Escape from Siam

Escape with the OSS

by Harry V. "Smithy" Smith

A plan had been hastily devised to smuggle the OSS agents out of the country. The OSS agents were being spirited away to keep their presence secret from the Japanese. They also wanted me as Captain of the aircraft out of the reach of the Japanese.

“Leaving Siam”: F/O Smith (second from left with head bandage) F/S Copley (fourth from left, in front)

There was room for one more British airman and Curly Copley was chosen because of his long service overseas. The rest of the crew would be safe in a Thai internment camp.

With the skipper gone and the Navigator and Bomb-aimer both dead, the AG’s, WOP’s and Dispatchers would tell the Japanese interrogators that all they knew about their mission were routine duties. The idea was that with five graves at the crash site and with four interned crewmembers, the Japanese could be persuaded to believe that the complete nine-man crew had been accounted for. I woke Timber Woods and told him of the plan and instructed him to tell the Japs that the Lib had been on a meteorological flight. The OSS officers would keep tabs on them and get them out as soon as possible.

The five of us were taken by auto to the OSS headquarters located in the palace of the Regent of Siam. The Regents’ elegant dining room table served as an operating table for the two Thai doctors who worked for hours repairing our injuries. One had received his training in England and the other in New York. We were obviously in very good hands however there was not much in the way of first aid or medical equipment. The laceration in my scalp was stitched together using a curved shoemakers needle and a pair of electrical lineman’ pliers. A car battery tester was used to flush out the wound. I found out quickly just how tough the scalp really is and I remember wishing I had one of the cigarettes the Chinese lady had made.

Major Gildee was a huge man more than six feet tall and over 250 pounds. It took the combined strength of four of us to set his broken collarbone. However during the night his arm came loose from our makeshift bandage and the break needed to be reset. The decision was then made to risk a trip to a hospital and have plaster casts put on Gildee’s and Mac’s fractures. Gildee related later how a Jap patrol had come while they had left the car and before reaching the hospital doors. He said he was so scared that he hid behind a tiny nurse. We had a chuckle at that image.

The food at the palace was remarkable. It was prepared at a five star hotel about four miles away and brought on foot by servants using shoulder yokes. We even had ice cream once! After a few days the Regent, whose code name was “Ruth”, announced that he had arranged a few days of R & R for everyone. A few months back an OSS agent stationed in Bangkok for several months had gone off his rocker and there were tremendous difficulties getting him out of the country.

Regent's R&R

After some half dozen rendezvous with Catalina flying boats and submarines in the Bay of Siam, he was finally evacuated to India. The Regent didn’t want a repeat of this harrowing incident. He believed that the reason for the agent’s difficulty was the confinement and stress of the job and the lack of female companionship. He was probably right but his idea of R & R was incredible. He had apparently bought a house and stocked it with food, wine and of course female companions. He also cordoned off the area with soldiers for a mile on all four sides. However Greenlee and Palmer considered the plan too dangerous. Anyway, it was clearly “above and beyond the call of duty.”

The Regent’s last plea was “but Dick, even I can’t afford these women”. The matter was resolved as some Chinese had moved in across the street and began spying on the palace. The poverty in the country made it easy to find people willing to spy. A speedboat was kept moored by the rivers edge at the back of the property and some vehicles were kept inside the palace grounds in case a hurried escape became necessary. There was also a company of soldiers next door. Anyway, the decision was made to move out and we began another leg of the journey to freedom.

At midnight of the next day we piled into a battered old bus and headed out. An Australian who had escaped from a prisoner of war camp on the Jap railway came with us. He was just skin and bones and crouched in a corner all the time without ever speaking. The plan was to proceed to a rendezvous about 150 miles north of Bangkok. We hadn’t traveled very far however when trouble started. Half way up a hill in heart of the city the bus began backfiring. There was a curfew in force and it wasn’t very long before a Jap patrol arrived. The clicking of breach blocks inside the bus announced that we all intended to fight if necessary. The straw curtains on the windows were held closed while the driver explained to the patrol that he was transporting prisoners to jail. All the time he kept the starter engaged and the bus slowly crested the hill and coasted down the other side. We turned into an old racetrack and hid in the abandoned horse stalls.

Luckily the Japs had decided to let us pass. Our Thai police driver and escort showed incredible ingenuity, courage and control in saving the situation. A runner was sent back and soon two British-type cars arrived to take us back to the Palace. There was no problem fitting our bulk into these small cars.

Take Off

The next night we left Bangkok with a tow truck and a spare bus following along and travelled several hours north to a small airfield in the village of Ban-Pe. Lt. Moore, Major Gildee and I were passengers in an antique Fairchild piloted by no less than the head of the entire Thai air force.

The mag drop on run up was a whopping 400 RPM but we took off anyway. There was a tense moment in route until we crested a hill along the flight path. Curly was in a Taylorcraft that became lost and had to make an emergency landing but another plane arrived to take him to the rendezvous site. A small twin engine Beechcraft-11A twin-engine aircraft carried rest of the group. We were all relieved when we landed and were back together.

On June 14th a DC-3 from 357 Squadron piloted by F/L Lewis arrived to fly us back to India. A replacement OSS group was on board as well as a few cases of American beer in cans and cigarettes. This was my first taste of the famous Budweiser beer and I order it today just to relish the memory of that first taste.

The DC-3 had suffered a tear in the fabric of one elevator during the landing in the rough field and there was a moment of panic until a piece of cloth and some glue were produced. The beer and smokes were heaven sent and our spirits rose. Within the hour we were airborne and headed for home. A refuelling stop was made at Rangoon, which had just been captured, from the Japanese. Seven hours later we landed at the Alipore airport in Calcutta. It was difficult to believe that the entire episode had taken only three weeks.

Escape from Siam RAF 358 Squadron, Burma 1945

More Siam 1945

RAF Memoirs of SE Asia: 358 Squadron Special Ops and P.O.W by William A. Pugh

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© Copyright 2002 by Harry Smith
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