Camouflaging Sound from the Air

Heroes Remember

Camouflaging Sound from the Air

Transcript

North of us, crossing the Ayeyarwady River was going to be the crossing by the army. And they were going to build tank carriers, for the tanks, out of teak. And they wanted something to go up at night, to make a lot of noise to try and camouflage the noise they were making building these carriers. So they asked for a Harvard and I was detailed to go up because I was the Harvard pilot, I was the Harvard instructor. And there is a story about this at the back. I had it published in one of our little magazines. Anyway, we didn't normally fly at night and I didn't do an air test on this aircraft, which I should have done. We always air tested, when I was instructing we always air tested the aircraft, to see that the instruments were working and so on. So away we went and there happen to be a public relations officer, RCF public relations officer up with us and he wanted to go along for the ride. So I said okay. And I decided that, I thought it would be a good idea, when you drop bottles from the air they make quite a whistling noise. So I asked one of the guys to get me a whole box full of bottles, of which we had enough of them and bring it down to the aircraft at night. And so we went to get in the aircraft, the guy said, this PR type said, "What's all the bottles for?" And I said, "You'll find out, they're going on your lap." So he got in and I said to him, "Now, when I kick the rudder, you throw a bottle out the other side. Okay?" He says, "Okay." So away we go Well, I should have done an air test, the panel lights weren't working for one thing, and we didn't have any communication between him and me, and him in the back seat. So I was scared, I hadn't looked at the bottles to see whether they pulled the corks out of them or if there were corks in them. Anyway that's, I managed to get that across to him and that's what we did. We just, they also had guns on the other side of the river and they kept popping off at where these fellows were on this side of the river and then they'd would move the guns, they'd shoot some and then they'd move the guns because they would zero in on them. We did that for I think it was for a couple of hours, up and down that river.

Description

Mr. Sproule recalls being detailed to provide camouflage for the Army who was crossing a river - driving back Japanese from Burma.

Frederick Howard Sproule

Mr. Sproule was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, on September 22, 1918. He first served as a cadet with the Seaforth Highlanders before joining the regular service. He switched to the air force as soon as he was able, first being accepted as a gunner, and then into pilot training. After serving as a flight instructor on Harvards, Mr Sproule was shipped to Great Britain where he trained on a Hurricane. Eventually, he piloted a Typhoon as a bomber in the Burma Campaign, helping to drive back the Japanese. His tour finished as the Japanese were completely driven out of Burma.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 03:06
Person Interviewed:: Frederick Howard Sproule
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Burma
Battle/Campaign:: Burma
Branch:: Air Force
Units/Ship:: 42 Squadron
Rank:: Supernumerary Flight Lieutenant
Occupation:: Pilot

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Camouflaging Sound from the Air

Heroes Remember