The Saw-Whet Number 40788

By John Jones

I am at a loss on how to express this extraordinary story other than fantastic and bizarre. You tell me? This story like so many others is a World War Two Scenario that was saved, reported and like so many others did not just fade away. It begins on the Island of Oahu in Hawaii where a young boy John Murphy Jr. a.k.a. Little John whose love of airplanes and flying becomes lost on a solo flight early one morning. A miracle saves his young life as he finds and lands on a Japanese Aircraft Carrier and becomes a Ward of a Japanese Naval Officer. Unable to return to his Oahu home he is trapped and transported to Japan. There he is unofficially adopted by a wonderful Japanese family and raised on their beautiful Wagyu Beef Cattle Ranch. As you read this story you will become overwhelmed at the events that occur throughout Little John’s young life and the final surprising outcome.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 8, 2023
• ISBN: 9781669866251

John Jones

As a native of the world in one city, Liverpool, England, I write twisted tales of horror, crime and mystery, and sometimes I'll dabble in other genres. I have written over ninety short stories, two novels,  and appeared in various publications, including:  'Radio City ghosts, an anthology,'  'Cemetery moon'. Winner of the scare-a-horror-author contest at writerscafe.org Several for Atlantean publishing. Most of my work can be read free online on various websites including Booksie, ABC Tales, obooko. When I am not writing about strange creatures, time distortions or sheer bloody murder, I enjoy drawing and painting.   

Book preview

Copyright © 2023 by John Jones.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,

recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

NOTE: THIS BOOK CONTAINS ADULT LANGUAGE.

For information related to the Front Cover Photograph, see Foot Note 1.

Rev. date: 02/08/2023

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

849851

CONTENTS

Dedications

Preface

Chapter 1 Little John’s Background

Chapter 2 Cross Country Flight Plan

Chapter 3 Cross Country Flight Fails

Chapter 4 Little John’s Keeper

Chapter 5 Where is Little John

Chapter 6 The Japanese Air Raid on Pearl Harbor

Chapter 7 Little John’s New Japanese Home

Chapter 8 Senseless War Big Mistake

Chapter 9 The Unknown Japanese Civil War

Chapter 10 The Japanese Civil War Precedes

Chapter 11 Kamakura Great Buddha WOM Meeting

Chapter 12 The Battle of Midway Code:

Yellow Mi6442

Chapter 13 The Secret Midway Code WOM Mission

Chapter 14 The Doolittle Bombing Air Raid On Japan

Chapter 15 The Battle of Midway Island

Chapter 16 S.S. Nazi Gestapo Agents

Chapter 17 The War Continues to Escalate

Chapter 18 Wedding Plans

Chapter 19 Kawa and Little John’s Wedding

Takes Place

Chapter 20 Surprise Conclusion

Foot Notes

Glossary

About the Author

DEDICATIONS

To my Beloved Late Wife LaVerne (Susie) Jones whose love and understandings still inspires me to continue to write. Hon, I Love and miss you very much.

JOHN

SENTIMENTS

GOD, we are nothing without you.

PREFACE

I am at a loss on how to express this extraordinary story other than fantastic and bizarre. You tell me? This story like so many others is a World War Two Scenario that was saved, reported and like so many others did not just fade away. It begins on the Island of Oahu in Hawaii where a young boy John Murphy Jr. a.k.a. Little John whose love of airplanes and flying becomes lost on a solo flight early one morning. A miracle saves his young life as he finds and lands on a Japanese Aircraft Carrier and becomes a Ward of a Japanese Naval Officer. Unable to return to his Oahu, Hawaii home he is trapped and transported to Japan. There he is unofficially adopted by a wonderful Japanese family and raised on their beautiful Wagyu Beef Cattle Ranch. As you read this story you will become overwhelmed at the events that occur throughout Little John’s young life and the final surprising outcome.

CHAPTER 1

LITTLE JOHN’S BACKGROUND

This story begins on the Island of Oahu in Hawaii at the U.S. Hickam Field Army Air Force Base, Pearl Harbor. On December 05, 1941, Friday morning about 0600Hr John Murphy Jr. arrives at his after school job working for Lakes Aviation Flying School and Aircraft Maintenance Company (LAFS). Unable to sleep John is up early and has the day off from school due to a special school board teachers meeting. His boss and LAFS owner Mr. Lloyd Lake has not arrived yet to open the doors for business and John has become very impatient.

