大象传媒

Warrant Officer Frank Savage was from Blackburn. He was the pilot of a RAF Dakota. He faced a dangerous situation when one of the engines of his aircraft failed on a flight from Singapore to Rangoon.

After he had made a perfect landing on a strip of ground on Phuket Island, he and three other members of the crew and four passengers were confronted by armed Japanese. Again, Warrant Officer Savage saved an awkward situation.

W/O Savage sent a letter to his parents ...

"My port engine failed, the first time in my 1,500 hours of flying. It couldn't have happened at a worse time. The weather was grim, and we were over hilly country, with a very rocky coastline as an alternative. The only place I could make for, Puket, was 120 miles away - 80 of which were across the sea. I decided not to risk the sea crossing, but to go all the way round by the land - we had no dinghies, Mae Wests, which meant a journey of about 180 miles.

"No one had ever landed there before. All the information we had was that there was an emergency strip, ad we had to risk it. I had passengers and mail on board. We got there OK, but found no strip. then I started sweating, because my one good engine was getting so hot under the strain, I didn't expect her to last long.

"Eventually, we found the strip, and although it was severely short. I got her (the plane) down OK on one engine. I made a good landing, which surprised me more than anyone.

"Then the fun started. We were immediately surrounded by natives. We had on board a passenger who could make himself understood. The first thing I told him to ask was: 'Are there any Japanese?' and the reply was: 'Yes, about 100.' A few minutes later and some rolled up in a lorry. One could speak English and he introduced his Commanding Officer, who tried to shake hands with me. I ignored his hand and tried to look stern, though my knees were shaking a bit, as I didn't know what their attitude was going to be.

"I decided to take the offensive, and asked how many men he had, where they were, etc. and ended up by telling them to go back to their camp and stay there until the Navy came for them in two days' time - a story I made up on the spur of the moment. this they proceeded to do and we saw no more of them.

"Next, the District Commissioner rolled up in a car. He was delighted to see us, and couldn't do enough for us. We were the first Englishmen to land since the war started, and he wanted us to disarm the Japanese right away! The Governor of the island also made us welcome. We were there from Wednesday to the following Tuesday, and we had a wizard time. We got the passengers away on Saturday night in an air-see rescue launch, and on Tuesday one of our own aircraft came and took us off leaving the ground crew to repair the engine.

"Every night some of us went to town 30 miles away and dined with the Governor, or the local prince, or some of the managers of the tin mines there. The rest remained to guard the aircraft. We had all the fruit we wanted - bananas, pineapples, coconuts and lots of eggs, all given by the enthusiastic villagers. Aircraft flew over and dropped supplies of tinned food, and generally a good time was had by all."

Warrant Officer Savage was an old boy of St Mary's College in Blackburn

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