STORY ALAN HEBDEN ART CARLOS PINO COVER CARLOS PINO
HE TEN-TON GRAND SLAM BOMB WAS THE BIGGEST AND T HEAVIEST OF WORLD WAR TWO, AND ONLY ONE BOMBER WAS POWERFUL ENOUGH TO CARRY IT, A MODIFIED LANCASTER KNOWN AS THE B1 SPECIAL. IN ALL JUST OVER FORTY OF THE SO-CALLED EARTHQUAKE BOMBS WERE ACTUALLY DROPPED — OR SO THE HISTORY BOOKS TELL US. THANKS TO OFFICIAL SECRECY AND THE PASSAGE OF TIME, THE GREATEST AND MOST AUDACIOUS GRAND SLAM MISSION OF THEM ALL WAS QUIETLY FORGOTTEN FOR ALMOST HALF A CENTURY.
4 THE STORY BEGAN IN 1995 IN THE UNLIKELY SETTING OF UPPER ASSAM IN THE FAR NORTH-EAST OF INDIA. JASON DEAN, A BRITISH HISTORIAN, WAS IN THE AREA RESEARCHING HIS LATEST BOOK, THE STORY OF THE AIR BRIDGE TO CHINA ACROSS THE MIGHTY HIMALAYAS, MORE GENERALLY KNOWN AS THE HUMP. ANOTHER COUPLE OF MILES AND WE’LL BE THERE, MISTER DEAN. WHETHER OR NOT THE INFORMATION WAS TRUE, I CAN’T SAY.
ARE YOU SURE THIS IS THE RIGHT PLACE? IT’S THE BACK OF BEYOND.
JASON HAD BEEN VISITING MANY OF THE OLD AIRFIELDS USED BY PLANES FLYING OVER THE HUMP. A FEW HAD SURVIVED AS PRESENT-DAY AIRPORTS BUT MOST HAD BEEN ABANDONED AT THE END OF THE WAR. HOWEVER, THEY WERE ALL RECORDED AND EASY TO TRACK DOWN. BUT THEN HE’D BEEN TOLD ABOUT AN UNKNOWN ONE AT A PLACE CALLED WALONG. HE HADN’T REALLY BELIEVED IT, BUT A FEW MINUTES LATER HE WAS READY TO CHANGE HIS MIND.
LOOK AT THAT, IT COULD BE THE OUTLINE OF AN OLD RUNWAY, AND THOSE HUMPS COULD HAVE BEEN SERVICE BUILDINGS. LET’S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK.
5 THEY DROVE DOWN AND JASON’S DRIVER HACKED AWAY AT THE THICK COVERING OF VEGETATION TO REVEAL CONCRETE BENEATH.
IT REALLY WAS AN OLD AIRFIELD, BUT WHY IS THERE NO RECORD OF IT? WHAT WENT ON HERE, I WONDER?
THEY WERE INTERRUPTED BY THE ARRIVAL OF A DOMESTIC SERVANT. THE DRIVER TRANSLATED HIS QUICK-FIRE ASSAMESE FOR JASON’S BENEFIT. HE SAYS HIS EMPLOYER, DOCTOR RAJESH KUMAR, SAW YOU DOWN HERE. HE IS INVITING YOU FOR TIFFIN.
THAT’S VERY KIND AND WHO KNOWS, MAYBE HE CAN TELL ME SOMETHING ABOUT THIS PLACE.
6 DOCTOR KUMAR TURNED OUT TO BE WELL INTO HIS EIGHTIES, A RETIRED DISTRICT MEDICAL OFFICER, BUT STILL FIT AND ALERT. EVEN BETTER FROM JASON’S POINT OF VIEW, HE HAD BEEN LIVING HERE DURING THE WAR. IT HAS BEEN NEARLY FIFTY YEARS SINCE THE BRITISH LEFT, BUT IT SEEMS ONLY YESTERDAY. WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE, THE OLD AIRFIELD I’M SUPPOSING?
QUITE RIGHT, DOCTOR. THE THING IS, THERE ARE NO RECORDS OF THERE EVER BEING AN AIRFIELD AT WALONG. THE DOCTOR LED JASON TO HIS COMFORTABLE STUDY WHERE TIFFIN WAS QUICKLY LAID OUT. AS IT WAS HE BEGAN TO EXPLAIN. IT WAS ONLY AN EMERGENCY LANDING STRIP, BUT IN APRIL NINETEEN-FORTY-FIVE IT WAS IMPROVED, NO DOUBT FOR THE LANCASTERS THAT FLEW IN SOON AFTERWARDS.
