The Long Way Home (Revised Ed)

by Ed Dover

  “Sure. Jack Poindexter will probably put him to work at the radio desk. He’s been trying to get some relief ever since we had to shanghai him for the flight out of San Pedro!”

  When Leach came aboard, Jack Poindexter greeted him like some long-lost brother. “Gene, glad to have you aboard!”

  Leach shook Jack’s hand and grinned. “Hey, glad to be on board. Noumea is okay, I guess, but I’m sure looking forward to a change of scenery for a while.”

  “If you like,” Poindexter offered, “we can put you to work on our equipment while you’re on board. How would you like to take the second watch after takeoff?”

  “That’d be great. Is the gear still the same stuff we trained on at Treasure Island?”

  “Hey, it’s better,” Poindexter assured him. “We’ve got new superhets installed since you came down here. And the new A-N homer feature is really slick. I’ll give you a rundown on it when we’re airborne.”

  Following a routine pre-flight inspection and start-up, NC18602 was airborne again; this time climbing out on the south-southeasterly heading to Auckland. When they reached cruising altitude, Poindexter demonstrated the new equipment for Leach.

  “Look here, we just tune in any regular broadcast station,” he explained, “get it identified and then switch to the A-N homer function. Then rotate the DF loop until the A and N signals blend into one continuous tone. That’s the relative bearing to the station. Add in the plane’s magnetic heading and you’ve got a good magnetic bearing to the station. Go ahead, try it.”

  Leach switched one of the receivers to the local broadcast band. Almost immediately he picked up the French-language station at Noumea. Interspersed with music were a number of announcements in French, most of which were beyond Leach’s rudimentary knowledge of the language to interpret. When he switched on the A-N homer circuit, the high-pitched tone of the signals over-rode the broadcast sound. He experimented with the DF loop. He located the ‘on course’ bearing and found it to be extremely accurate.

  “Jeez, that’s sharp!” he exclaimed. “A guy could thread a needle with that kind of course guidance.”

  “That’s the general idea. Why don’t you just play with it for a while. Just be sure to keep the other receiver on our flight watch channel. Brown will give you the position reports to transmit.” Poindexter nodded toward Rod Brown who was intently marking course and progress information on the navigation chart. “I’ll be down in the galley if you need me.”

  For some time Leach experimented with the new equipment. He tuned in several stations, most of which were too weak to give accurate bearings. After a while he left the receiver tuned to the Noumea station and watched the tail bearing change as the aircraft’s position changed. Soon, even the Noumea signal weakened. Finally, after about two hours of flight, it, too, was lost in the general static and noise of the broadcast band. He settled into the routine of guarding the operations frequency and sending the half-hourly position reports to the ground station. When they were about to pass ETP he decided to try the homing device again.

  Hmm, he thought to himself, maybe we can pick up the Auckland broadcast now and try that homer gadget again. Once again, he slowly tuned across the AM broadcast band until he located an English-speaking station. Once again he switched on the A-N homer and watched as the bearing settled down to a narrowly defined course. Some two hours out of Auckland, Leach finally tired of experimenting with the new equipment and switched off the A-N homer circuit. As he did so, the voice of the Auckland announcer came in loud and clear.

  “...no confirmation from the American Consulate in Auckland at this time, but it appears that Japanese naval forces have launched a surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. Unconfirmed reports indicate that at least two waves of bombers have destroyed or disabled a great number of naval vessels and have also attacked and severely damaged Army Air Force installations at Hickam Field and Schofield Barracks. We are attempting to obtain details from the American Consulate, but all communications are subject to priority delays. Please stand by and we will bring you the latest developments as they become available. Once again, repeating our initial report...”

  “Jesus H. Christ!” Leach swore aloud. “That does it!”

  “Gene, what’s up?” Rod Brown asked as he heard Leach’s exclamation.

  “The Japs have attacked Pearl Harbor!” Leach blurted and stared at Brown with a slack expression, as if he could hardly believe what he had just heard.

  “Hey, you’ve go to be kidding, right?” Brown chided him.

  “No! No!” Leach insisted, “Just now... they bombed Pearl Harbor! No joke, man!”

