty well. When I see some films they just disgust me - Braveheart being a prime example. It is an insult to my intelligence and the memory of those portrayed within the film - including William Wallace himself.

The same goes for many other films. We all know who they are...

They amounts to the re-writing of history - or put more simply, they are just lies.

If they made similar films about events people had any knowledge of they would be horrified. But picking subjects people are ignorant about somehow makes it all right?

Otherwise, in a fifty or a hundred years time, the tale of those brave freedom fighters that gave up their lives and fought tremendous odds to blow up the twin towers will be OK, won't it?

Sounds like a really entertaining movie to me...

http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/film/news/story.jsp?story=510475


Hollywood updates history of Battle of Britain: Tom Cruise won it all on his own

The 'Top Gun' star is making a new film glorifying American Billy Fiske as the hero of this country's 'finest hour'. But veterans say that, though a remarkable man, Fiske died without shooting down a single plane. Cole Moreton talks to those who knew him


11 April 2004


Billy Fiske was a racing driver, a pilot, an Olympic gold medallist and an American - but one thing he did not do was win the Battle of Britain single-handed. Veterans and historians fear that will be the impression given, however, when Tom Cruise plays Fiske in a new film called The Few.

"I've heard it is almost like he won the war all on his own," says Ben Clinch, who loaded the guns fired by the real Billy Fiske and his comrades in 601 Squadron during the summer of 1940. "I can't see how they can make a film of Fiske's life. It was quite short. He was unremarkable, in the context of the squadron. He was just another pilot as far as we were concerned."

Hollywood's version of the Second World War has already shown Americans capturing the Enigma code machine in U571 (they didn't) and leading The Great Escape from a German prisoner of war camp (also not true). Pearl Harbor even suggested that the RAF only thwarted the Luftwaffe in the summer of 1940 because US pilots popped across the Atlantic to help out. Now Mr Cruise looks set to expand on that with his own version of what Churchill called our "finest hour".

Fiske was a remarkable character who did fly in the Battle of Britain, but recorded no confirmed kills. "It is going to be a farce if we have the Yanks shooting down everything in sight," says Bill Bond of the Battle of Britain Historical Society. "The battle was four weeks old when Billy was shot down. He made several sorties but he didn't shoot anything down, and his impact on the battle was negligible. We are concerned."

The Few is being made by Michael Mann, director of Top Gun, the jet-fighter movie that made Tom Cruise's name. Currently in development, it will be based on the life of William Meade Lindsley Fiske III, son of a wealthy Chicago family, who became the youngest Winter Olympics contestant to win a gold medal, in the bobsleigh at the age of 16. Handsome, charming and addicted to speed, he married the former Countess of Warwick and raced at Le Mans. So far, so historical, and filmable. But alarm bells started ringing when Variety, the movie world's magazine of choice, described the film's historical content. "In 1940, expert German fighters had decimated the Royal Air Force to the point that there weren't enough pilots left to fly the Spitfire planes sitting idly in hangars," it said. "Unable to rouse the US into action, a desperate Winston Churchill hatched a covert effort to recruit civilian American pilots to join the RAF. Risking prison sentences in the then-neutral US, a ragtag bunch of pilots answered the call." The magazine also looked forward to "ferocious dogfights between the overmatched American pilots and the German ace fliers".

This account prompted despairing laughter from Bill Bond last week. "It's hilarious," he said. "Totally wrong. The whole bloody lot. They flew Hurricanes for a start." Spitfires have a more romantic image, however. "Recruited by Churchill? Crap. They wouldn't have gone to prison either." And as for the idea of aircraft sitting idly by in hangars while the brave Americans took to the skies: "What a load of bloody rubbish. We did have a pilot shortage, but not to that extent."

Mr Bond has much more confidence in the accuracy of a forthcoming book by the author Alex Kershaw, whose proposal was the inspiration for The Few. The book is due to be published by Michael Joseph next year. Mr Kershaw also wrote The Bedford Boys, the basis for the film Saving Private Ryan.

There was no crack American squad of flyers, but at least nine US citizens did fly and fight during the Battle of Britain, according to the aviation historian Andy Saunders. "It would be an injustice to the memory of Billy Fiske were Hollywood to corrupt his story," said Mr Saunders in a recent edition of Aeroplane magazine. Although a gifted pilot, Fiske was frustrated by his own lack of combat action. His Hurricane caught fire in the air on 16 August 1940, but nobody knows whether this was because of enemy bullets or an accident. Soon after he landed, his airfield, RAF Tangmere, was attacked by Stuka bombers. Fiske died in hospital the next day from his burns.

Two other American pilots had been killed before him, but it was the dashing, well-connected Fiske who caught the public imagination - or was recognised as useful for propaganda purposes. Churchill sent a wreath to his airfield, and in July 1941 a plaque was unveiled by the Minister for Air at St Paul's Cathedral. His gravestone at Boxgrove in Sussex was replaced and rededicated in 2002.

"There is no doubt the Few, as Churchill called them, were wonderful," said Ben Clinch, now chairman of the 601 Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force Old Comrades' Association. "They gave their lives without thought. It's a good job they were there."

But his memories of the time are very different to those told in heroic movies: 601 was nicknamed the Millionaire's Squadron because most of its pilots moved in high social circles. "They were very aloof," said Mr Clinch.

When petrol rationing hit hard, one of the wealthy flyers bought a local garage outright, he said. "We used to get visits from theatrical types from the West End. The stars went to see the officers. The chorus line went to the non-commissioned officers. We got nothing."

Mr Clinch saw Billy Fiske's Hurricane land for the last time but took cover as buildings around him exploded. He has a print of a painting on his wall that shows one version of Fiske's last moments, but at 85 he is bemused by the attempts to immortalise this one of many pilots. "This resurrection is commercial, as far as I can see," he said. "But at my age I let sleeping dogs lie."

HOW UNCLE SAM REWROTE THE SCRIPT

Objective, Burma! (1945)

Errol Flynn's paratroopers overcome the Japanese with barely a Brit in sight, although it was really they who won the battle. The press and public, some of whom had fought in Burma, were so outraged that the film had to be withdrawn.

The Great Escape (1963)

Steve McQueen played a leading part in a mass escape from a POW camp. In real life, 76 got out of Stalag Luft III, but only three made it alive; 50 were shot and 23 recaptured. No Americans among them.

Braveheart (1995)

Mel Gibson as a charming William Wallace - not the real man who wore the skin of an opposing general as his belt. Wallace fathers a son by the Princess of Wales who really gave birth seven years after his execution.