LANCASTERS, DID YOU SAY? I’M SORRY, DOCTOR, BUT LANCASTERS NEVER CAME OUT EAST. YOU MUST BE CONFUSING THEM WITH HALIFAXES OR LIBERATORS, BOTH TWIN-TAILED BOMBERS THAT FLEW OVER THE HUMP AS TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT.
THE DOCTOR GAVE HIM A CUTTING LOOK. HE STOOD UP AND PULLED A LARGE OLD PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM FROM A SHELF. I CAN ASSURE YOU, YOUNG MAN, I COULD TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A LANCASTER AND ANY OTHER TWIN-TAILED BOMBER THEN, AS I CAN NOW. YOU SEEM TO BELIEVE MY MEMORY IS ADDLED BUT THESE PHOTOGRAPHS I TOOK AT THE TIME SHOULD CONVINCE YOU.
I’M VERY SORRY, DOCTOR, I DIDN’T MEAN TO...
7 JASON’S VOICE DRIED UP AS HE STARED AT THE FIRST PHOTOGRAPH IN THE ALBUM. LANCASTERS I BELIEVE, YOUNG MAN!
IT...IT’S UNBELIEVABLE! THERE REALLY WERE LANCASTERS HERE BACK THEN, AT A SECRET AIRFIELD TO BOOT. BUT...BUT THEY’RE ALL B-ONE SPECIALS!
THE DOCTOR TURNED THE PAGE. JASON GASPED AND VERY NEARLY FELL OFF HIS CHAIR. THEY...THEY’RE ALL CARRYING GRAND SLAM BOMBS!
I DON’T KNOW WHERE THEY WENT, BUT ONLY HALF OF THEM CAME BACK. IT MUST HAVE BEEN A DANGEROUS MISSION. THEY FLEW OUT AND THAT WAS THE END OF IT. EVERYTHING WAS PACKED UP AND THE PLACE WAS ABANDONED, AS IT HAS REMAINED TO THIS DAY.
JASON ASKED FOR A MAGNIFYING GLASS HOPING TO MAKE OUT SQUADRON INSIGNIA OR AIRCRAFT IDENTIFICATION LETTERS ON THE PHOTOS BUT THE DISTANCE THEY WERE TAKEN FROM WAS TOO GREAT. I DON’T SUPPOSE YOU MET ANY OF THE CREWS?
THEY STAYED AT THE AIRFIELD EXCEPT FOR THREE WHO CAME HERE. IN FACT I HAVE A PHOTOGRAPH OF THEM.
8 THE DOCTOR PRODUCED ANOTHER PHOTOGRAPH FROM THAT FAR-OFF TIME. IT SHOWED THREE SMILING YOUNG BRITISH OFFICERS. AN R.A.F. FLYING OFFICER, AN R.A.F. PILOT OFFICER AND AN ARMY CAPTAIN. THE FLYING OFFICER’S NAME WAS THURSTON, THE PILOT OFFICER’S WAS LEONARDS AND THE COMMANDO CAPTAIN’S NAME WAS CATESBY.
A COMMANDO CAPTAIN? WHAT WAS HE DOING HERE? DID HE LEAVE WITH THE LANCASTERS?
THE DOCTOR HAD NO IDEA WHAT THE COMMANDO CAPTAIN WAS DOING THERE, ONLY THAT A TRANSPORT FLEW OUT THAT EVENING FOLLOWED BY THE LANCASTERS THE NEXT MORNING. SUDDENLY, TO JASON’S SURPRISED DELIGHT, THE OLD MAN REMOVED THE PHOTOS FROM THE ALBUM AND HANDED THEM TO HIM.
I STILL HAVE THE NEGATIVES SO I CAN ALWAYS DEVELOP MORE PRINTS. YOU CAN HAVE THESE ON ONE CONDITION, THAT YOU SOLVE THIS FIFTY-YEAR-OLD MYSTERY AND LET ME KNOW THE OUTCOME. JASON LEFT SOON AFTERWARDS. AS HIS JEEP CLIMBED OUT OF THE VALLEY HE STARED BACK AT THE OLD AIRFIELD, HIS MIND CHURNING. HE KNEW HE HAD STUMBLED ON SOMETHING INCREDIBLE, AND ALSO RATHER FRIGHTENING.
HALF A SQUADRON OF B-ONE SPECIALS LOST ON A SINGLE MISSION IN A PART OF THE WORLD THEY WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN IN. WHAT THE DEVIL COULD IT HAVE BEEN?
