Manila To Tokyo

By Vernon B. Bushway, Jr

World War II in the Pacific had ended in August 1945. James Donovan and George Jones both pilots. decided to be discharged from the Army Air Corps at Clark Air Force Base near Manila in the Philippine Islands to start and Freight Air Line named "Indian River Air." As members of the 5th Air Force during the War they flew the B-24 heavy bomber and the B-25 through out the South Pacific. They both flew 125 mission in the 24's from Australia to New Guinea and the Philippines in 1944 which was the retaking of the Philippians by General Douglas MacArthur, and their last mission over Iwo Jima. After their last missions over Iwo Jima they were transferred to Clark AAFB on the Island of Luzon in the Philippines for submarine patrol duty until this war ended.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vernon B. Bushway, Jr
• Release date: Apr 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463154243

Book preview

Chapter One: The News Life:

Getting Started:

It was January 1946, the War in the Pacific had just ended in August 45, and I James Donovan, and George Jones, took our discharges at Clark AAFB, to start an Air Freight Service from the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines Islands to Tokyo Japan. Both of these cities had suffered heavy damage during the War as well as most of Asia.

In the Army Air Corps as member of Fifth Air Force, I had flown the B-24 heavy bomber and the B-25throughout the South Pacific Campaign. I flew with my longtime co-pilot George Jones, who everyone called Jonesie and I naturally picked up simple Jim. The B-24 Liberator, as it was called, was introduced in the South Pacific in May of 1942. It was a four engine aircraft, with Pratt & Whitney R1830-43 Radial 14 cylinders, 1220 Horsepower engines, which made it extremely, fast for a heavy bomber. It had a range of 2,200 miles fully loaded and 3,500 miles empty and a ceiling of 33,000 ft. with a maximum speed of 330 mph. We flew 125 missions in the old crate, as we called it, from Australia, New Guinea the Philippines in 1944, which the retaking of the Philippine Islands, by General Douglas MacArthur and our last two missions over Iwo Jima. In early 1945, after those last Iwo Jima missions, we were transferred to Clark AAFB on Luzon Island in the Philippines, for submarine patrol duty.

While at Clark, we subsequently became friends with General Mark Zoba, who was the Commanding Officer of the South Pacific Theater. General Zoba had informed us to the availability of war surplus aircraft, especially theC-47 and the C-46 twin-engine cargo/troop aircraft.

Jonesie and I had save a few dollars, since there wasn’t anywhere you could spend money during the War, and we use those dollars to purchase two C-47B Douglas Skytrain aircraft for our proposed airfreight business. We also had enough cash left over to fund a lease for a couple of hangers and purchase the necessary maintenance equipment from the AAFB at Clark Field, just outside the city of Angeles, in the Philippines. It wasn’t normal for the Army Air Force to allow civilian aircraft on a Military Field, but while I was flying all those missions, I had put in a request to the War Department to be able fly out of Clark Field. It took about one year, but one day, I received a call from my CO, I had been approved for a five-year lease, from the day hostilities ended for two hangers and landing rights, for one dollar per year. There wasn’t any rhyme or reason for their action, but what did I care!

The C-47s were much easier to fly than the B-24and the workhorse of the Air Corps, along with the C-46, but handled better in rough air and easier on the gas consumption. The C-47B was the aircraft that flew many missions over the Himalayas delivering supplies to the China and Burma Theater, so the Chinese and British & Americans could carry out their campaigns against the Japanese who were trying to conquer those countries.

We knew there would be a considerable freight going into the Japanese Islands, due to the total destruction of their homeland by the 15th & 7th Air Force B-29’s out of Guam, Saipan, and Tinian Islands, in the Northern Mariana Islands. Most of their major cities, Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and others lay in ruin. Therefore, we took our saved money, plus our mustering out pay, travel pay, and went ahead with our plan to become the biggest airfreight line in the Pacific.

Our decision to obtain the C-47B was its range and capabilities, powered by two Pratt & Whitney R1830-90C 14 cylinder radial 1200 horsepower engines with super-charges and extra fuel capacity to cover the China Burma India routes.

The C-47 had a crew of three and a payload of 6000 lbs. and in addition it had a service ceiling of 10,000 ft. and a range loaded of 2100 miles with the extra fuel capacity and a cruising speed of 160 mph and a maximum speed of 224 mph.