Titanic (1998)

First Officer William McMaster Murdoch is remembered as a hero in his Scottish home for saving passengers. He froze to death in the sea. The film shows him shooting passengers in a blind panic.

U-571 (2000)

Harvey Keitel and other plucky American seamen pull an Enigma code machine from a sinking German submarine and change the course of the war. Except that it was the crew of HMS Bulldog.

The Patriot (2000)

Gibson again as a pacifist provoked into joining the American War of Independence when sadistic Brits herd women and children into a church and set fire to it. Nothing like that happened.







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

Coming to a Theatre of War soon...
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Pax B:

"Gibson again as a pacifist provoked into joining the American War of Independence when sadistic Brits herd women and children into a church and set fire to it. Nothing like that happened."

No, the Regulars just raped, pillaged, and plundered their way through Staten Island and Northern New Jersey in late 1776. There are archives with documents of court proceedings where agrieved relatives sought to have soldiers who had gang raped their daughters brought before military courts...only to have their cases laughed out by British officers (needless to say, once the British lines pulled back after the Continentals set up shop in Morristown and West Point...Loyalists took a real beating in New Jersey). Then there was the burning of Fairfield (which kicked off a whole march of destruction by Colonel Tryon while the Connecticut Line was busy holding West Point) as well as the burnings of Falmouth, Maine and Norfolk, Virginia. Damn...I nearly forgot...the General Howe also marched north and burned my county seat...then state capitol of NY...Kingston, New York to the ground as well. Hell, during the time that the British were bottled up in NYC and Long Island they burned damn near everything on the Connecticut coast. Then there was the behavior of a certain colonel (Tarleton...or something close to that) who was known for massacring rebel wounded and prisoners in the South. There was also the general havoc that was being spread throughout Virginia by Cornwallis...up until he was confronted by American Light Infantry under Butler and French troops under Lafayette...at which point the raids ceased and he began to draw towards Yorktown.

Actually, quite a lot of what happened in that movie did happen...just not at those specific locations or in that specific manner. However, the history of that time has been extensively sanitized and cleaned up...it was far more brutal (the regulars especially...and both sides partisans in the south as well) than most people realize today.

I also didn't mention that in many cases...when the British burned down towns...they tended to do so in the late fall...which was after the harvests were pulled in and before the onset of winter (not enough time to plant new food or rebuild the homes...which was particularly cruel in Maine's case).

It was "An outrage exceeding in barbarity and cruelty every hostile act among nations," according to George Washington and rather than bring the radical elements of the American colonies in line, it fed the fires of revolution sweeping America in 1775. It was the destruction of most of the buildings that constituted the town of Falmouth, (now Portland) by a small fleet of British warships.

In 1775 relations between Britain and the American Colonies had already been bad for a while. Falmouth's protests, harassment of British tax officials and demonstrations of sympathy for rebels in Boston painted Falmouth as a rebel town.

However, many wealthy merchants were doing big business with the British. When merchant Thomas Coulson, a British sympathizer, took delivery of a load of rigging and sails from Britain in violation of an embargo, the local Whig authorities demanded he send it back. Coulson refused, and loyalist sheriff William Tyng sent to Boston for support.


Lieutenant Henry Mowatt

Support came in the form of the British ship Canceaux, under the command of Lieutenant Henry Mowatt. On May 7 1775, less than a month after the battles at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, a group of rebels from Brunswick under the command of Colonel Samuel Thompson arrived on the back side of Falmouth Neck (the Portland Peninsula) and hid in the trees there for two days with the intention of ridding Falmouth of the British presence. They took Lieutenant Mowatt and a couple of companions captive as the trio were walking in the woods.

Canceaux's master, Ensign Hogg, threatened to fire on the town if Mowatt was not released and fired a couple of blank shots to punctuate his threat. That started a panic among the populace and some started to evacuate their homes. Others appealed to Colonel Thompson to release Mowatt. Thompson relented and allowed Mowatt to return to the ship, and radical militias from around the countryside converged on Falmouth where they generally extorted money from loyalists, got drunk and intimidated the locals whose homes were under the British guns. The militiamen formed plans to destroy Canceaux, but never carried them out. They occupied Falmouth for several days before returning to their homes in Brunswick, Cape Elizabeth and Gorham, towns that were fairly safe from British attack.

Many militiamen, disappointed that they weren't able to provoke a wider confrontation with the British, left with the opinion that Falmouth's ardor for rebellion was somewhat wanting. The whole dust up, later called "Thompson's War" ended on May 15, when Mowatt's ship sailed away from Falmouth. With Mowatt went the first group of Tory refugees from Falmouth. Mowatt would return, and this time Falmouth would not get off so lightly.

Two months later in Machias, a group of about forty rebels attacked a small British sloop sent to help another loyalist merchant. The capture of the Margaretta on June 12 was the first naval victory by a rebel force over the mighty British navy and the commander of the British navy in New England, Vice Admiral Samuel Graves was embarrassed by it.

Graves had been under pressure to be more forceful in suppressing rebellion in the area. After Machias, he drafted a list of nine towns to be bombarded as an example to the recalcitrant rebels. The list included towns from Marblehead, Massachusetts to Machias including Portsmouth, Saco, and Falmouth. He then presented the orders for the destruction of those towns to Lieutenant Henry Mowatt. Mowatt departed on Canceaux with three other ships on October 8, 1775. Bad weather forced Mowatt to pass by several of the towns on his list, but he was probably headed to Machias when the weather changed, and sailing to Falmouth became a better choice.

On the afternoon of October 16, 1775 Mowatt's squadron of four ships appeared in Falmouth Harbor. Mowatt sent word to the townspeople that they had two hours to evacuate. A three person committee went to Mowatt and got him to agree that if the town gave up its arms, he would see if Admiral Graves would spare them the ordered destruction. Townspeople delivered a token amount of muskets with a deadline of nine o'clock the following day for delivery of the remainder of the town's arms.

By the time this compromise had been reached, the town was in complete panic. Residents loaded wagon upon wagon with what possessions they could rescue and attempted to move them to safety. In the press of it all, no one ever held the meeting to decide whether to surrender the rest of their arms.

The next morning, about half an hour after the deadline, Mowatt's ships opened fire. At first they fired high to warn the people of Falmouth that the bombardment was at hand. Mowatt's ships fired on the town of Falmouth for rest of the day. When cannon fire wasn't doing enough damage, a group of British sailors landed in town and burned many buildings. Militiamen put up token resistance, and are credited with saving a few buildings, but the damage was very widespread. At six p.m. the bombardment ceased and Mowatt's four ships sailed off.

