Wings of Duty — Page 17
17 also came to Mingaladon and from there he took a special transport plane to Singapore, where the highest-ranking Japanese commander in South Asia also surrendered arms. Finally, a representative of the Japanese government surrendered to General MacArthur at a ceremony on the American aircraft carrier USS Missouri on 2 September 1945. With that the Second World War came to an end. Though the war had ended, there were Japanese units still hidden in the dense jungles of Burma who refused to surrender, either because they were unaware that the war was over or for reasons known only to them. For weeks our squadron supported the ground forces that fought against them. This operation was concluded at the end of October 1945. According to official records, I flew the last operational mission on this front. During our stay in Mingaladon, I was involved in a major accident. On 28 September 1945, the engine of my Spitfire failed during a flight and I had to make a crash belly landing onto a water-soaked paddy field 40 miles south of Rangoon in rainy conditions. By the sheer grace of Allah I was unhurt, but my plane was completely destroyed. It is strange that though two-thirds of Burma is covered by thick jungle, the