I’LL CERTAINLY DO MY BEST, DOCTOR. I’VE GOT ANOTHER RESEARCH TRIP TO ASSAM ARRANGED THREE MONTHS FROM NOW. I’LL VISIT YOU THEN AND LET YOU KNOW WHAT I’VE DISCOVERED, IF ANYTHING.
9 BACK HOME JASON TRACKED DOWN THE NAMES DOCTOR KUMAR HAD GIVEN HIM. THE ONLY COMMANDO CAPTAIN CALLED CATESBY HE COULD FIND WAS LISTED MISSING BELIEVED KILLED IN BURMA. FLYING OFFICER THURSTON DIED WHEN HIS PLANE WENT DOWN IN THE NORTH SEA. PILOT OFFICER LEONARDS, ON THE OTHER HAND, BECAME AIR-VICE MARSHAL SIR MICHAEL LEONARDS BEFORE LEAVING THE R.A.F. TO BECOME A DEFENCE CONSULTANT.
JASON GOT OUT OF THE CAR AND WALKED OVER TO THE FRONT GATE.
CAN I HELP YOU?
HE RETIRED SOME YEARS AGO AND, UNLESS I’M MISTAKEN, IS CURRENTLY TENDING HIS GARDEN RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME.
YOU CAN IF YOU WERE ONE OF A CREW OF A LANCASTER THAT FLEW OUT OF WALONG AIRFIELD IN ASSAM IN APRIL NINETEEN-FORTY-FIVE. I KNOW YOUR SERVICE RECORD SAYS YOU WERE NEVER IN THE FAR EAST, BUT THEN NOR WERE ANY LANCASTERS... OFFICALLY.
BEFORE LEONARDS COULD DENY ANYTHING, JASON HANDED HIM THE PHOTOGRAPHS. THE OLDER MAN STARED AT THEM FOR A FEW SECONDS BEFORE SETTING ASIDE THE AIRCRAFT PICTURES IN FAVOUR OF THE ONE OF HIMSELF FIFTY YEARS EARLIER.
SOMEWHAT TERSELY THE OLDER MAN BECKONED FOR JASON TO COME INSIDE THE HOUSE.
ANDY THURSTON AND TOM CATESBY AS I LIVE AND BREATHE. THE TWO BRAVEST MEN I EVER KNEW. THIS IS THE PICTURE TAKEN BY THAT INDIAN MEDICAL OFFICER, DOCTOR KUMAR, ISN’T IT? DID YOU GET IT FROM HIM? IS HE STILL ALIVE?
ALIVE AND WELL, AND STILL LIVING IN THE SAME BUNGALOW OVERLOOKING THE AIRFIELD.
10 PERHAPS IT WAS THE PHOTOGRAPHS, OR HEARING THAT KUMAR WAS STILL GOING STRONG, BUT LEONARDS RELENTED AND BEGAN TO TALK. I’VE GOT SOME OF YOUR BOOKS UP THERE. YOU SEEM TO KNOW YOUR STUFF.
WHAT I KNOW, SIR MICHAEL, IS THAT I SEEM TO HAVE STUMBLED ON SOME HIGHLY SECRET OPERATION FROM FIFTY YEARS AGO. SO SECRET, IN FACT, THAT IT STILLS SEEMS TO BE ONE.
LEONARDS AGREED IT HAD ALL BEEN A BIG SECRET AT THE TIME, BUT THAT IT WAS ALSO A VERY LONG TIME AGO AND THAT SOMETIMES SECRETS GET BURIED SO DEEP THEY END UP BEING FORGOTTEN. IT WAS CERTAINLY HUSH-HUSH, SO MUCH SO THAT EVEN MOST OF US INVOLVED NEVER LEARNED THE TRUTH. I’LL TELL YOU THE STORY AS I KNOW IT AND YOU CAN JUDGE FOR YOURSELF. ONE THING’S FOR CERTAIN, IT ACTUALLY STARTED IN INNER MONGOLIA!
INNER MONGOLIA?
INNER MONGOLIA, PART OF CHINA, HAD BEEN UNDER JAPANESE CONTROL FOR MANY YEARS. THE NOMADIC HERDERS WHO LIVED THERE GENERALLY SAW LITTLE OF THEIR FOREIGN MASTERS, SO THE APPEARANCE OF A JAPANESE ARMY LORRY SPEEDING TOWARDS ONE OF THEIR ENCAMPMENTS AT THE END OF MARCH 1945 WAS A CAUSE FOR CONCERN.
JAPANESE! WHAT DO THEY WANT WITH US?