130 houses were gone. the Anglican Church, the meeting house, the public library, and the fire station all were destroyed. Thirteen ships had been in the harbor at the time. Two were captured. The rest were sunk, some with valuable cargoes aboard. And many people of Falmouth were looking at a long hard winter ahead with no home, no resources, no town. Amazingly no one was killed on either side.

Following the bombardment, militiamen who had come to Falmouth to oppose the British turned their attention to looting the remains of the homes. Some people carried off the possessions of those who had already lost their homes. And some, remembering Falmouth's tepid response to the British both during Thompson's War and in opposition to Mowatt's force, thought that the residents of Falmouth Neck got what they deserved.

http://www.maine.rr.com/Around_Town/features/7_4_99/Default.asp

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These achievements accomplished, Sir Henry sent Collier with his squadron to the shores of Connecticut, with a band of marauders under Governor Tryon, about twenty-five hundred strong, composed of British and Hessians. The latter were sent on these expeditions, because they were more cruel than the Britons, and delighted in plundering, burning buildings, and ill-treating the defenceless inhabitants; a mode of warfare ordered by Lord George Germain to awe the people into submission. The expedition left New York on the night of the 3d of July, and in the course of about a week, laid waste and carried away a vast amount of property. They plundered New Haven on the 5th, laid East Haven in ashes on the 6th, destroyed Fairfield on the 8th, and plundered and burned. Norwalk on the 12th. Not content with this wanton destruction of property, the invaders cruelly abused the defenceless inhabitants. The soldiery were given free license to oppress the people, Tryon encouraging instead of restraining them in their horrid work. The Hessians were his incendiaries. To them he entrusted the operation of the torch and the most brutal acts, which British soldiers would not perform. Whilst Norwalk was in flames, Tryon sat in a rocking-chair upon a hill in the neighborhood, a delighted spectator of the scene. Nero fiddled while Rome was burning; this puny imitator of the emperor made merry over the conflagration of a defenceless town inhabited by people of his own nation. In allusion to this and kindred expeditions, Trumbull, in his McFingal, makes Malcolm say:

Ya know...they shouldn't do the Battle of Britain...instead they should have done a movie about the Flying Tigers over Rangoon:

They began arriving at Rangoon in late summer 1941 and were assigned to a partially completed RAF airfield near Mandalay and divided into three squadrons: Hell's Angels, the Adams and Eves and the Panda Bears. Living conditions were appalling. It was monsoon season; torrential downpours occurred several times daily. The area was inundated with mud, infested with snakes and rodents and with insects constantly in their food and beds. A sickening odor prevailed in temperatures that reached 115°. They rarely had electricity or hot water.

Here they met Chennault who pep-talked them into staying. They were, after all, civilians and could get out if they so desired. Ten resigned immediately. Some of these found their way back to the US; others stayed in Rangoon working in black market activities.

Before leaving San Francisco they had been assured that 100 new P-40C's would await them in Burma. When they arrived, only two airplanes were available, neither one combat-ready, lacking gunsights and ammunition. There were no suitable tools, spares or fueling facilities. There was a strong feeling of resentment between Chennault and the Curtiss-Wright sales representative. The factory man did not believe the AVG would be successful against the Japanese.

Most of the AVG fliers had never flown a P-40. Little training instruction was available to them; it was "learn by doing", and many training accidents resulted. Navy pilots, for example, were accustomed to a hard, three-point landing on a carrier deck; the P-40's gear could collapse from such a landing. Runway collisions were common as well as under and overshot landings. One pilot, after wrecking three airplanes and severely damaging two more, painted five American flags on the fuselage of his sixth, proclaiming himself a Japanese ace!

Most of the AVG pilots had been well disciplined, clean-cut Americans with military and naval backgrounds and training. They loosened up after a time in Burma. Since they were civilians, there was no uniform dress, they wore whatever pleased them--Russian boots, short pants or even loincloths, pith helmets, colored shirts and usually a .45 pistol strapped to their waist. The British were in Rangoon, both RAF and army personnel preparing for a Japanese invasion. They frequented a favorite watering hole, the Silver Grill, accessible also to the American pilots, who were usually noisy, boisterous, drunk and obnoxious and made a poor impression on the sedate British and the Burmese civilians.

The AVG pilots were young men, most of them in their early twenties. Anyone a little older was considered ancient and usually nicknamed "Pop" or "Pappy." The well-known Gregory Boyington was one of these. He was 28; hence his nickname "Pappy." Boyington was a marine first lieutenant, languishing in Pensacola when he was offered an AVG transfer. Always ready for a fight on the ground or in the air, he jumped at the chance and eventually became a Flying Tiger ace. He later resigned, rejoined the Marine Corps where he led the famous Black Sheep squadron, was shot down, presumed killed and awarded the Medal of Honor, posthumously. He turned up at war's end in a Japanese prison camp.

During the AVG's training and settling-in period, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. It was expected that the Japanese army would soon move on Burma from French Indo-China (now Vietnam) with the ultimate objective of taking India. Thus, the AVG's mission was expanded to the protection of Burma itself as well as the Burma Road. Two squadrons were relocated to Kunming, China, the third to a field near Rangoon to help protect that city. By that time the

P-40's had been painted with the well-known shark nosed motif, inspired by a newspaper photograph from the war in the Mediterranean area.

The AVG's baptism of fire came in late December 1941. The Japanese had taken Indochina and established a bomber base at Hanoi. Ten twin-engine Mitsubishi's flew toward Kunming on what the Japanese expected to be a routine flight; they had been bombing that city, the eastern terminus of the Burma Road, for a year. No fighter escort accompanied the bombers. Kunming, until now, had been defenseless. The bomber pilots, as they neared the city, were stunned to see four fearsome shark-nosed fighters closing on them. They jettisoned their bombs and hightailed it full-throttle back toward Hanoi. Ten more P-40's appeared, and nine bombers went down in flames.

Following this action the Chinese dubbed the AVG, "Flying Tigers," the tiger being regarded by them as the most ferocious of all beasts. Kunming was not bombed again for the duration of the war.

The battle of Rangoon soon began. The Japanese mounted a major raid against Rangoon with 166 airplanes, bombers and fighters, aimed at destroying the dockyard and port facilities. The Hell's Angels Squadron, based near the city, was able to scramble only 9 P-40's but shot down 24 of the enemy with 3 losses of their own. The following day the Japanese returned with 200 aircraft to continue their bombing of the city, expecting to wipe out the remnants of the Flying Tiger Squadron at the same time. This armada was met by the remaining 6 P-40's; 18 enemy planes went down with no losses to the Hell's Angels.

