I will ask Mum to see if Douglas told her. Long shot but if the question is not asked you don't get the answer anyway.
Bamboo, thank you for posting the link to the Chindit 2 landing sites. There are some great images there. Here are another two photographs that may show an air supply drop on Broadway.
Once again HW, wonderful photographs. I was lucky enough to purchase a batch of Chindit 1 photos back in the early summer, thanks I might add to another member of our forum. I'm keeping these up my sleeve in case I ever get around to writing a book of some description.
I am more than happy to share these images as, to my knowledge, most of them are already in the public domain. If they hadn't been seen before It might be a different matter. This one is the last of the batch that are definitely Chindit 2 and shows the removal of one of the casualties of the glider landings. It is a very poignant photograph and the look from the man on the left suggests that he felt the photographer was being intrusive.
Not sure... Dad's notes recorded that he saw a camera just the once whilst he was in, and that was on emergence from the jungle near the runway at Blackpool... I believe he may have been on point with the Bren and it was post his listing as MIA (confirmed in the records at TNA) ... behind him were the rest of the platoon carrying their wounded... dad was blood-spattered from his grenade wounds... an American (flying) officer saw them emerging and started snapping away... I have asked the question, has anyone ever seen a photo of a blood-spattered Chindit, carrying a Bren-gun, emerging from the jungle in front of Chindit's carrying their wounded...? The answer is still no... Unfortunately... I know he was flown out on the Sunderlands but he saw no cameras there either, and I know 230 flew a cameraman in, so he missed that too... Remember, cameras were the exception rather than the rule, and even "at home" they were uncommon, so...
HC, on reflection I have decided to watermark the images to stop them being copied by all and sundry. However, If anyone would like to use them, in publications or on a website, I will give permission for their use on the condition that they are secure images and a credit is given. Simon.
According to Mum, "Douglas told me they dropped the donkeys behind Japanese lines. It was before he got Yellow Fever and nearly died. He had his own aeroplanes with the Chindits and Wingate. I've got some photos somewhere, will try to find them". I hope that helps. Steve
Steve, thank you for the update and yes, if you can find some photographs we would love to see them. Simon.
Simon Even with Mums comments, I feel this is still quite subjective. I have a feeling that Douglas wrote all this up at some stage and it was published in a scientific journal. He was certainly involved in those sorts of circles as you can tell from his Obituary. I will have a dig around on Google and see what I can find. Edit: have found an article by Barlow dated 1946 roughly entitled "dropping of mules by parachute from Dakota aircraft". Unfortunately it's only available via a (expensive) subscription.
I have unearthed this newspaper article and I believe that there is a photograph of the small Broadway cemetery with the cross in existence.
By trawling through news reels on the net have I managed to find photographs of two numbered gliders. The first shows glider 23P being loaded at Lallaghat on the 5th March 1944. This glider seems to have made it to Broadway as there are no casualty reports regarding it.
Looking closely again at the photograph in post 27 there is a wealth of detail that I failed to notice before. There are clearly two crashed gliders with the one on the right having clear damage to the front. Other photographs suggest that the gliders were individually number in chalk on the front and again on either side of the cockpit. Clearly this damaged glider cannot be identified from this photograph. However, with the second glider tucked away to the left of the photograph it is a different matter. Clearly visible is 21B. Sadly, I do not know who was in this glider but at least I now know that it made it to Broadway relatively unscathed. Notice also the teak logs in front of the gliders, View attachment 212042