John Murphy Jr. also known as (a.k.a.), Little John is only 14 years old and very advanced for his age. Like his father John Murphy Sr., he is tall at 6 feet and very addicted to aircraft flying. Being an Army brat and like I said very advanced for his age he reads and studies any and everything related to airplanes and flying that he can get his hands on. Little John is a Flight School Student of Mr. Lakes and has already earned his approved Civil Aeronautical Administration (CAA) Solo Flight Certificate after only 9 hours of flying instructions plus the 120 hours of classroom studies required. He as expected aced the written CAA examination.

Lloyd Lake and his wife Marie are good friends of Little John’s family and he has told them on several occasions that Little John is his star student and if he continues to work hard and study as he does, he will easily become a first class Commercial Airline Pilot and will receive a position with any airline he chooses that the demand for pilots is very high. Little John’s dad told Lloyd that will happen as his son’s ambition at this time is to follow in his footsteps and become a United States Army Air Force (USAAF) pilot and later a commercial pilot. At this time Little John’s father is a USAAF Captain and pilot stationed at Hickam USAAF Base Oahu, Hawaii.

Little John was born in Newport News, Virginia United States of America (U.S.A.) on April 04, 1927. His father and mother as well as most of his related family are also from Newport News, Virginia. His father and mother both learned to fly airplanes years ago by taking private flying lessons at the old Marshall Smith flying school over on Marshall Avenue. Like most of the private citizens living in Newport News and surrounding Counties most of his relatives are employed by the Newport News Shipyard. Little John’s father after graduating from Newport News High School applied for and was accepted in to the Newport News Shipyard Apprentice School. After about a year of studies his father decided he was not interested enough in the shipbuilding trades and resigned from the Apprentice School to pursue his passion in aircraft flying. He also married his sweetheart Alice Hall who he met when they both took flying lessons and he later joined the U.S. Army. He applied right away for Officers Candidate School (OCS) and selected a Military Occupational Status (MOS) related to fixed wing aircraft training. As luck would have it the demand was high and processing his High School Diploma and having a CAA Private pilot’s License he easily qualified and was accepted in to the U.S. Army OCS. He completed OCS at Fort Lee in Richmond, Virginia and received a full commission as a Second Lieutenant and was assigned to the local USAAF Flight School at Langley Field, Virginia. After flight school Little John’s father was then stationed at Eglin USAAF Base in the Florida panhandle and trained to fly the new P-40 Warhawk Fighter Aircraft. Finally, after all this training he was then assigned to Hickam USAAF Base Oahu, Hawaii where his wife and Little John hope they can settle down and stay in one place for a change. Little John along with his parents live on base in Military Housing and are in walking distance of LAFS. Unable to produce any more children Little John’s parents are very protective of him and along with him being an Army Brat he is spoiled rotten. Little John aside from being a smart ass at times is polite and a great young man to be around and is well liked. All is well as they are all settled and happy as his father’s USAAF career continues to advance.

Little John’s boss Lloyd Lake is a nice easy going down to earth person. If it flies, he can usually speak to it that is for damn sure. He is a private civilian and a full certified CAA Contractor. He leases a large Aircraft Hangar, Repair Shop, and a small grass air strip from the U.S. Government. This LAFS complex is in a very isolated area on Hickam USAAF Base well separated from most Military Operations. The only contact LAFS has with the Military is the use of Radio Transmissions with the Control Tower for takeoff clearances and weather reports. LAFS does have a radio transmitter in his main office but it is only used for student training purposes. Sad to say but the small grass air strip only has a single required CAA wind direction sock and no runway lights of any kind. Let us face it landing on dirt in a crosswind when the grass and weeds need cutting is not the best thing to do, I can sure tell you that from experience. Lloyd Lake is well educated and a highly trained CAA Official when it comes to classroom or in the air flying. He is a no nonsense person and always stresses safety first. His CAA trades include airframe and engine maintenance. His classroom subjects include: Weather, Sectional Chart reading, Radio Transmitting, Compass reading and Compass Compensation just to name a few. Let us face it the man is a genius when it comes to civilian aviation. Another plus for Lloyd is he also leases a group of Tee Hangars adjacent to his large Hangar. These are rented based on a first come first serve list he keeps otherwise aircraft owners must use and rent the outside tie down spaces located next to the grass taxiway. These are not too bad as the Hawaii weather is always perfect.

So much for the Murphy and Lake families, we can speak more to them and this subject as this story continues.