These aerial combats were observed from the ground to the delight and amazement of the population of Rangoon. Overnight the "uncouth" American pilots became the heroes of Rangoon and were welcomed everywhere.

These bombing raids, nevertheless, caused extensive damage to Rangoon and with Japanese ground forces closing on the city, Rangoon fell a few months later. During the ten-week battle, 16 P-40's were destroyed and 6 pilots lost, including one killed by strafing and another captured. The Tigers destroyed 127 confirmed Japanese planes and 43 probables. The Flying Tigers' clashes with the Japanese were usually against extremely high odds, on the average 6: 1.

It was difficult to keep large numbers of the P-40's in the air because of primitive maintenance facilities and chronic shortages of spares, aviation gasoline and oil, all of which were supplied from more than halfway around the world.

Ground crew personnel were competent and well trained, but the aircraft were serviced and repaired outdoors--in the rain, mud, heat and humidity of Burma and the wintry environment of Kunming. This base was at 6,000 feet in the Himalayas with frequent snowstorms and temperatures below zero.

The P-40C was not the latest model of the airplane. The British had originally ordered these but opted instead for the "D" model which was armed with 6 .50 caliber guns. The Flying Tigers airplane was fitted with 4 .30 caliber and 2 .50 caliber machine guns, adequate against the more lightly constructed Japanese planes. The P-40C was very well armored in the cockpit area and equipped with self-sealing fuel tanks. These added weight to the airplane and reduced its maneuverability. The P-40C was, in fact, no match for any of the Japanese fighters in a dog-fight.

Chennault understood this and forbade dogfighting. He devised the tactic of diving on enemy aircraft from high above, where the P-40 could reach speeds near 500 mph, make a passing attack and continue the high speed dive to safety or convert to a rapid climb back to altitude. These tactics initially surprised the Japanese, but in time they became more adept at dealing with them.

Two Japanese fighters were their principal adversaries, the Nakajima 97 and the Mitsubishi Zero. Both were highly maneuverable airplanes and formidable opponents, particularly the Zero. This airplane was introduced in 1940, and remained Japan's best fighter for the duration of the war. It out-classed all Allied fighters in the Pacific for at least 2 years. The P-40 could outperform the Zero only in speed, but its armor and rugged construction made it more difficult to shoot down.

Saburo Sakai, Japan's leading World War II ace, a Zero pilot, wrote in his autobiography after the war that, "a well-piloted P-40 was a match for any Japanese fighter."

Unencumbered by formal discipline, the Flying Tigers regularly resorted to their own brand of hi-jinks.

In Rangoon they ripped the sarongs from passing Burmese women and rode water buffalo down the main streets.
They shot up the chandeliers in the Silver Grill with their 45's.
In Kunming they kept a pet leopard in their barracks.
They desecrated Burmese shrines by stomping through them with muddy boots.
They flew low over Japanese positions and dumped buckets of human excrement on them.
Knowing that most Japanese bombing raids originated in Hanoi, early one morning they "borrowed" a VIP C-47 and loaded it with 10 100 lb. bombs which they threw out the door over Hanoi.
Soon after the fall of Rangoon, Burma was overrun by the Japanese army. Lashio was taken, and the Burma Road closed. The Air Transport Command established an airborne cargo route from India to Kunming known as the "Hump" employing mainly Curtiss C-46 "Commando" aircraft. This airlift was China's only means of supply for the next 3 years and the most treacherous air route of World War II. A total of 650,000 tons were delivered with the loss of 600 airplanes and 1,000 flyers. Before war's end, the US Army constructed a new paved road from India, the Ledo Road, joining the Burma Road and establishing an 1,100 mile truck route to China.

The large embroidered patch worn on the back of a Flying Tiger's leather jacket. The Chinese flag and script identify the flyers, should they be shot down and captured. This precluded their execution as spies or guerillas.

By spring of 1942 the situation in China was changing. The US, now at war, could not tolerate a group of American mercenaries. The AVG would have to be disbanded and integrated into the 14th Air Force and accept standard military discipline. Worse, Chennault, now a Brigadier General, was placed under command of an old antagonist from his flying days and could no longer call the shots.


The Mitsubishi "Zero" fighter. Pictured is a captured aircraft repaired at the Curtiss-Wright Buffalo plant and flown by a Curtiss-Wright test pilot during the war. At the onset of World War II the Zero was the best fighter of any nation in the Pacific war. It continued in production for five years. Credit: Curtiss-Wright Corporation

The Curtiss P-40 Q, the last and most advanced model in the series. Although a good performer, other fighters-the Lockheed P-38 and North American P-51-held more promise and were further along in development and manufacture. Credit: US Air Force Photo No. 28222 AC
The Flying Tigers were given missions for which the P-40 was entirely unsuited: low-level ground support, leaving them vulnerable to the frisky Zeros. Morale dropped almost to the point of mutiny.

The AVG was disbanded on July 4, 1942. Some men stayed; most left for other services and theaters. The "Flying Tigers" name remained, with units under Chennault's command.

Their record--In their heyday of 7 months, 297 Japanese aircraft destroyed, 300 more probables; 4 AVG pilots killed in aerial combat. The AVG stalled the Japanese invasion of Burma and saved China from an attack from the west.

During the early months of the war, the Flying Tigers' successes were the only good news from any theatre. The press and the movies focused on their exploits, and Flying Tigers became a household term worldwide.

http://www.curtisswright.com/history/1937-1942.asp

Their record--In their heyday of 7 months, 297 Japanese aircraft destroyed, 300 more probables; 4 AVG pilots killed in aerial combat. The AVG stalled the Japanese invasion of Burma and saved China from an attack from the west.

During the early months of the war, the Flying Tigers' successes were the only good news from any theatre. The press and the movies focused on their exploits, and Flying Tigers became a household term worldwide.

I agree that the Flying Tigers would have been a much better choice. Their achievements in the air were impressive, and they were an interesting bunch.

"Pappy" Boyington alone was a far more interesting a character than any other American who flew for the British IMO.



