The DC-3 Aviation Museum
Presents:
A short history of
435(T) Squadron.
submitted by: Jeff Robinson - spitfire@bc.sympatico.ca
Their motto is
"Certi provehendi"
"Determined on Delivery"
The squadron's badge is a Chinthe on a plinth.
The Chinthe is a mythical beast, part dog and part lion,
whose responsibility it is to guard the Pagodas of Burma from desecration by evil spirits.
The squadron was formed in Gujrat, Punjab, India on November 1, 1944
as the R.C.A.F.'s 34th squadron
and the third transport, and second in India.
The squadron flew Dakota Mk111 and MkIV aircraft, in support
of the British Fourteenth Army in Northern Burma.
The first Commanding Officer was Wing Commander Tom P. Harnett.
The squadron then moved to Tulihal, Manipur, India
and flew it's first operational sortie on December 20, 1944,
when 16 Dakotas airlifted supplies to the Fourteenth Army
located at Tamu in the Kabaw Valley on to a quickly constructed airstrip.
Along with that they also flew airdrops to Pinlebu, east of the Chindwin River.
The last operation in India was on August 30, 1945,
when 4 Dakotas flew from Tulihal, staging through Toungoo, dropping supplies to British guerrillas.
The last operation for the squadron was from Down Ampney England, March 14, 1946.
Flight lieutenant H.E. Carling and his crew flew in Dakota KG587
on a special flight to Rennes France and return.
The Burma operational records state that the squadron flew
15,681 sorties,
28,792 operational hours
and 2734 non-operational hours.
They airlifted 27,460 tons of freight,
14,000 passengers
and 851 casualties.
The squadron lost 4 Dakota aircraft,
21 aircrew with 2 killed,
14 missing
and5 wounded.
Personal awards were ;
1MBE [Member of the British Empire]
1DFC[Distinguished Flying Cross]
2AFC's[Air Force Cross]
1MID[ Mentioned in Dispatches]
The criteria for the Distinguished Flying Cross is
Awarded to Officers and Warrant Officers for an act or acts of valor,
courage or devotion to duty performed whilst flying
in active operations against the enemy.
Flight Lieutenant H. Coons was in command of a Dakota at 1000 hours January 12 ,1945
near the Shwebo area along with several other Dakotas.
While in the drop zone at about 400 feet he spotted a number of Japanese "Oscar" fighters
and immediately broadcast a warning to all the other aircraft in his flight as he was making a dive for the trees.
F/L Coons aircraft was attacked four times and on the fifth pass lost four feet of wing tip
when it hit a tree during an evasive maneuver.
A Dakota commanded by Flying Officer J.K.Ramsey was shot down by a Japanese fighter
on it's first pass and the only survivor, Flying Officer A.L. Thompson was tossed clear of the aircraft
when it hit the ground.
The only R.A.F. aircraft captain, in the squadron F/L R.F. Simpson was shot down
carrying a full load of ammunition. Despite the fire in the cargo area he managed to crash land the Dakota
and evacuated his whole crew.
A short time later Warrant Officer D.G.Cotter died of cannon shell wounds.
Flying Officer W.J.Rogers heroically landed his aircraft at a nearby airstrip to help with the rescue
of Simpson and his crew.
F/L Simpson won the DFC and F/L Coons won the bar to the DFC
This is a direct first hand account from a ground crew member Fred Chambers
as to his small part in "The Action at Sheba" Mr. Chambers writes,
"The afternoon of January 12,1945 I over slept, probably the first time I did so in the service.
I rushed down to the flights without breakfast. Only one aircraft was left without a kicker.
{ R.C.A.F. ground crew often requested flying duties as cargo "kickers", who tossed the goods out the door},
it was taking off a little later than the others as it was not going as far.
Parked next to my aircraft was one with two kickers; one had left his assigned aircraft to be with his friend.
One of the kickers was L.A.C. Prosser, we chatted awhile, then they taxied away and took off
and soon after we followed. Our load was a "landing " load, and the other's destination was Shwebo.
We unloaded, started the engines, did the ground checks, and were about to take off
when another of our aircraft approached, waggling it's wings and then landed.
The crew told us of what had happened at Shwebo.
We flew back to Tulihal at tree top height , the pilot had me stand with my head in the astrodome
to watch out for other enemy aircraft. I saw a few aircraft but no enemy.
Believe me, at tree top level you KNOW how fast 170 mph is!
When we landed at Tulihal, we saw one of our aircraft full of bullet holes
and with a hunk of a tree top embedded in the port wing near the tip.
{Obviously F/L Coons aircraft}
On our last flight of the day, we went with a landing-load to Shwebo, arriving at about sunset.
I saw, I think, three crashed fighters, who all appeared to be allied,
the nearest was British and was partly burned.
The propeller blades were partly melted and the metal was still hot."
L.A.C. Prosser was killed in this action.
My father L.A.C. Peter Robinson was a founding member of 435(T) Sqdn.
and was assigned to the "Motor Transport" section of the squadron.
His duties were to fuel the Dakotas run the ambulance when needed and act as a "kicker" when required.
He didn't win any high awards and was never a "hero"
but in my eyes he is my "hero" as he did serve his country willingly
and did his part to help keep our Country free and let me live as how I please.
As a young boy, I recall a story he used to tell me about a Dakota that flew into a cloud
and was never seen again.
He did tell me that he knew some of the crew on that airplane.
Over the years I had thought of that airplane and wondered what could possibly happen
to such a large aircraft in order for it to go missing and never be found.
As it turns out the story begins on June 21,1945
when Dakota KN563 failed to return from a supply drop to the British Army in Northern Burma.