CHAPTER 2

CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT PLAN

December 05, 1941. Friday Little John being an impatient individual is bored waiting for his boss Lloyd Lake to arrive decides to walk over to his parents leased Tee Hangar as they were early birds on Lloyd’s list and check out the family airplane (he has so named the SAW- WHET) a J5 Piper Cub Family Cruiser. Having his own private key, he unlocks the back door and walks inside. There she sits his pride and joy his brand new J5 1941 Piper Cub Family Cruiser. Being spoiled rotten he has a habit of calling everything his. This beautiful airplane he has named the Saw-Whet after a small bird, a small owl he befriended as a very young boy and nursed back to health years ago at Eglin USAAF Base in Florida. His dad was able to order and lucky to receive this airplane through Lloyd Lake’s brother a Piper Aircraft dealer located in San Diego, California before they left the states for Oahu, Hawaii. As far as Little John is concerned it is the only airplane in the World as he has already acquired quite a few flying hours in this his airplane. Most of these flying time hours are under the table instructions given by his dad. These hours of course are not officially recorded in his CAA Logbook and are only known as on the job training time kept separate and are under CAA rules legal.

Little John as he always does walks around his Saw-Whet to completely inspect it as he knows every square inch inside and out. He keeps his Saw-Whet cleaned spotless, and well waxed. His Saw-Whet is officially registered as a J5 Piper Cub Family Cruiser Manufactured Year 1940-1941 Aircraft Single Engine Fixed Wing Piper Company ID No 40788. As stated, Little John’s parents were lucky to purchase this airplane as the US Navy and Army Air Forces now have the Piper Aircraft Company under large US Government Contracts to build mostly Military Aircraft and aircraft spare parts for training and other uses. Private civilian aircraft are at a premium and are only produced and sold to special people and organizations that need to fly. Why is this happening? Something is in the wind are war storm clouds forming? Dear God Help Us? Little John’s dad ordered this airplane with additional extras that includes the larger 80 Horse power (HP) Continental 4 cylinder engine, heavy duty balloon tires a two way low level radio transmitter, 15 gallon fuel wing tanks and best of all the newly designed automatic electrical starter assembly. This of course eliminates manual propping the propeller to start the airplane. Little John’s parents let him select the color scheme and to get away from the usual reds and whites Little John selected a two tone gray and green color pattern.

Little John being spoil rotten and with his parent’s permission is allowed to use his Saw-Whet at his discretion weather permitting at any time. Little John is familiar with the CAA Regulations and realizes most violations could cost him his hard earned CAA Solo certificate. This certificate only allows him to fly solo or with persons that process a CAA Private Pilots rating or higher. No other passengers of any kind are allowed onboard for any reason. He must wait and earn his CAA Private Pilots Rating or higher before he can transport or fly passengers. He of course is dying to take some of his High School friends flying and show off especially his unknown girlfriend Mary Jane Rickenbacker. He laughs out loud as he thinks about Mary Jane as he has yet developed enough courage to even approach her. She is the prettiest girl in the freshman class and can have her pick of the litter. He knows he can win her over with his flying skill’s so he better get his little ass on the ball and earn that CAA Private Pilots Certificate in order to do so. Taking her flying currently is of course a CAA No! No!

December 05,1941. Friday it is now about 0830Hr and Little John’s boss and flight instructor Lloyd Lake still has not arrived for work, where is he? Little John walks back over to the office. There posted on the office door in plain sight is a sign that reads Closed Until 0800Hr Monday Out of Town on Business. Little John thinks to himself you are a dumb ass Lloyd told you this when you got off from work on Thursday evening. You have been hanging around here all morning waiting for nothing. Little John walks back to his parents Tee Hangar to lock up and go back home. As he does this it darns on him, he has all day to himself why not fly over to the Big Island Hawaii and record some more much needed solo flying time. He knows he needs at least 60 more solo hours plus 15 hours of cross country or more flying time towards his CAA Private Pilots Certificate. Hell, it is a beautiful day as usual. If He flies to East Kona International Airport on the Big Island its only 35 air miles one way from here, he can go and easily return back here before supper time.

Little John opens the Tee Hangar main door and looks up at the sky and sees the weather is perfect. A little cloudy but still clear enough for CAA Visual Flight Rules (VFR) to apply, no Instrument Landing System Rules (ILS) will be needed. Like he said let us get going, Thank You Dear Lord (TYDL). Still very excited to have a free day to himself he opens the door to his Saw -Whet and climbs on board and sits in the single up forward pilot’s seat.