  Brown studied Leach’s distressed expression. There was no doubting the urgency in his eyes. “You’re sure about that?”

  “Yeah... better tell Ford. We could be in a hellluva situation if they’re invading Hawaii!”

  The prospect of having their return flight to Hawaii intercepted by Japanese forces sent shivers up and down Brown’s spine. Quickly he turned toward the cockpit and approached Bob Ford who was in the left seat.

  “Skipper, I think we’ve got some bad news...” Brown was almost reluctant to say it.

  Ford glanced toward his Second Officer. “Yeah, Rod, what is it?”

  Brown took a deep breath. “Eugene Leach has intercepted a news report. The Japs have attacked Pearl Harbor!”

  Ford turned slowly in his seat and looked at Brown. “You’re sure about that? Better confirm it.”

  “Leach is still in contact with Noumea. Maybe he can get some more information.”

  Ford turned further and called to Eugene Leach across the flight deck to the radio desk. “Gene, get them to confirm that.”

  Suddenly Leach’s headphones came alive with a call from FJPM, the Noumea ground station. The signal indicated that they had an urgent message for the ship. Leach transmitted the okay to go ahead and FJPM started pounding out the message in Morse Code:

  PEARL HARBOR ATTACKED BY JAPANESE BOMBERS.IMPLEMENT PLAN A.

  Leach transmitted a request for FJPM to repeat the message. As soon as the Noumea station repeated the message, Leach wrote it on a message pad and handed it to Ford.

  Bob Ford, having lived with the possibility of this moment from the time they left San Francisco, knew instinctively what he had to do. Well, he thought to himself, now we’ll find out what’s in this envelope. He reached into the inside breast pocket of his uniform jacket and pulled out the legal-size envelope.

  “Plan A – Top Secret – For Captain’s Eyes Only”

  He stared at the familiar letters for a moment. Then, slowly and carefully, tore open one end of the envelope and withdrew the document. There were three typewritten pages and a sheet of approach patterns.

  Pan American Airways System

  Pacific Division

  Office of Division Manager

  TOP SECRET TOP SECRET TOP SECRET

  To: Captain, PAA Flight 6039 – SFO-LAX-HNL-CIS-SUV-NOU-AUK

  And return flight 6040.

  From: Division Manager, Pacific Division

  Subject: Special instructions to avoid hostile military activity.

  I. Background

  Pan American Airways, in cooperation with the Chief of Staff, United States Army, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet Operations, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of State, has agreed to place its fleet of flying boats at the disposal of the military for whatever logistical or tactical purpose they may deem necessary at such time as hostilities break out between the United States forces and the military forces of the Imperial Japanese government.

  In the event that you are required to open and read these instructions, you may assume that hostilities have already occurred and that the aircraft under your command represents a strategic military resource which must be protected and secured from falling into enemy hands.

  Your operational scenario will be determined by the status of your flight at the time it becomes
necessary to implement these instructions. Since it is not possible to foresee the exact time or place that hostilities will occur, the following alternatives have been developed for your flight route. Select the paragraph that most closely represents your en route status at such time as you are prepared to execute these instructions.

  II. Action

  If aircraft is moored at any en route station, cancel scheduled departure flight plan and consult with Pan American operations for further instructions. All ground station mangers have been provided with special instructions for securing aircraft and expediting diversionary operations.

  1. En route LAX-HNL: Prior to ETP: Reverse course and divert to SFO. If past ETP, contact KVM to determine status of destination terminal. If possible, continue and land at HNL. If HNL is not open for arrival, divert to Hilo and await further instructions.

  2. En Route HNL-CIS: Contact KVM or KCCG for instructions. Aircraft will either return to HNL or proceed to CIS and await further instructions.

  3. En route CIS-SUV: Contact KCCG for instructions. Aircraft will either return to CIS or proceed to SUV and await further orders.

  4. En route SUV-NOU: Contact Suva Radio or FJPM at Noumea. Aircraft will either return to Suva or proceed to NOU and await further orders.

  5. En route NOU-AUK: Contact FJPM or Auckland Radio. Aircraft will either return to NOU or proceed to AUK and await further orders.