Major Gregory "Pappy" Boyington
C.O. VMF-214, Black Sheep Squadron







"Just name a hero, and I'll prove he's a bum." - Pappy's self-assessment


Undoubtedly the most colorful and well known Marine Corps' ace was Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, commanding officer of VMF-214.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Flying Tigers

Stories of Pappy Boyington are legion, many founded in fact, including how he led the legendary Black Sheep squadron, and how he served in China as a member of the American Volunteer Group, the famed Flying Tigers. He spent a year and a half as a Japanese POW, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, was recognized as the Marine Corps top ace (more on that below). Always hard-drinking and hard-living, Pappy's post-war life was as turbulent as his wartime experiences.

The best biography of Boyington that I've read is Bruce Gamble's Black Sheep One: The Life of Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, released late in 2000.

Born on Dec. 4, 1912, young Greg had a rough childhood - divorced parents, alcoholic step-father (who Greg believed to be his natural father until he entered the Marine Corps), and lots of moves. He grew up in St. Maries, Idaho, a small logging town. Greg got his first ride in an airplane when he was only six years old. The famous barnstormer, Clyde Pangborn, flew his Jenny into town, and Greg wangled a ride. What a thrill for a little kid!

Greg's family moved to Tacoma, Washington in 1926. In high school, he took up a sport that he would practice for many years - wrestling. Especially when he had had a few too many (which was often), adult Boyington would challenge others to impromptu wrestling bouts, frequently with injurious results. He enrolled at the University of Washington in 1930, where he continued wrestling and participated in ROTC. He met his first wife, Helene there; they were married not long after his graduation in 1934. His first son, Gregory Clark Boyington, was born 10 months later.

Marine Aviator

After a year with Boeing, Greg enlisted in the Marine Corps. On having to supply them with his birth certificate, he only learned of his natural father at that date. He began elimination training in June, 1935, where (in the small world of Marine aviation at that time) he met Richard Mangrum and Bob Galer, both future heroes at Guadalcanal. He passed, and received orders to begin flight training at Pensacola NAS in January, 1936 with class 88-C. Here he flew a floatplane version of the Consolidated NY-2. Like another great ace, Gabby Gabreski, Boyington had a tough time with flight training, and had to undergo a number of rechecks.

Until he arrived in Pensacola, Boyington, had never touched alcohol. But here, with hard-partying fliers, and aware of his wife's "fooling around," he soon discovered his affinity for liquor. Early on, Boyington established his Marine Corps reputation: hard-drinking, brawling, well-liked, and always ready to wrestle at the drop of a hat. But he kept flying, all through 1936, slowly progressing toward earning his wings, flying more powerful planes like the Vought O2U and SU-1 scouting biplanes. At Pensacola, he also met his future nemesis, Joe Smoak, memorialized in Baa Baa Black Sheep as "Colonel Lard." He finally won his coveted wings in March, 1937, becoming Naval Aviator #5160.

Before reporting for his assignment with VMF-1 at Quantico, Virginia, he took advantage of his 30-day to return home, and reconcile with his wife Helene, who became pregnant with their second child. In those days Marine aviators were required to be bachelors; Greg's family was a secret that he kept from the brass, but he brought them with him to Virginia, installing them quietly in nearby Fredericksburg. He flew F4B-4 biplanes during 1937, taking part in routine training, an air show dubbed the "All American Air Maneuvers," and a fleet exercise in Puerto Rico.

In March of 1938, VMF-1 aviators excited took possession of the latest, hottest Grumman fighters, the F3F-2s, the last biplane fighters used by US air forces. Powered by Wright-Cyclone engines of 950 horsepower, the fat-bellied aircraft were fast and rugged. In July, he moved to Philadelphia, to attend the Marine Corps' Basic School for ten months. Apparently not motivated by the "ground-pounder" curriculum, Boyington here evidenced the weaknesses that would haunt him: excessive drinking, borrowing money (and not repaying it), fighting, and poor official performance.

His irresponsibility, his debts, and his difficulties with the Corps continued to mount throughout 1939 and 1940, when he flew with VMF-2, stationed at San Diego. One memorable, drunken night, he tried to swim across San Diego Bay, and wound up naked and exhausted in the Navy's Shore Patrol office. Despite his problems on the ground, it was during these days of 1940, flying with VMF-2, that Boyington first began to be noticed as a top-notch pilot. Whatever his other issues, he could out-dogfight almost anyone. Back at Pensacola in January, 1941, his problems mounted - he decked a superior officer in a fight over a girl (not his wife), and his creditors sought official help from the Marine Corps. Greg's career was a hopeless mess by late 1941.

Flying Tiger

Rescue came from, of all places, China. Anxious to help the Chinese in their war against Japan, the U.S. government arranged to supply fighter planes and pilots to China, under the cover of the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company (CAMCO). CAMCO recruiters visited US military aviation bases looking for volunteers. As Bruce Gamble described it in Black Sheep One:

The pilots were volunteers only in the sense that they willingly quit their peacetime job with the military; otherwise they were handsomely paid through CAMCO. Pilots earned $600 a month, flight leaders $675, plus a fat bonus for each Japanese plane destroyed. This was double or even triple the current military salary for pilots. ... In March, CAMCO representatives began recruiting military pilots for what would become the American Volunteer Group (AVG). ... One recruiter set up an interview room in San Diego's San Carlos Hotel, a popular watering hole for pilots. On the night of August 4, Greg Boyington found himself in the hotel bar simply "looking for an answer." Payday had been just a few days earlier, but already he was broke. His wife and children were gone, he was deeply in debt, and many of his superiors were breathing down his neck.

The money looked very good to Boyington. Assured that the program had government approval and that his spot in the Corps was safe, he signed on the spot, and promptly resigned from the Marine Corps. While the AVG deal for pilots normally did contemplate a return to active U.S. military service, in Greg's case, his superiors took a different view. They were happy to be rid of him, and noted in his file that he should not be reappointed.

He shipped out of San Francisco on September 24, 1941, in the Boschfontein, of the Dutch Java Line. After docking at Rangoon, the AVG fliers arrived at their base at Toungoo on November 13. He flew several missions during the defense of Burma. After Burma fell, he returned to Kunming, and flew from there until the Flying Tigers were incorporated into the USAAF. His autobiography includes many war stories from his experiences with the Flying Tigers, including:


~the voyage across the Pacific, the AVG fliers' cover story of ministers

~the Sultan of Johore's palace and wives
arrival in Rangoon, Claire Chennault and Harvey Greenlaw

~Kunming and the three AVG squadrons
first combat in February 1942, back in Burma

~Jim Adams and Bill Tweedy, the two older colonials, living a life of ease, and entertaining the American pilots

~a mechanic offering General Stilwell a can of tomatoes, "Hey bub, you want some of these?"

