Thursday, August 12, 2021

The Lost Air Crew

 I left off yesterday mentioning civilian suffering in a time of Japanese occupation during the war. This was the case for Ethel Mulvany, who was held prisoner when Singapore fell. A cookbook of recipes based on what starving prisoners ate was her legacy of the times.


Here we have relics of war, a compass and photographs taken by a Canadian pilot, Gordon Hercus, who had an unusual duty at the end of the war. 


Hercus was part of the air crew that brought the peace papers to a Japanese commander in Singapore on September 3rd, 1945 and who had refused to believe that Japan had lost.


I mentioned yesterday about Will Kyle, the Canadian co-pilot whose flight disappeared late in the war. Here are other five members of his flight, who had been on a supply drop run over Burma.


In 1990, the mystery of the lost flight began to be resolved. A hunter in Myanmar, the former Burma, came across the wreckage deep in the jungle. In 1996, this was brought to the attention of the Canadian government.

34 comments:

  1. That cookbook sounds interesting - do you have more info?
    My W at times had to eat fish-heads or stole milk as "food" - a young boy he was and milk was all he and his family had for the day.
    Now he´s a mentally and bodily healthy man. If sad due to the loss of his wife.

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  2. My parents got food stamps to get some food.

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  3. No creo que los prisioneros tuvieran una buena alimentación, ahí estaba esta buena mujer para hacer milagros con los ingredientes que le proporcionaban sus captores.

    Esperemos que tengamos un mundo en paz. La guerra no trae nada más que sufrimento. por todos lados.

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  4. No doubt the cookbook has proved to be a valuable historical document.

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  5. Interesting stories and exhibit. Take care, have a great day!

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  6. @Iris: people made do with very little as prisoners.

    @Gattina: such was the case.

    @Italiafinlandia: indeed.

    @Ventana: thank you.

    @David: definitely.

    @Eileen: thanks.

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  7. It amazes me how some people like Ethel make the best out of any situation.

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  8. I knew a bomber pilot who flew missions over Burma during the war.

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  9. I would love to see the recipes in Ethel's book. They were a very brave generation, making the most of their situation ✨

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  10. I am glad to hear that the plane was finally located.

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  11. You wonder how many more planes etc are still lost out there somewhere.

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  12. Many precious lives were lost in the wars.

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  13. ...this reminds me of cookbook from the Depression. Making something out of nothing.

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  14. @Marie: all too true.

    @Revrunner: it was hazardous.

    @Grace: very much so.

    @Gemel: it gave closure to their families.

    @Magiceye: indeed.

    @RedPat: many of them.

    @Nancy: definitely.

    @Tom: indeed. I am reading about the Dust Bowl at present.

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  15. there wasn't much left of the wreckage.

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  16. I'm trying to imagine finding an old war plane in a jungle.

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  17. I come across many Canadian Air Crew who died in WWII and are buried in local churchyards

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  18. Such sad endings of young lifes.

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  19. How amazing to have that (historical) cookbook. I would really like to have a close look at it :)

    All the best Jan

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  20. Quite the cookbook and amazing what people did for their country ~ Xo

    Living in the moment,

    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  21. Interesting post. I will research Ethel Mulvany---sounds interesting. Interesting about the lost aimmen and finding them so many years later
    MB

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  22. @Red: as you'll see tomorrow.

    @Sharon: I imagine accessibility would have been difficult to say the least.

    @Billy: many are buried across the world.

    @Marleen: unfortunately.

    @Jan: it's a wonder they survived.

    @Carol: thank you.

    @MB: very much so.

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  23. I heard of her! Amazing people in history.

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  24. Incredible lives and deaths of pow's.

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  25. William - I assume the families were finally informed of the whereabouts of the crew? No one wants to hear about the death of a loved one, but to live with no resolution must be worse!

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  26. Both stories harrowing in different ways, so many lives changed or cut short.

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  27. cook book, that does make me curious? ( ;

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