  For the return portion of this flight, follow the above instructions in reverse order. In all cases, ONCE DIVERSION HAS BEEN EXECUTED, SHUT DOWN ALL RADIOS AND MAINTAIN STRICT RADIO SILENCE. AUTHENTICATION FLIGHT PATTERNS FOR NO-RADIO APPROACH AND LANDING AT EACH DIVERSION DESTINATION ARE LISTED IN THE APPENDIX TO THIS ORDER. ALL LINE STATION MANAGERS HAVE BEEN PROVIDED WITH DUPLICATE COPIES OF THESE PATTERNS AND WILL EXPECT YOU TO PROCEED IN ACCORDANCE THEREWITH. STRICT ADHERENCE TO AUTHENTICATION FLIGHT PATTERNS IS ESSENTIAL. ANY DEVIATION COULD RESULT IN AIRBORNE CHALLENGES BY MILITARY AIRCRAFT.

  IMPORTANT: ONCE THESE INSTRUCTIONS HAVE BEEN EXECUTED, ALL OPERATIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING DISPOSITION AND PROGRESS OF YOUR FLIGHT SHALL BE CONSIDERED TOP SECRET. CREW MEMBERS SHALL BE INSTRUCTED TO SPEAK TO NO ONE REPEAT NO ONE OTHER THAN AUTHORIZED AND PROPERLY IDENTIFIED COMPANY OR MILITARY PERSONNEL WITH REGARD TO ACTIONS TAKEN OR PLANNED FOR THE FLIGHT. ANY BREACH OF THESE SECURITY MEASURES SHALL BE CONSIDERED A BREACH OF WARTIME SECURITY AND ANY PERSONNEL CREATING SUCH A BREACH OF SECURITY SHALL BE PROSECUTED UNDER THE WARTIME REGULATIONS CONCERNED WITH NATIONAL SECURITY MEASURES.

  Ford stared at the document for a long moment, trying to digest the reality of the situation. Even though the possibility of war with Japan had been building in public awareness through newspaper and radio news reports that people heard every day, still, there seemed to be an air of unreality about it now that the moment had actually arrived. But Bob Ford was not one to ruminate too long on such things. His was a world of action and now he took the action required of him.

  “Johnny, where’s Steers?”

  “He’s on his break. Probably below having some lunch.”

  “Call down to the galley and have him come up here right away. Meanwhile, Gene, shut down that radio now! We’re only a couple of hours out of Auckland and my guess is we’ll be told to land there anyway. So we’ll just do it. No telling if the Japs have any forces this far south, but if they do they could home in on our signals with no trouble at all. No point leading them in with us.”

  Then Ford reached into his flight case and brought out his personal .38 caliber revolver he habitually carried on all his flights. He strapped the holster around his waist and resumed his seat in the cockpit.

  When Steers came up from the main cabin he had a puzzled expression on his face. “What’s up? Barney said you wanted me up here right away. Anything wrong?”

  “Only that the Japs have bombed Pearl Harbor!” Eugene Leach informed him.

  “Holy shit! You’re not kidding?”

  “Nope. Just got the message from Noumea a few minutes ago.”

  Ford turned and called to Steers. “John, take up an observation post in the navigator’s dome. Keep a sharp watch. If you so much as spot anything that doesn’t look like a natural bird, holler. We don’t know what the hell is out there right now.”

  “Yes, Sir!” Steers nodded and hastened to the rear of the flight deck where he passed through the hatchway to the cargo area and perched on the topmost rung of the navigator’s ladder. Beyond the broad spread of the wings and the fuselage, all that was visible were scattered, puffy cumulus and a few wisps of higher cirrus clouds. The ocean below appeared deep blue and relatively calm from this altitude. Steers began a regular sweep of the horizon, not quite sure what he was looking for and wondering what Japanese warplanes would look like if any began to close in on the Boeing.

  Ford then called Rod Brown forward from his navigator’s table. “Rod, I’m not sure what we might have here in the way of a threat, but there’s no sense in taking chances. Our direct route would be a logical search pattern for any enemy aircraft that might be in this area. Figure us a diversion – about fifty miles off course ought to do – and plot us a couple of headings for it.”

  “Okay, right away!” Brown returned to the chart table. In a couple of minutes he had a new heading which he posted on the instrument panel.