~the Allied retreat from Rangoon in March 1942 and the Flying Tigers' return to Kunming

~his botched escort of Chiang Kai Chek


He clashed with the leader of the Flying Tigers, the strong-willed Claire Chennault. He quit the AVG in April 1942; Chennault gave him a dishonorable discharge, and Greg went back to the U.S.

Boyington's Flying Tiger Record

Boyington claimed to have shot down six Japanese fighters, which would have made him one of the first American aces of the war. He maintained until his death in 1988 that he did, in fact, have six kills, and the Marine Corps officially credits him with those kills. From AVG records, which were loosely kept, he was credited (paid) for 2 aerial kills. Why the discrepancy between 2 and 6? I think Bruce Gamble, in Black Sheep One got it right. Gamble notes that in a raid on Chiang Mai, Boyington was one of four pilots who were credited with destroying 15 planes on the ground. As the AVG paid for destroyed Japanes planes, on the ground or in the air, Boyington lobbied for his share of the Chiang Mai planes - 3.75, to be precise. Later, while at Guadalcanal, he characterized his Flying Tiger record as including "six kills." For Greg Boyington, to add 3.75 ground claims to 2 aerial kills, round it off to six kills, and establish himself as one of the first American aces, was a "little white lie" indeed. But once his AVG number of six kills found its way into print, and his USMC victories started piling up, there was no going back. Dan Ford's Flying Tigers web site also has a detailed discussion of Pappy Boyington's claims with the AVG.

(As my site only includes the aces' service with United States' armed forces, Pappy's USMC total is shown as 22, whether he shot down 2, 6, or none while a Flying Tiger for the Chinese government. I have received numerous e-mails on this topic, and while I concur with Bruce Gamble's analysis, both Gamble and I consider Pappy Boyington to be a great American hero, albeit a flawed one, as Pappy himself was quick to admit. - SS)

While with the Flying Tigers, Greg also made the acquaintance of Olga Greenlaw, the XO's beautiful wife, who, in her own words "knew how to get along with a man if I like him." Apparently she and Boyington "got along." She wrote her own book, The Lady and the Tigers, in 1943.

http://www.acepilots.com/usmc_boyington.html

Black Sheep

He returned to the States in the spring of 1942, and took up with Lucy Malcolmson; his first marriage having fallen apart. With some finagling, undoubtedly helped by the wartime demand for experienced fighter pilots, he was reappointed to the Marines in November, with the rank of Major. In January, 1943, he embarked on the Lurline, bound for New Caledonia, where he would spend a few months on the staff of Marine Air Group (MAG)-11. Here, he got his first close look at a Corsair, flown by his friend Pat Weiland.
Boyington finally secured assignment to VMF-122 as Executive Officer for a combat tour; as usual, he clashed with his superior, this time Major Elmer Brackett. In the event, Brackett was shortly removed, and Boyington took over, but did not see much action. It was at this time, early 1943, when as the new CO of VMF-122, his claim of six kills with the AVG first made it into print.

Smoak relieved him of his command of VMF-122 in late May, followed by a broken leg and time in the hospital.

In the summer of 1943, as Boyington convalesced, the US naval air forces needed more Corsairs in the fight. Oddly, the key pieces - trained pilots and operational aircraft - were present in the South Pacific, but many of them were dispersed. Who got the idea remains unclear (characteristically Boyington claimed credit), but he was given the assignment to pull together an ad hoc squadron from available men and planes. Originally, they formed the rear echelon of VMF-124.

In August of 1943, these 26 pilots, who would become the famous "Black Sheep" included:

~8 pilots had flown with Greg in VMF-122: Stan Bailey, Hank Bourgeois, Robert Ewing, Paul "Moon" Mullen, John Begert, Sandy Sims, Bill Case, and Virgil Ray. All but Lt. Ray had already downed at least one Japanese plane.

~Allan McCartney - 4 kills with a couple Marine squadrons

~Bob McClurg - originally with VMF-124

~Chris Magee, Bill Heier, Don Moore - all had flown with the RCAF

~John Bolt, Ed Olander, Rollie Rinabarger, George Ashmun - former 'plowback' instructors in the States

8~ First Lieutenants with no Corsair experience - Bob Bragdon, Tom Emrich, Don Fisher, Denmark Groover, Walter "Red" Harris, Ed Harper, Jim Hill, and Burney Tucker

~2nd Lt. Bruce Matheson


In a complex, and common, wartime shuffling of designations, Boyington's team was redesignated VMF-214, while the exhausted pilots of the original VMF-214 (nicknamed the Swashbucklers) were sent home. Again, Bruce Gamble, the authoritative historian of these events, provides detailed answers in his book The Black Sheep ... Marine Fighting Squadron 214 ..., which fully chronicles both squadrons that used the number 214.

Under Boyington as CO and Major Stan Bailey as Exec, they trained hard at Turtle Bay on Espritu Santo, especially the pilots who were new to the Corsair. Two other noted officers rounded out the squadron: Frank Walton, a former Los Angeles cop, became the Air Combat Intelligence Officer (ACIO), and Jim Reames the squadron doctor. (Walton would later author Once They Were Eagles ....) While leading this group of young pilots, most in their early 20's, Boyington - at the advanced age of 30! - picked up the nickname 'Gramps'. (The Black Sheep don't remember calling him 'Pappy'; that was a nickname that the press picked up after he was shot down.)

In early September, 1943, the new VMF-214 moved up to their new forward base in the Russells, staging through Guadalcanal's famed Henderson Field.

Black Sheep Aces Kills
Pappy Boyington 22.0*
Jack Bolt 6.0
Bill Case 8.0
Don Fisher 6.0
Chris Magee 9.0
Hank McCartney 5.0
Bob McClurg 7.0
Paul Mullen 6.5
Ed Olander 5.0

The "Black Sheep" fought their way to fame in just 84 days, piling up a record 197 planes destroyed or damaged, troop transports and supply ships sunk, and ground installations destroyed in addition to numerous other victories. They flew their first combat mission on September 14, 1943, escorting Dauntless dive bombers to Ballale, a small island west of Bougainville where the Japanese had a heavily fortified airstrip. They encountered heavy opposition from the enemy Zeros. Two days later, in a similar raid, 'Pappy’ claimed five kills, his best single day total. In October VMF-214 moved up from their orginal base in the Russells to a more advanced location at Munda. From here they were closer to the next big objective -- the Jap bases on Bougainville. On one mission over Bougainville, according to Boyington’s autobiography, the Japanese radioed him in English, asking him to report his position and so forth. Pappy played along, but stayed 5000 feet higher than he had told them, and when the Zeros came along, the Black Sheep blew twelve of them away. (The absolute veracity of Boyington’s autobiography is not certain, but that’s how he told the story.) One night with a quarter moon, he went up to try to deal with "Washing Machine Charlie," but without results.

