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by Theda C. Boggs and Dale K. Robinson
©Copyright 1995 Theda C. Boggs & Dale K. Robinson
Crestview, Florida
Brownie D. Boggs was born on January 23rd, 1921 in Weeksbury, Kentucky. He graduated from Ironton High School (Ohio) in 1939 and married a former classmate, Theda Catherine Johnson on July 29, 1940. Brownie and Theda were living in Cleveland, Ohio when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Brownie left for the Army Air Corps with the first class of Aviation Cadets from Cleveland, reporting for training at Santa Ana, California on August 17th, 1942. He received initial flight training at Mira Loma Flight Academy in Oxnard, California and served at a number of stateside bases for additional training before deploying to India with the 2nd Air Commando Group in December 1944. as a liaison plane pilot. He served in the Burma Campaign (1944 - 1945)and was discharged from the Army Air Forces on November 26, 1945. He was awarded the Air Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Asiatic Pacific Theater Ribbon with one Bronze Star, a British Commendation, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal.
It was a foggy morning when Brownie Boggs left his base at Kalaikunda, India. Although young, he was a seasoned pilot, a member of an elite unit of hand picked men who had been groomed for many months to stem the Japanese invasion of the Far East. Brownie's unit, the 2nd Air Commando Group, was the second such unit deployed to the China-Burma-India Theater. The Air Commando concept was the brainchild of General H.H. "Hap" Arnold, refined and tried in combat against the Japanese by Colonels Phil Cochran and Johnny Alison.
Brownie wasn't a fighter pilot flying the hot P-51 Mustangs or P-47 Thunderbolts and he wasn't a bomber pilot flying B-17 Fortresses or B-24 Liberators. He wasn't even a transport pilot flying C-47 Gooney Birds over The Hump. He wasn't even an officer. He was a noncommissioned officer, a staff sergeant, flying a liaison plane, a Stinson L-5 Sentinel. Liaison pilots, or L-pilots were the only pilots in the Army Air Forces who did not hold commissions. Their light planes were small, fabric-covered metal and wood frames. They were used for courier duty, delivery of mail and supplies to the front lines and air evacuation of wounded troops back to medical aid in the rear. It was a dangerous job because the planes flew low and slow and were unarmed.
Today's flight was not routine, but Brownie always kept an eye out for the Burmese natives along his route. The natives had been able to help him maintain a decent and varied supply of food to supplement the GI rations which were often unappetizing and sometimes nearly inedible.
The natives were often friendly and had helped him identify edible greens. His own background as a boy growing up in the Cumberland Plateau had been put to good use. His family had been ardent hunters and fishermen and his father had taught him to prepare the "wild greens" they found while hiking and camping in the Kentucky hills.
On this particular morning, he sought out a group of natives he had seen on previous flights. He found them near a clearing where they seemed to be gathering food. It was obvious that they had no fear of him as he flew low over the clearing.
The clearing was empty, however, as he brought his L-5 into a smooth glide, landing quietly. He taxied to a cluster of overhanging vines and trees to shield his plane from stray Japanese fighters and waited. When he was certain that he had not walked into an ambush, he left the plane, casually strolling into the open. His holster was empty, the pistol hidden inside his shirt. He made gestures of putting food in his mouth, the universal sign language for "I'm hungry, will you help me?"
He waited for a while and then knelt down on one knee, resting his elbows on the other. He scanned the sky, concerned because the sun was beginning to burn off the fog. He needed the fog to provide cover to continue his mission. About to give up, fearing that he had scared off the natives and worried about losing his covering fog, he was about to start back toward his plane when a young Burmese woman appeared, quietly and unobtrusively.
He stood up, displaying open hands and then again made a gesture of eating. The woman was carrying two small sacks made of woven grass. From one she removed an egg, but before offering it to him, she bowed her head and spoke clearly two English words: "Bless me."
Not since leaving the shores of the good old U.S.A. had Brownie been been so puzzled and at a loss for what to do! His church and his love of God had always been a vital part of his life, but he didn't feel qualified to bestow a blessing upon someone else!
Trying to decide how to handle it, he looked her over, thinking to himself, "Brownie, here's one of the most beautiful women you've ever seen!" It was hard to determine her age; she appeared young but had the bearing and carriage of a mature woman.
Ignoring her beauty, he looked instead at the egg in her hand, his mouth watering at the thought having a real egg rather than the powdered eggs served in the mess tent. With a prayer of deep humility, he whispered "Dear God, help and forgive me if what I'm about to do offends you. I need that egg!"
Brownie, although not Catholic, made the sign of the cross and slowly repeated the Lord's Prayer:
"Our father, which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen."
As he spoke softly, she seemed to recognize the words. There were no words to describe the serenity of the moment after he finished when she placed a string of silver beads around his neck and placed the egg in his hand. Then reaching back into the woven sack she removed another egg and handed it to him. Then she turned and slowly retreated into the woods.