Consolidated B-24 Liberator (USAF Photo)

Douglas C-47/DC-3 (USAF Photo)

North American P-51 Mustang (USAF Photo)

Chapter Two: Setting Up:

0930 Hours, February 5, 1946, Clark Field Luzon Island

We now had the facilities to operate, the two hangers and a small office, we needed someone who had some smarts about keeping these two aircraft operational. Luckily, Jonesie knew a Master Sergeant, Frank Murphy, who had extensive experience in keeping the C-47 flying So, we called Frank, and offered him a piece of the action, since we hadn’t any money left to pay a salary. Frank, who was about to be shipped back to the states out of Clark Field to be retired, immediately said Okay, since his wife had run off with a musician from Los Angeles, so he his took his retirement at Clark Field.

Frank pointed out; we needed a radioman that could operate the radio gear and keep it in good repair. Both Jonesie and I thought of our Radio Operator/ Flight Engineer on the B-24, John Hadiketa, who was also still waiting to be shipped back to the States for discharge. John was very familiar with the radio gear, which is used in the C-47. John also had a Morse Code speed of 25 wpm, which is typically used for long distance communications.

I called John, explained what we were setting up, and offered him a piece of the action. He was worried how we all would get by without a lot of money. After I assured him, we would have enough funds collectively to get by with food and housing; he finally agreed to join our new adventure. In reality, when I told him about our housing facilities, which General Zoba was going to let us use, a hotel suite in the hotel he owned in Manila on the Bay, free of charge, until we were able to get the business going that was the clincher.

General Zoba in civilian life was the Owner and CEO Pan Pacific Airlines, which operated out of San Diego California before the War. He was convinced, by President Roosevelt to join the Air Force and organize the Pacific Air Operations, utilizing his company’s aircraft in conjunction with the US Navy.

08:00 Hours, February 7, 1946 Clark Field Philippine Islands:

The aircraft we purchased were located on Island of Iwo Jima. So, Jonesie, Frank, John and I were able to get a ride on a Military Air Transport plane that was delivering supplies to Iwo on Saturday, the first week in February. This was the beginning of the great adventure and little did we know what the future held for our small airfreight operation.

Iwo Jima is an eight square mile Island, five miles long and about two miles wide, located in the Pacific Ocean, South West of the Japanese Home Islands. In securing this Island, one of the bloodiest battles of World War II was fought with the Japanese in February and March of 1945. There were 6,821 killed out of 26,038 casualties sustained by the Americans and 26,569 Japanese died by the time the Island was secure.

I had not seen Iwo Jima since our last missions in March of 1945 and it had not changed. Looking out of the cockpit window, it was just a speck on the horizon. How the navigators found this God, forsaken island is amazing.

We were circling to come in for a landing, there were P-51 Fighter planes everywhere and crashed B-29 Super Fortress. Iwo Jima was used by the Air Force to finally provide air cover for the B-29’s flying out of the Mariana’s to bomb the Japanese Islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, and Kyushu.

We arrived on Iwo Jima in the afternoon, on a beautiful sunny day, with blue sky and white water crashing waves on the Island shores. Iwo Jima is a small rocky Volcanic Island, flat and barren for the most part, with a 550ft. mountain at the South end called Mt. Suribachi.

The aircraft we flew in was a Military Air Transport converted B-29, which was used to transport Military personnel and supplies to the various Islands we now held in the Pacific. The B-29 Superfortress was built by Boeing and the first prototype was delivered to the Army Air Force in 1938. The production aircraft had a top speed of mph, cruising speed of 220 mph and a range of 5,830 miles and is powered by four 2,200 horsepower Wright Double Cyclone engines.

The airfield at Iwo Jima is tricky to land on, due to the winds and cross currents, but after a very rocky landing on a very rough surface, the four of us deplaned and headed to the Flight Operations Office with our bills of sale for the C-47’s in my shirt pocket. I presented the papers to the Operations Officer, and he informed us that he knew nothing about the sale for the aircraft and we would have to contact the CO at the North end of the Island. The four of us tramped out of the office, mumbling how screwed up things always are in the Military. As it so happens in the Military, I ran across an old friend of mine, a fellow Pilot Bill Bratten, who had a Jeep and he agreed the take me to the CO, Lt. Colonel John Mac Entire, USAAF.