During the period from September 1943 to early January 1944, Boyington destroyed 22 Japanese aircraft. By late December, it was clear that he was closing in on Eddie Rickenbacker’s record of 26 victories (including his questionable 6 with the AVG), and the strain was starting to tell. On Jan. 3, 1944, Boyington was shot down in a large dogfight in which he claimed three enemy aircraft, and was captured.

The following is an excerpt from Boyington's Baa Baa Black Sheep describing his final combat mission.

It was before dawn on January 3, 1944, on Bougainville. I was having baked beans for breakfast at the edge of the airstrip the Seabees had built, after the Marines had taken a small chunk of land on the beach. As I ate the beans, I glanced over at row after row of white crosses, too far away and too dark to read the names. But I didn't have to, I knew that each cross marked the final resting place of some Marine who had gone as far as he was able in this mortal world of ours.
Before taking off everything seemed to be wrong that morning. My plane wasn't ready and I had to switch to another. At last minute the ground crew got my original plane in order and I scampered back into that. I was to lead a fighter sweep over Rabaul, meaning two hundred miles over enemy waters and territory again. We coasted over at about twenty thousand feet to Rabaul. A few hazy cloud banks were hanging around-not much different from a lot of other days. The fellow flying my wing was Captain George Ashmun, New York City. He had told me before the mission: "You go ahead and shoot all you want, Gramps. All I'll do is keep them off your tail."

This boy was another who wanted me to beat that record, and was offering to stick his neck way out in the bargain. I spotted a few planes coming through the loosely scattered clouds and signaled to the pilots in back of me: "Go down and get to work." George and I dove first. I poured a long burst into the first enemy plane that approached, and a fraction of a second later saw the Nip pilot catapult out and the plane itself break out into fire. George screamed out over the radio: "Gramps, you got a flamer!"

Then he and I went down lower into the fight after the rest of the enemy planes. We figured that the whole pack of our planes was going to follow us down, but the clouds must have obscured their view. Anyway, George and I were not paying too much attention, just figuring that the rest of the boys would be with us in a few seconds, as was usually the case. Finding approximately ten enemy planes, George and I commenced firing. What we saw coming from above we thought were our own planes-but they were not. We were being jumped by about twenty planes. George and I scissored in the conventional Thach weave way, protecting each others blank spots, the rear ends of our fighters. In doing this I saw George shoot a burst into a plane and it turned away from us plunging downward, all on fire. A second later I did the same thing to another plane. But it was then that I saw George's plane start to throw smoke, and down he went in a half glide. I sensed something was horribly wrong with him. I screamed at him: "For God's sake, George, dive!"

Our planes could dive away from practically anything the Nips had out there at the time, except perhaps a Tony. But apparently George had never heard me or could do nothing about it if he had. He just kept going down in a half glide. Time and time again I screamed at him: "For God's sake, George, dive strait down!" But he didn't even flutter an aileron in answer to me.

I climbed in behind the Nip planes that were plugging at him on the way down to the water. There were so many of them I wasn't even bothering to use my electric gun sight consciously, but continued to seesaw back and forth on my rudder pedals, trying to spray them all in general, trying to get them off George to give him a chance to bail out or dive - or do something at least. But the same thing that was happening to him was now happening to me. I could feel the impact of enemy fire against my armor plate, behind my back, like hail on a tin roof. I could see the enemy shots progressing along my wing tips, making patterns.

George's plane burst into flames and a moment later crashed into the water. At that point there was nothing left for me to do. I had done everything I could. I decided to get the hell away from the Nips. I threw everything in the cockpit all the way forward - this means full speed ahead - and nosed my plane over to pick up extra speed until I was forced by water to level off. I had gone practically a half a mile at a speed of about four hundred knots, when all of a sudden my main gas tank went up in flames in front of my very eyes. The sensation was much the same as opening the door of a furnace and sticking one's head into the thing.

Though I was about a hundred feet off the water, I didn't have a chance of trying to gain altitude. I was fully aware that if I tried to gain altitude for a bail-out I would be fried in a few more seconds.


Prisoner of War

He landed in the water, badly injured. After being strafed by the Jap fighters, he struggled onto his raft until captured by a Jap submarine several hours later. They took him first to Rabaul, where he was brutally interogated. Even the general commanding Japanese forces at Rabaul interviewed him. Pappy related in Baa Baa Black Sheep, that the general asked him who had started the war. After Pappy replied that of course the Japanese had started the war by attacking Pearl Harbor, the general then told him this short fable:

"Once upon there was a little of old lady and she traded with five merchants. She always paid her bills, and got along fine. Finally the five merchants got together, and they jacked up their prices so high the little old lady couldn't afford to live any longer. That's the end of the story."

The general left the room, leaving Boyington to ponder that there had to be two sides to everything.

After about six weeks, the Japanese flew him to Truk. As he landed there, he experienced one of the early carrier strikes against Truk in February, 1944. Along with six other captured Americans, he was confined in a small, but sturdy wooden cell - which might have been designed for one inmate. The only opening was a six-inch hole in the floor, for relieving themselves. With six men in a tiny cell, this was unpleasant enough. But when the Japs actually overfed them with rice balls and pickles, diarrhea resulted, and then the situation became really messy.

He eventually moved to a prison camp at Ofuna, outside of Yokohama. His autobiography relates the frequent beatings, interrogations, and near starvation that he endured for the next 18 months. The guards, whose only qualification seemed to be passing "a minus-one-hundred I.Q. test," beat the prisoners severely, for any infraction, real or imagined.

He lost about 80 pounds, and described how he once entirely consumed a "soup bone the size of my fist" in just two days, a feat which previously he would not have believed a dog could achieve. During the middle period of his captivity, he had the good fortune to be assigned kitchen duty, Here, a Japanese grandmother who worked in the kitchen befriended him and helped him filch food. Before long, he returned to his pre-captivity weight. He even got drunk on New Year's Eve, begging a little sake from each of the officers. From Camp Ofuna, he witnessed the first B-29 raids, striking the nearby naval base at Yokohama.

