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A "Chindit" writes
During the campaign of 1944, "Operation Thursday" and the landing of gliders and aircraft (C-47's) into "Broadway" the watch over the hills and sometime in the small hours of the morning. Sleep eludes me and increasingly my thoughts return to those dark days in a foreign land and I am back with my old comrades of the Lancashire Fusiliers lying on the Burma earth listening intently for the sounds of engines in the darkness of the night.
Time flies by on kaden wings then above the cacophony of jungle noises, we hear the welcome sound. We get the signal, light the fires, all is well. Father Christmas has arrived!
We gather up the loot, put out the fires and move on to a safe bivouac area. We say a prayer - thank you 27th Troop Carrier Squadron, may God give you a safe journey home and off to sleep - all is well! No doubt, they did wonderful work in finding the dropping zone.
Being the commando platoon of 20 column we never experienced the loss of supplies, which arrived always on time at every drop.
Written by John T. Mattinson, Manchester, England 17th March, 1990.
NB. The above is taken, in part, from a letter Mr. Mattinson wrote to John Gordon, navigator and copilot assigned to the 27th Troop Carrier Squadron.