I was lucky when I arrived; the Colonel was willing to see me on such short notice, since he had received a message from General Zoba, indicating we were to pick up the two C-47 they had in storage. Colonel Mac Entire was very gracious and after a bit of conversation about the action at Clark Field and a cup of hot coffee, he informed his Aid to cut orders, so I could pick up the aircraft, which were located somewhere on the flight line. In addition, the Colonel loaned me a Jeep to haul my personnel around and pick up any necessary parts to make the aircraft airworthy if that was required, and so it began.

Boeing B-29 Supperfortress (USAF Photo)

Iwo Jima (U.S. Navy Photo)

Chapter Three: Getting Ready To Fly:

1800 hours February 7, 1945 Iwo Jima:

I thanked Colonel Mac Entire for all his help, jumped in to my Jeep that was park in front of his headquarters and took off over a very bumpy road back to the Air Operations building. On my arrival at Air Operations, as it is called, all the boys were sitting around drinking beers and having a good old time talking with the off duty flight crews. Since this was February of 1946, there still were daily flight patrol operations; my only comment was where is my Beer?

It was now getting dark by this time, so I asked the Operations Officer where we could bunk for the night and obtain some food. He informed me there was a vacant tent that comprised the total housing available for everyone wanting a bed on Iwo, by the supply depot, at the end of the flight line. The mess hall was just behind the Air Operations. So off we went to the Mess Hall, which was housed in a large tent, for chip beef on toast, (in Military, it was referred to SOS) or the other option was powder eggs and powder milk or coffee. Since we were all starving at this point, no food since breakfast, we enjoyed both items that were displayed on the menu, which was a chalkboard. After eating our fill, which actually tasted pretty good to all, we hopped in the Jeep and went looking for our hotel sleeping quarters for this night and many to come, though at this moment, did not have a clue what tomorrow would bring.

We arrived at our quarters for the night, and someone had taken mercy on our miserable group and added a note, which gave us directions to the nearest latrine!

0800 Hours February 8, 1946: Iwo Jima Island:

In the morning we left early; planned to fire up the C-47’s and take-off for Clark Field and get the new business up and going. After another good meal of SOS, we headed out to find our new toys. We had a good plan; we were going to fire up the engines check out all flight controls and radio equipment. In addition, we planned to caravan the flight back to Clark. I would fly one C-47 with John Hadiketa, who would handle the radio stuff and try to keep me on course, by using the on board Direction Finder and Jonesie would fly the other C-47 with Frank Murphy. Jonesie would fly off my right wing, so he wouldn’t get lost and his back up would be Frank, who would monitor the same frequencies that John was listening too. Most of the flight information would be in Morse Code, so after receiving any info, John would relay the info to Frank by voice radio. The four of us circled the flight line in the Jeep and could not find the planes; there were dozens and dozens of P-51 Mustang Fighters parked side by side, but no C-47s. Finally, I stop the Jeep, by a group of ground mechanics, and asked,

Do you know where two C-47’s might be parked?

They all answered in unison with a laugh,

Are you the guys who are picking up the Goony Birds? There located down by the dump, which is at the North end of the runway.

Therefore, off we went, to the other end of the runway.

When we arrived, there they were, but no way were the C-47's going to fly today or any day soon. It now became clear, why Zoba and Mac Entire had let these guys go for a few thousand dollars each, as they say, these planes would need beaucoup work before being considered airworthy.

We jumped out of the Jeep and slowly walked around the aircraft, both had flat tires, one had both prop blades missing, but the overall exterior of the planes looked pretty good! We climb inside the nearest plane; John looked at the radio gear, Jonesie, and I went up to the cockpit to give the instruments a look-see. Frank Murphy just prowled around looking things over and finally started taking the cowlings off the engines.

While Frank was looking at the engines to see what needed to be done, Jonesie and looked over the cockpit instruments, to see what might need repaired or replacement. None of us really could do much until we were able to supply some sort of power to the aircraft. I look out the cockpit window and call to Frank,

You and John take the Jeep; see if you can scare up a power generator

Frank replied:

Okay, I’ll see what we can dig up.

So, off they went and I said to Jonesie,

Let’s take a look at the other C-47 with the prop blades missing and see how it compares to this bird.

That’s a good idea Jim; we may need to cannibalize parts from one or the other.

So the two of us jumped down from the bird and sauntered over the other C-47 to look at its instrument panel. I was worried about instruments in each of the C-47’s. If some of the twenty Instruments were defective, we still could fly, but others would need to be replaced, and that might not be too easy to do on Iwo Jima.