He went back to the plane with his treasures, where he placed both eggs and the silver necklace into a small canvas bag which carried his first aid kit and other necessities. He couldn't delay further; the morning sun was rapidly dispelling the fog. He removed his weapon from inside his shirt and put it back in its holster. He quickly cleared his makeshift runway of rocks and branches and prepared for take off. To cradle his precious eggs, he formed a sling from the tourniquet in his first aid kit and hung them from the plane's visor.
The engine started immediately and Brownie began the takeoff roll. He pulled back on the stick and the trusty L-5 lifted off, leaving the clearing behind. He leveled off just above the treetops and pointed the plane's nose toward his assigned route. He breathed a sigh of relief as he entered a patch of misty fog that would provide cover for his mission.
With the secure feeling of the fog about him and tomorrow's breakfast hanging snugly in its sling, Brownie had a moment to reflect on his assignment. He had been given orders to pickup a British officer at 1100 hours. The orders' coded instructions directed him to use great care and caution to reach his destination. The officer he was to transport was required at a meeting of Allied commanders who were forming new strategies to divert the attention of the Japanese.
The battles across the jungles of Burma were not for cities or strongholds, but for air strips. The airplane was essential to the Allied drive across Burma toward China. Critical supplies of food and ammunition were delivered to troops in the field and wounded men were evacuated to safety and medical aid by air. Allied fighters and bombers provided fire support for the ground troops who could lug artillery through the jungles. Gliders and transports leapfrogged fresh men, mules, and supplies far behind the enemy to catch him from the rear.
Still, in spite of the pounding they were taking from the Allies, the Japanese were still very much in evidence. Brownie held his L-5 at tree top level to avoid detection by a Japanese patrol. The 2nd Air Commandos had trained for just this type of warfare.
Brownie arrived on time to meet his passenger at the jungle strip.
The British officer had no visible rank or insignia that Brownie could see as he boarded the small plane. As the American pilot helped the officer strap in, he studied the face under the peaked hat for a quick moment. He recognized the handsome face! It belonged to Lord Admiral Louis Mountbatten, great grandson of Queen Victoria, Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command, the high muckety muck himself!
Why such a personage would travel by such an unprepossessing plane as Brownie's L-5 could only be attributed to one thing - secrecy. Whatever meeting Brownie was conveying his serene highness to was very important.
The officer was quiet during the first hour of the flight, but as the noon hour approached, he asked Brownie when they would mess, that is, eat. Brownie was taken aback, although Mountbatten didn't notice. He had barely enough food for himself, much less for the Supreme Commander himself! "We'll land soon, sir," Brownie replied.
Spotting a clearing that no one other than an L-pilot would even think of landing in, he made a pass and then set up a landing glide back into the clearing. He nursed the throttle and dropped the flaps at just the right moment. He touched down on the edge of the clearing, rolled a bit and stopped. He taxied back to the edge of the clearing to put the plane under cover and shut down the engine.
Mountbatten watched with interest as Brownie set about preparing a meal in the jungle. Brownie gathered some broad, flat leaves to serve as a skillet and scrambled his precious eggs on the hot exhaust manifold of his L-5's engine. He added a can of kippers to the eggs. He had hoarded the can of smoked sardines for hard times, but decided to share it with his passenger.
He produced some "biscuits" to go with the meal. Biscuits were cracker-like British rations. Brownie detested them, but they were filling, even if they were dry and unappetizing. He divided the eggs and kippers and biscuits with his passenger, Mountbatten's share served in the empty kipper tin.
"Do you do this often, soldier?" asked Mountbatten.
"Yes, sir. Food is pretty scarce sometimes."
Mountbatten ate Brownie's meal, perhaps thinking back to his own youth. As a young naval cadet prior to the first world war, he had met Winston Churchill when Churchill addressed the assembled cadets. As Churchill finished his address, he asked "Do any of you have any requests to make?"
Mountbatten spoke up. "Please, sir, may we have three sardines for Saturday supper instead of only two?"
Churchill replied, "I'll see to it."
Churchill, however, did not "see to it". Mountbatten later said that "from that time I never trusted him."After the meal was completed, Brownie inspected his "runway" for obstacles. He and his passenger climbed aboard and were soon airborne again. Brownie, not really wanting to give up the controls, asked Mountbatten if he'd like to fly. He was relieved when Mountbatten graciously declined. Brownie had heard the story of how His Serene Highness had ground looped an L-5 when Colonel Phil Cochran of the 1st Air Commandos gave him the controls of one a year earlier!
The remainder of the flight went smoothly and Brownie delivered Mountbatten to his destination on time and without incident. As Mountbatten thanked Brownie for the flight and the meal, he handed Brownie a slip of paper. "I don't want to catch you eating like that again soldier!" he ordered.
"Yes, sir!" Brownie replied, saluting. As Mountbatten turned and climbed into his waiting staff car, Brownie looked at the slip of paper Mountbatten had given him. It was a pass to the British Commissary!