  The remainder of the flight was conducted in almost total silence; each crew member pre-occupied with his own thoughts about the sudden turn of events. How would they get back to San Francisco? What were the chances of falling into Japanese hands? Was there any chance that the Japanese were attacking the Mainland U.S. as well? These and a hundred other unanswerable questions raced through their minds as they brought the big Boeing into Auckland Harbor.

  Ford conferred with Johnny Mack as they studied the visual approach pattern spelled out on the last page of the Plan A document. A rather circuitous route was drawn over an outline of the harbor, with specific headings and altitudes. They would be required to head away from North Island for a pre-determined time, execute a formal procedure turn, make two other identifying turns approaching the coastline, and then take up a narrowly defined heading toward the landing channel in the harbor. There had to be no errors in executing this approach pattern. The New Zealand government was most likely on full alert by now. It was also most likely that fighter aircraft were already patrolling the perimeter of the island dominion to ward off any possible hostile intrusion. Ford and Mack studied the pattern intently and within a few minutes each knew exactly what he had to do. Ninety minutes after receiving news of the attack, NC18602 wheeled in toward the North Island coast, executed the designated flight patterns and landed without incident.

  Upon coming ashore, Ford was greeted by Bill Mullahey, the Pan American station manager. “Boy, are we glad to see you!” Mullahey exclaimed as he shook Bob Ford’s hand. “We’ve been trying to contact you by radio for the past two hours. Didn’t know if you’d been shot down somewhere, or had turned back to Noumea, or what...”

  “When we got that message from Noumea and after opening the Plan A letter, I decided to shut down the radios right then. I figured there was nowhere else to go except to come in. So, what do we do now?”

  “Our instructions are to wait for orders from the Company. There’s only one hitch to that, though,” Mullahey began to explain.

  “Yeah? What’s that?”

  “All point-to-point communications have been put on a restricted schedule. The only messages getting in or out have to go through the coding office at the American Consulate. Right now they’re so swamped we don’t know how soon they’ll be able to get our messages processed. It could be several hours; it could be several days.”

  “What are we supposed to do in the meantime? Just sit around and twiddle our thumbs?” Ford remonstrated.

  “Looks that way, Bob.” Mullahey shrugged. “Our orders are not to make a move until we hear from New York headquarters. The best I can suggest is that you haunt the American Consulate office until they co
me up with something for us. But it could be a long wait.”

  When the crew had been bussed to the Grand Hotel in Auckland and checked in, Ford went immediately to the American Consulate. The message center was a scene of hectic and confused activity as couriers and clerks attempted to keep up with the rapid flow of news and messages. Everything was in diplomatic code and had to be decoded before proper delivery could be made to the addressees. He could do nothing but wait for the harried code clerks to uncover the message he was waiting for.

  NC18602 in the harbor at Auckland, NZ

  CHAPTER VI

  WESTWARD HO!

  One week after landing at Auckland, Bob Ford and his crew were still waiting for instructions from Company headquarters. They had fallen into a daily routine of sleeping, eating, and strolling the streets of the city while Ford haunted the American Consulate message center for any word regarding their next move. The heavy flow of radio messages coming into the Consulate’s communications office kept piling up as the code clerks went through the laboriously slow task of decoding and delivering them.

  This particular morning, December 14th, Ford had arrived, as usual, at the Consulate office just after breakfast. He was standing in front of a large bulletin board, reading some of the latest news dispatches that had been cleared for public consumption. Nowhere in this display of war news did there seem to be any encouraging word: Manila and Wake Island were under attack; Midway and Guam had been badly mauled and barely hanging on; and Canton Island – the key refueling point for their return flight – had been evacuated. It seemed as though they were caught in an ever-tightening noose. What possible course of action could they take to get the Clipper home safely? Ford reviewed a dozen possibilities in his mind. But he knew he could not execute any of them without confirmation from the Company. Would their plans agree with his own ideas? Would they even have a plan that was feasible? From 10,000 miles away in New York City, how could they know the best course of action? And, damnit, what was taking them so long in getting the orders delivered? Ordinarily, Bob Ford was a very patient, methodical professional; but these last few days of waiting had pushed him very close to the limits of his patience.