The instrument panel in the cockpit has some twenty instruments, plus to Auto Pilot modules.

INSTRUMENTS IN A C47-A

Indicated Air Speed

Pressure Altitude

Radio Altitude

Vertical Speed Indicator, (Climb ratio)

Radio Magnetic Compass

Glide Slope Indicator

Gyro Compass

Artificial Horizon Indicator

Turn & Bank Indicator

Radio Compass, (this was critical to our return to Clark Field)

Altitude Limit Switches

Fuel Pressure

Oil Pressure

Manifold Pressure

Cylinder Head Temperature

Carburetor Air Temperature

Hydraulic Pressure

Outside Air Temperature

De-icing

Jonesie and I climb into the second C-47 and went forward to the cockpit to look at the instrument panel. To our surprise, all of the various instruments appeared okay, but we would have to wait until we had power and the engines turning over.

As we sat there thinking about our new adventure, we decide we needed a name for our fledging airline. We kicked around all kinds of names and finally settled on Indian River Air. We picked that name, making Frank Murphy happy, since he was from in a small town in Texas called Indian River.

Jonesie, that name sort of rings true. We will have to pass it by Frank and John when they return with the power generator.

In the meantime, Frank and John were being sent tall over Hell’s Half Acre in pursuit of the 24-volt mobile power source. They started out at Flight Operations and then to the Supply Officer, who sent them down to the 7thAir Operations and in turn down to the Navy Supply Center.

It seems the Navy stores guy had a 24-volt generator source, the only one on the Island and they would loan to us for a couple cases of beer, any type beer. When Frank and John returned, after about three hours, Jonesie and I by this time were getting worried. When the two of them related their saga, we all had a good laugh. Where the two cases of beer came from they never would tell us and I was expecting the Shore Patrol to show up any minute. By now, it was late afternoon, so we decided to stop for the day, but not before we ran the name Indian River Air by the boys. They all laughed a bit and said WHY NOT and so another day ended on Iwo Jima.

That night, at chow, over SOS and coffee, we kicked around where we should start in the morning with all the checkouts and repairs. We also assigned numbers to each C-47. One had a Red Tail for some reason, and the other was AAF gray. Therefore, the Red C-47 was Indian River One and the other Indian River Two. We thought those names would sound good to the various tower guys we countered. We decide the first two things we had to do, was get the engines and radio systems in the aircraft going. Jonesie, Frank, and I would work on the engines and John would check out the radio systems.

0900 Hours, February 9, 1946: Iwo Jima Island:

The next morning after our fine meal of SOS, we hopped in the Jeep with our two cases of beer power source and drove back to our C-47’s. Since Indian River Two did not have prop blades, we decided to start checking out Number One. Frank and Jonesie on the engines and I was sent off the find prop blades for Number Two. As I drove off in the Jeep, I could see John hooking up the power source, Jonesie, and Frank diving into the engines.

I drove over to Flight Operations, which seemed to be our starting point for all the scrounging we were doing to do for parts and material. The Master Sergeant in Flight Ops, said

You don’t have a prayer in finding props on Iwo; those two aircraft were not in our normal operational status of things here. P-51’s and some B-29 parts may be available, but no props.

I then drove down to the Navy, where Frank and John had located the power source and no luck there either. My last hope was the Air Corps supply, maybe they had spare props, if not maybe, they could fly two in from Guam or Okinawa.

I arrived at the supply building, which was a Quonset Hut, and asked if they knew of any props that I could locate on the Island. They responded NO WAY. At that point, I was very discouraged and wondering what to do next. I walk back to the Jeep, I ran into Colonel Mac Entire, who asked,

How is the Jeep doing and how is our progress on the 47’s?

The Jeep is fine, but I’m having trouble finding props for one of the 47’s.

The Colonel then suggested, I go on down to the Communications Center and ask them to check with Guam and Okinawa and see if they had any spare props, the cost would be covered in your deal for the planes. I thanked the Colonel and off I went back to Com. Center to send off messages.

The Com-Center was in a tent behind the Flight Ops shack, and consisted of two com-bays. Com-Bay consists of two Hamlin-Super-Pros all band receivers and a slot for a Remington typewriter. In addition, a hand Morse Code Key for transmitting messages, though most operators use the Vibroplex Key (called bug) for high-speed Morse Code transmissions. In addition, there were two 1 KW 19 BC- 610 Collins Transmitters and two teletype machines. As I entered the tent, I was greeted by the NCOIC in charge with a hearty, Hello, I’m Bill and you must be the one of the guys trying to fix the C-47’s, what can I do for you?

