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URING THE VIETNAM WAR THE VIETCONG WERE KEPT SUPPLIED FROM THE D NORTH BY A SERIES OF JUNGLE AND MOUNTAIN ROUTES KNOWN COLLECTIVELY AS THE HO CHI MINH TRAIL. IN SPITE OF FREQUENT ATTACKS BY AMERICA AND ITS ALLIES, THE NORTH VIETNAMESE ARMY STROVE CONTINUOUSLY TO KEEP IT OPEN — EVEN BUILDING NEW BRIDGES TO INCREASE THE TRAFFIC FLOW.

THE BRIDGE WILL BE COMPLETED IN A FEW HOURS. THE FIRST SUPPLY COLUMNS ARE WAITING TO CROSS.

AND THE ENEMY HAS NO IDEA THAT IT EVEN EXISTS!

STORY ALAN HEBDEN ART REZZONICO COVER IAN KENNEDY

4 AS IT HAPPENED THE VIETCONG AND THEIR NORTHERN ALLIES WEREN’T THE ONLY ONES ABLE TO MOVE THROUGH THE DENSELY-FORESTED HILLS WITHOUT BEING SPOTTED. A SMALL UNIT OF AMERICAN SPECIAL FORCES HAD SECRETLY INFILTRATED THE AREA AND TAKEN UP A POSITION FROM WHERE THEY COULD CLEARLY SEE THE NEW BRIDGE. LOOKS ABOUT FINISHED TO ME. TIME TO CALL IN AN AIR STRIKE.

FROM PAST EXPERIENCE THE UNIT’S LEADER KNEW IT WOULD PROBABLY BE AT LEAST AN HOUR BEFORE THE PROMISED STRIKE CAME, WHICH WAS FRUSTRATING BECAUSE, EVEN AS HE WATCHED, THE FIRST HEAVILY-LADEN LORRIES BEGAN CROSSING THE BRIDGE.

EACH ONE MUST BE CARRYING A GOOD TEN TONS OF CARGO. IF THEY KEEP COMING AT THIS RATE THERE’LL BE A THOUSAND TONS OF SUPPLIES ON THEIR WAY TO THE V.C. BEFORE WE CAN STOP THEM.

5 TO THE AMERICAN’S ASTONISHMENT BARELY NINETY SECONDS ELAPSED BEFORE A VIETCONG LOOK-OUT GAVE A SHOUT OF ALARM AND A HAND-CRANKED SIREN WAILED INTO ACTION.

AAIIEEH! KAN-BRA! KAN-BRA!

THE SPECIAL FORCES OFFICER WATCHED IN AMAZEMENT AS AN ENGLISH ELECTRIC CANBERRA JET BOMBER OF THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE CAME HURTLING UP THE VALLEY. HOLY TOLEDO… WHERE’D THEY COME FROM?

TARGET IN SIGHT.

BOMB BAY DOORS OPENING…

6 MOMENTS LATER THE BOMBER FLEW OVER THE BRIDGE, RELEASING ITS DEADLY CARGO AS IT WENT.

BOMBS GONE!

THE STRIKE WAS PRECISELY ON TARGET. THE BRIDGE WAS LITERALLY BLOWN APART AND SEVERAL LORRIES CAUGHT CROSSING IT WERE SENT PLUNGING TO THEIR DOOM.

AAAIIIEEH!

7 THE AMERICANS COULD HARDLY BELIEVE THEIR EYES. THE CANBERRA HAD BANKED STEEPLY AND DISAPPEARED OVER THE HILLS BEFORE THEY HAD TIME TO REACT.

THANKS FOR THE SHOW, GUYS. I JUST WISH I KNEW HOW YOU GOT HERE SO FAST!

THE ANSWER WAS SIMPLE. THE U.S. AIR FORCE, THOUGH AMPLY SUPPLIED WITH SINGLE-ENGINED STRIKE AIRCRAFT, DID NOT HAVE A SUITABLE MEDIUM BOMBER AVAILABLE FOR VIETNAM, UNLIKE THEIR AUSTRALIAN ALLIES WHOSE TWIN-ENGINED CANBERRAS HAD THE RANGE TO STOOGE IN A GIVEN VICINITY FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS, FROM WHERE THEY COULD BE DIRECTED INTO ACTION AT A MOMENT’S NOTICE. MIND YOU, SKIPPER, ANOTHER TEN MINUTES AND WE WOULD HAVE HAD TO HEAD FOR HOME. JUST AS WELL THE CALL CAME WHEN IT DID.

8 THOUGH NORMALLY MANNED BY THREE MEN THIS CANBERRA’S CREW WERE PILOT, FLIGHT LIEUTENANT GARY FRAKES AND NAVIGATOR/BOMB-AIMER PILOT OFFICER LEW MARTIN. AS THEY SETTLED BACK FOR THE FLIGHT HOME A WARNING BUZZER SOUNDED AND A LIGHT LIT UP ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL ABOVE.

‘ORANGE PUTTER’S’ COME ON. SEE IF YOU CAN SPOT ANYTHING ON YOUR SIDE.

WILL DO, SKIPPER.