As it happened, pilot Warrant Officer William Rogers had accidentally strayed into a large monsoon cloud.
Inside the cloud the winds are extremely turbulent and as a result the load inside the Dakota shifted
and W.O.Rogers could not control the airplane and it went down.
Lost in the crash were:
Pilot W.O. William Rogers, of Halifax Nova Scotia,
co-pilot, Pilot Officer William Kyle of Perth, Ontario.
The others were, Flight Sergeant Charles McLaren, of Campbellville, Ontario,
Warrant Officer Stanley Cox, of Beresford, Manitoba,
and Leading Aircraftsman Cornelius Kopp of Dutchess, Alberta.
Fast forward to 1996,
a Burmese hunter was walking the mountains and came upon the wreckage of a very
large airplane
that has obviously been there for a long time.
He made contact with the authorities and it was thought to have been Dakota KN563
that was lost so many years ago.
After a long session of diplomatic discussions, it was arranged that a small contingent
of Canadian military personnel were allowed to excavate the site
to search for the remains of the missing aircrew.
After an intense three day training session that covered subjects like snakes,
and other creepy crawlers, jungle living and crash site forensic procedures,
the 14 man Canadian contingent were ready to go searching for their lost comrades.
The team flew from Vancouver, British Columbia, Nov. 20, 1996,
to Tokyo, then to Bangkok.
The next day they were off to Yangon Burma [now called Myanmar]
It took 14 days to acclimatize to the 35C heat. The team was carrying 35 lb. packs.
When they departed for the 20 minute helicopter ride to the crash site,
they found the crash site was located 50 kilometer southeast of Khamti deep in the jungle.
The crash site shocked most of the team as it was a scene of almost complete devastation.
According to one of the team members
"The aircraft had fallen out of the sky and hit a hillside.
It was lying on its back and there had been a fire. Only the tail section was in one piece......
all of us were convinced that the crew was killed instantly.
" The wreckage was scattered over an area of approximately 30 square meters,
in a ravine with a steep slope.
The largest part was about 1.5 meters long and hundreds of small fragments scattered
over a large area both on the surface and some under the soft mud.
The team dug for three days and uncovered a number of human remains,
aircraft parts and personal effects.
"It was a heart wrenching experience"
as one of the team members put the exercise.
The aircrew's remains were taken to a Military Cemetery near Rangoon
and were buried with full Military Honors.
More detailed information on the recovery of Dakota KN563
can be found in a film by the National Film Board of Canada.
The film is called
" Lost Over Burma, Search for Closure"
When my Dad was posted overseas he went by ship R.M.S. Aquatint, and landed at Bournemoth, England
and for a couple weeks stood around, went on route marches,
stood around and went on route marches, etc, etc,etc.
Just like the Royal Canadian Air Force........hurry up and wait.
When they finally got posted they flew from Down Ampney in Swindon, England
to the first refueling stop at Castle
Benito, Italy.
Then on to Telaviv Israel for more fuel with a final fuel stop in Iraq where it
"was hot as hell, must've been about 190F in the shade."
They arrived at Dum Dum airport in Calcutta 55 hours and 45 minutes after leaving cool, comfortable England.
They flew just under 10,000 feet and were not to remove the cargo doors
on the aircraft until they got to India.
They were however allowed to pull out the window "plugs" for some air.
They then flew to Gujrat , then on to Imphal.
On the way home after hostilities ceased they flew to Telaviv, Sicily, Marseilles,
then finally on to Down Ampney.
My Dad's campaign medals are as follows;
39-45 Star
The Star was awarded for six months service on active operations between September2,1939 to September 2,1945
Burma Star
Awarded for one day or more of operational service during the Burma campaign,
between December 11, 1941 to September 2, 1945
Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Bar
Awarded for 18 months volunteer service between September 2,1939 to September 2, 1945.
The bar or sometimes referred to as a "clasp" is awarded for 60 days of service outside Canada.
The 1939-1945 War Medal
Awarded to all full time personnel of the armed forces and merchant marines
for serving for 28 days between September 3, 1939 to September 2, 1945
The photos are captioned as follows;
1. This is the Royal Canadian Air Force Overseas cloth patch
2. The Heraldic crest of 435(T) Squadron
3. This is the DFC Medal
4. "Q" Queenie of 435(T) Squadron, this historic photo records the first operational flight over Burma by a Canadian
transport aircraft in December,1944. Steaming jungles and soft white clouds are characteristic of the winter months.
5. "R" Robert of 435(T) Squadron at Tulihal waiting for a load, 1945
6. Canadian Dakota "low and over" near Tulihal, India, 1945
7. L.A.C. Peter Robinson/ caption on rear of photo "The street numbers make it look like a corner in Edmonton or
Vancouver, but it's in Mandalay that LAC Peter Robinson is getting some lamp-post time. Stationed with a RCAF
squadron in Burma, he hails from Nelson, B.C. RCAF Neg #60422
8. Cpl.Sewell[ on step] and LAC Peter Robinson on one of 435 Sqdn's fuel trucks. 7 Tonnes, Imphal India.
9. A shot taken from Sentinel Hill looking southwest down to the airstrip at Imphal, India. On the right 1/4 way down,
you can see the south end of the airstrip, flights and a number of parked aircraft.
10. A photo of Fred Chambers, the caption is.......at Mu-se on the China-Burma border, the aircraft had run into an
embankment while parking damaging the prop. In a case like this, the engine must be replaced, because of possible
damage to the prop shaft
11. Photo taken from the astrodome, line astern formation, flight to Chaklala. Fred Chambers photo
12. Canadian Dakotas loading wounded after the Normandy landings at airstrip "B-4" RCAF Neg#11793
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