I would like to send a couple of messages to Guam and Okinawa to see if they had any props for a C-47.

We can do that, but the messages would go through the5th Air Force Net Control station in Nagoya Japan and then re-sent to Guam and Okinawa, since Iwo didn’t have direct communications with radio stations on those Islands. You might check back with be about noon time tomorrow

So the ball was rolling for the props, I hopped into the Jeep and headed back to the C47’s to see how the boys were doing.

I approached, where they were working, I was surprised to hear the roaring of aircraft engines. Seems that Frank and Jonesie had both engines running on Indian River One, even though rough. I walked up to where they were standing and said,

"Hey guys this is great, how long have they been running? and Frank replied,

Just now. There a little rough yet, but I am going to adjust the mixtures on the carbs, and things should be looking good.

I then asked how John was doing and Jonesie replied,

Don’t know,

I walked around to the cargo hatch and climbed aboard.

Hey John how are the radio’s working?

Just Great, I just talked to the Iwo Tower and informed them of our status and received the ground and in-flight frequencies for communications.

After hearing all the good news for once, I climbed into the Pilots seat and looked at the instrument panel to see what is working. To my surprise again, all the instruments that should work, when not flying, were working. With this information in hand, we were ready to try a check out flight around the Island when Frank said Engines okay.

The next item on the list was where to get fuel, since the gas tanks were almost empty. I asked John.

John get on the radio and ask the Tower where we could obtain some fuel.

John talked with the Tower and they informed him, they would have a gas truck available in a day or so, to fuel the aircraft.

Over the next few days, working on our various assignments and by the time all of this was completed; Frank and Jonesie had the engines purring like a big old cats. John had the radio gear working, so began the next leg of our adventure.

Chapter Four: The First Flight:

0900 February 15, 1946: Iwo Jima Flight Line:

We all arose early on this day, had chow, powered eggs, toast even some potatoes along with coffee and headed out to the planes. The gas truck arrived about 0930 hours, and I asked them to load on only half of the fuel capacity, about 3500 lbs. I didn’t want a heavy aircraft on our first flight; how we were to pay for the fuel remained to be seen. Everyone wanted to go on the first flight, so, we all piled aboard Indian River One ready to go on the next phase of our adventure.

I called the tower on 3.678 Mega Cycles and requested take off instructions. Since I had filed a flight plan earlier in the morning, they were all set for our call. The Tower instructed us,

Indian River One, proceed to the South end of the airstrip and stand-by for your clearance. There is a flight of P-51’s in bound and once they land you will be takeoff, Out.

Roger Tower.

We cranked up the engines and they started with a roar, first number one, left wing and then number two right wing. As we taxed over to the south end of the field, Jonesie and I check out the flaps, and yoke controls and all seemed okay. I observed on the instrument panel, the carbs temperature wasn’t reading and the Radio Compass wasn’t working. Nothing that would stop a checkout cruise around the Island. As we waited for clearance from the Tower for take-off, my thoughts drifted to my girlfriend back at Clark Field.

She was a Nurse at the Hospital and I had known Sarah since being assigned to Clark Field in April of 1945. Sarah was blond about 5ft.4 in. and had blue eyes and a sparking personality along with a great smile. I was madly in love with her and wanted to get married. Sarah on the other hand was very cautious about taking that step with some ex-AAF Combat Pilot. She had seen to many problems with former Combat Pilots, in her work at the Hospital, only time would tell.

Indian River One, you are cleared for takeoff, the wind is from the East North East at 3 knots with scattered cumulus clouds the Barometer is 29.31, you’re cleared to 4000 ft. and please advise on 7.210 mega cycles at that altitude, Out.

I ask John,

Did you hear that last Tower transmission?

Yes Jim I did.

It was important that John understood what was happening, since he had to change the transmitter frequency when we reach 4000 ft., so we could contact the Tower once we had taken off.

Jonesie and I pushed the throttles forward and the started rolling down the runway, away from Mt Suribachi. We rumbled along the very rough runway, the-47creaked and groaned like it going to fall apart. We were watching the engine RPM‘s for we needed 2700 RPM to liftoff. It was a short run, since we were so light, and once off the runway, all was very quiet except for the roar of the engines. I banked the plane to the starboard and we climb toward