“ORANGE PUTTER” WAS THE NAME OF THE CANBERRA’S TAIL WARNING RADAR, DESIGNED TO DETECT ANYTHING APPROACHING FROM BEHIND. THOUGH UNDOUBTEDLY A VALUABLE AID IT HAD A HISTORY OF GIVING FALSE ALARMS AND CREWS HAD LEARNT TO CHECK BEHIND VISUALLY BEFORE TAKING ACTION. NOTHING THIS SIDE, SKIPPER.

NOTHING ON MY SIDE EITHER. LOOKS LIKE ORANGE PUTTER’S CRIED WOLF AGAIN. THOSE IMPROVEMENTS TO IT WE’VE BEEN PROMISED CAN’T COME TOO SOON.

9 AFTER DE-BRIEFING THEY HEADED FOR THEIR QUARTERS, WITH GARY GLANCING REPEATEDLY AT HIS WATCH. WHAT’S THE HURRY, SKIPPER?

I’VE GOT A JAPANESE LESSON WITH MISTER OBAKI IN TWENTY MINUTES. IT WOULDN’T BE POLITE TO ARRIVE LATE.

GARY HAD BEEN ON AN EXCHANGE VISIT WITH THE JAPANESE SELF-DEFENCE FORCES AND HIS NEXT POSTING WOULD BE AS AN AIR ATTACHE TO THE AUSTRALIAN EMBASSY THERE. HE WAS DETERMINED TO MAKE THE MOST OF IT, BUT HIS ENTHUSIASM FOR ALL THINGS JAPANESE GRATED WITH LEW.

LEW’S FATHER, ALSO AN AIRMAN IN THE R.A.A.F., HAD BEEN SHOT DOWN OVER BURMA IN THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR. CAPTURED, THE JAPANESE INTERROGATED HIM UNDER TORTURE BEFORE EXECUTING HIM. GARY KNEW THERE WAS NOTHING HE COULD SAY THAT WOULD CHANGE LEW’S OPINION, THOUGH HE GAVE IT A TRY. DON’T FORGET THE OFFICER WHO INTERROGATED HIM WAS FOUND GUILTY OF WAR CRIMES AND HANGED.

JAPAN’S BEEN REBORN, MATE. IT’S BECOME AN ULTRA MODERN ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE BUT STILL RESPECTS ITS ANCIENT TRADITIONS. YEAH, MY OLD MAN KNEW ALL ABOUT THOSE ANCIENT TRADITIONS!

THE WHOLE JAP ARMY WAS GUILTY OF WAR CRIMES! HAVE A GOOD JAP LESSON AND GIVE TEACHER AN APPLE...

PREFERABLY A POISONED ONE!

10 POST-WAR JAPAN WAS STRICTLY NEUTRAL, BUT CIVILIANS LIKE GARY’S TEACHER, MISTER OBAKI, VOLUNTEERED AS AID WORKERS IN THE WAR-TORN COUNTRY. AFTER THE LESSON GARY MENTIONED LEW’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE JAPANESE. OBAKI SIGHED AND GAVE A SHRUG. YOUR FRIEND IS NOT ALONE AND IN TRUTH MANY JAPANESE SOLDIERS DID TERRIBLE THINGS, BUT MANY MORE SIMPLY DID WHAT THEY SAW AS THEIR DUTY. THEY FOUGHT AND DIED AS BRAVELY AS ANY ALLIED SOLDIER.

I DON’T THINK LEW WOULD AGREE, BUT WHERE JAPAN’S INVOLVED HE’S LIKE A BRICK WALL, AND IT’S NO GOOD BASHING YOUR HEAD AGAINST IT.

BY UNSPOKEN AGREEMENT, ANYTHING TO DO WITH JAPAN BECAME A FORBIDDEN TOPIC BETWEEN THE TWO AIRMEN. MEANWHILE, THE WAR GROUND ON WITH THE EVER-CHANGING TENTACLES OF THE HO CHI MINH TRAIL THEIR PRIME TARGET.

APPROACHING DROP ZONE, SKIPPER. TIME TO GET DOWN TO THE DECK.

THE RAINY SEASON WAS GETTING UNDER WAY, MAKING LOW-LEVEL FLYING A NERVE-WRACKING EXPERIENCE. IT’S LIKE FLYING THROUGH A PEA-SOUPER. I HOPE THERE AREN’T ANY UNEXPECTED HILLTOPS UP AHEAD BECAUSE I WON’T SEE THEM IN TIME.

RIGHT INTO THE GATHERING MONSOON CLOUDS. TRUST ME, SKIPPER, THE RADAR SHOWS A CLEAR RUN TO TARGET.

D

uring the Vietnam War Flight Lieutenant Gary Frakes and Pilot Officer Lew Martin — the crew of an RAAF Canberra — flew bombing missions, neutralising targets like enemy bridges and transport. Their luck ran out when they tangled with a MiG21 fighter and were forced to eject over the hostile territory of neighbouring Laos.

They had barely touched the ground when they realised they’d jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire — deep in the dense jungle there wasn’t one enemy, but two!

Recall: R13-28-Mar-12

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