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259 • • • Chapter 23 Chapter 23 Four days after Wingate’s death in late March 1944, Gen. Hap Arnold sent a wire calling John Alison back to the Pentagon. Alison, still ensconced at Broadway, got word from Cochran over the radio. Virtually all radio traffic was sent in the clear now, to ensure against loss of time decoding as well as to prevent any misunderstandings in either sending or receiving a cipher. “John, you’ve got a message, and I think you’d better come back tonight and read it.” Alison looked around for a likely airplane to fly out. The L-5s and L-1s were too valuable to take out of service, and the fighters had all pulled out following the destruction of the RAF Spitfires and P-51s based at the remote jungle strip. The cargo ships and B-25s always unloaded quickly and departed without delay to avoid being caught on the ground by the occasional roving Japanese fighters. But at one end of the dirt strip sat an RAF Dakota with some damage to a wing caused by striking another Dakota while taxiing on the uneven narrow strip. It had been there a couple of days, partially hidden under a pile of brush. To Alison its presence was an invitation for the Japanese to bomb the airstrip again. He walked to the Dakota and carefully inspected the damage. About three feet of the leading edge of the right wing was bent and gashed near the wingtip, and the aileron on the trailing edge was also inexplicably 260 • • • Project 9 bent and crushed, although it appeared firmly attached to its hinges. Despite the external damage the main spar—a beam that runs the length of the wing and is the core of the wing’s structural integrity—appeared to be undamaged. It would fly, he reasoned. He ordered the brush removed and told the British flight sergeant, who had been awaiting parts to repair it, that he was going to fly it out. The sergeant objected. Alison reminded him that he was the commanding officer of the airstrip and mollified the worried enlisted man by stating that he would assume all responsibility for the aircraft. Capt. Charles Russhon, the ubiquitous photographer for the group, climbed aboard, and Alison told him that he had never flown a C-47 before.“It doesn’t make any difference. Let’s go.” Alison took off without incident, despite having only one aileron, and set a course to Hailakandi. He read a placard on the instrument panel detailing the procedure for raising the gear. Over Hailakandi he called the tower and asked for an experienced C-47 pilot. He then verified the procedure for lowering the gear. “You’re safe, come on in,” the cargo pilot assured him.1 Alison reported to Cochran, who handed him the wire from General Arnold ordering Alison stateside. As he was making preparations to leave, however, he received yet another cable, this time from the headquarters of the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower wanted Alison to report to him personally, without delay. Alison cabled Arnold requesting permission to report to Eisenhower before returning to Washington and received authorization for a twoday stopover in England. He left India on 1 April 1944 and reported to Eisenhower’s headquarters, where he was ushered into the Supreme Allied Commander’s office. The famous grin greeted him.Eisenhower stood and offered his hand. “Alison, I am glad you are here. The reason we wanted you, we are planning to cross the Channel, and we are going to use gliders.You have had a brand-new experience, and we would like to understand the problems that you encountered.” The five-star insisted on personally taking him to the office of Gen. Carl Spaatz and chatted amiably with the diminutive colonel while they strolled about a quarter-mile to Spaatz’s office. After talking with Spaatz, whom Alison had known while stationed at Langley Field, Virginia, before the war, Alison talked with Gen. Hoyt Vandenberg, the man who had been instrumental in recommending Cochran and Alison to lead the Air Commandos. Vandenberg was now in charge of tactical air support for the coming invasion. Among Alison ’s recommendations was the use of single tows for glider operations.2 After Alison arrived in Washington, he met with a very pleased General Arnold. News of the Air Commando operation had been quite 261 • • • Chapter 23 positive, and soon major articles and...

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