When he was repatriated, he found he had been awarded the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross. He also added to his claims for aerial victories after his return. Several other pilots had seen him down one Zero, which raised his total to 20 with the Black Sheep, and 26 if his claims for 6 with the Flying Tigers were included. 26 was Eddie Rickenbacker's WWI record, and also the number shot down by Joe Foss, the top-scoring Marine pilot of all time. Back in the States, in September of 1945, he claimed to have shot down two more planes in that final battle. Frank Walton, the ACIO, prepared the combat report, and Boyington signed it. As Bruce Gamble put it in Black Sheep One, "With a stroke of his own pen, Boyington was credited with twenty-eight victories, making him the high scoring ace in the Marine Corps." At the time, Boyington was being feted in a national War Bond Tour, patriotic feelings were running high, and he was a national hero. No one challenged the two additional claims. In all, Gamble makes a convincing case that Boyington's claims should be 22: 20 with the USMC and 2 with the AVG.

Postwar Hero?

Pappy lived until 1988, but it was a hard life, marked by financial instability, divorces and marriages, and battles with alcoholism. (I must say that, whatever his problems, Pappy never seemed to lack for attractive female companionship.) Things started downhill on his War Bond tour, when he was frequently drunk, and on one infamous occasion embarrassed himself, the Corps, and the audience with a rambling drunken speech. After a brief attempt at collaboration, had a falling out with Frank Walton. His tangled affair with Lucy Malcolmson (still married to Stewart Malcolmson) broke up, quite publicly, when he took up with Frances Baker, who became his second wife. Now a PR liability, the Marine Corps placed Boyington on the retired list in 1947, allegedly for medical reasons.
He moved from job to job, never able to stay with any one thing. He frequently refereed at wrestling matches. After a continued decline into alcoholism, he went on the wagon in 1956, and even joined AA. Things picked up for him in 1958 with the success of his memoirs, Baa Baa Black Sheep. He met Dee Tatum the next year, soon divorced Frances, and married Dee (his third). The 1960's were a real low period for Pappy, including estrangement from his own children.

Of course, Pappy's greatest fame came in the mid Seventies, when the television show "Baa Baa Black Sheep" appeared. Based very loosely on Boyington's memoirs, the show had a three-year run, and achieved a consistent popularity in re-runs. Pappy was a consultant to the show, and got on well with its star, Robert Conrad. But the show's description of the Black Sheep pilots as a bunch of misfits and drunks, which Pappy happily went along with, destroyed Pappy's friendship with many of his squadron veterans, especially Frank Walton. The show made Pappy a real celebrity, and along with his fourth (!) wife Jo, he made a good career out of being an entertainer - appearing at air shows, on TV programs, etc.

After a long battle with cancer, Pappy died in 1988.

Devin,

First off, this was an article, not something i wrote. However, some valied points are highlighted. I won't deny British atrocities, but we weren't the only side to commit them. Patriots had more than their faire share against the loyalists...

Brits just seem to be portrayed as inadequete, evil or insignificant in Hollywood it seems.

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THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

Coming to a Theatre of War soon...
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Devin,

It was also Patriots who burnt down a townhall full of Loyalists not the other way round as "The Patriot" would have us believe.

Lets not forget the whole Slavery issue being completely turned on its head.



"Garlic......and bread?? Garlic bread??"


Francia, seo mæs idel folclond god æfre gescieppan.

I think think the acepted numbers are 1/3 Loyalist 1/3 Rebell and 1/3 just happy to go woth whoever won. The American revolution was more of a civil war then a genuine popular upreiseing and civil wars tend to be very savage affares



Dieu et mon Droit

Don't Cry for me Argentian...
The Truth is that were gona beat ya
With out Sea Harrier
Well Sink you carrier
and that's our promise
So keep your Distance

I think most couldn't be arsed IMHO, both loyalists or rebels. Rebels were never that many in number, Washington's army was down to 5000 men at one point. It was a stupid argument over taxation issues which only annoyed the oligarchy in the colonies.

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THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

Coming to a Theatre of War soon...
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Chongli & Pax B on Atrocities:

Oh no, the rebels were no angels either. Just look at their conduct in the South or in the run up to the war in Boston. They were just as bad as the loyalists in many respects...but I just wanted to point out that objecting to scenes of atrocities in the Patriot is a bit pointless since similar events did indeed happen.

Pax B (On Causes of the War):

The taxation issue was merely the thing that caused the war to flare up. Its more of a spark than the tinder that caused the flame. I'd say it had to do with changing attitudes in the colonies and how the colonies came to see their relationship with the mother country. Britain still carried on like the stern parent that expected us to do and obey without question. However, the colonists had come to see themselves as more or less equals and were insulted by the treatment they received by the British. For years the colonies had been left to their own devices, to effectively rule themselves and even protect themselves from outside threats. Thus, when Britain attempted to reassert its control via taxation and an increase in enforcement this was greeted with anger. There was an interesting theory I read that correlated this to changes in parenting in the colonies at that time...where the relationship between parent and child went from being that of a distant taskmaster to something much more cordial...a friend so to speak. This was a war over respect, power, and a basic frustration with the system of deference that seemed to perpetually place the colonies beneath the mother country (for instance, colonists could rise only so far in the political system before hitting a glass ceiling that blocked their advancement in favor of those from the mother country...who were often inept, inefficient, and corrupt). It certainly did not help that such attitudes only reinforce the message that the colonists are different from those of the mother country...and that they are naturally inferior to them. This then led many to conclude...if we are so different from them they why should we be ruled by that distant land.

Ay, i think it was an issue of under representation and lack of political clout. I believe that had Britain granted the colonies even one seat in parliament, the whole war could have been averted and, what is now known as the United States might still be a Dominion of some sort.

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THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

Coming to a Theatre of War soon...
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If im not mistaken, they already made several movies and a miniseries about the Black Sheep Sqdn and Pappy

I'm not sure about a movie, but there was a miniseries. They used to show reruns not too long ago on the history channel. The miniseries wasn't historically accurate at all though, they just used the names of real people in the plot lines.

On the history channel they would have short clips of interviews with former Black Sheep squadron pilots when it cut or came back from commercial. That was probably the most interesting part, and quite a few had funny stories about Pappy. (apparently he also flew drunk sometimes lol)

The American Marine Division has the highest combat effectiveness in the American armed forces. It seems not enough for our four divisions to surround and annihilate its two regiments.

---Mao Tse Sung to General Song, prior to Chosin Reservoir

yeah, the miniseries where teh who played james West in "Wild Wild West" played Boyington