Jumping out of a plane without a parachute is not a good idea.
He jumped down with my camp bed ~ from the movie "Jane and the Lost City/Magic Palace Raiders"
In World War II, there were only 18 [Note 1] pilots, who miraculously survived falling from the sky without wearing parachutes, and they were dubbed "Gannet Club" members, named after a bird that jumped vertically into the water.
Note 1:
1 in the Soviet Union, 5 in the United Kingdom, 1 in New Zealand, 1 in Canada, and 9 in the United States, it is not known whether the Axis powers have similar cases.
Diving Gannet
On the hillside of Taradale Services Cemetery on New Zealand's North Island, there is an inconspicuous grave (J Zone 56) belonging to a New Zealand Hurricane fighter pilot, Lieutenant Charles Fergusson.
Second Lieutenant Charles Ferguson with wife Pat
Charles Douglas Fergusson was born on 14 May 1921 in Hastings, in the fertile coastal area of Hawkes Bay on New Zealand's North Island, famous for growing fruit and wine.
He was Francis the plumber. One of five children born to Ferguson and his wife Rose, the young Ferguson was educated locally and attended Hastings Boys' High School, where he excelled at swimming and rugby.
Ferguson dropped out of school at the age of 16 to work as carpet workers for two years, and in November 1940 he signed up for the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF).
After completing basic flight training in New Zealand, Ferguson traveled to Canada and trained as a pilot at The Musjou base in Saskatchewan in 1941. Later, Ferguson came to England and joined The 3rd Squadron, which was later transferred to the RAF's 607th Squadron.
While in England, he fell in love with Doris Ackerman, a pretty London girl whose friends liked to call her "Pat." She is a member of the British Army's Women's Auxiliary Unit (ATS).
Remember me~~~Although goodbye must be said ~~~
The couple married on 13 January 1942 at St Andrews Church in Stansted Abbots, Hertfordshire, when Ferguson was 20 and Pat was 19. Ferguson, who was burly and handsome, was 1.75 meters tall and called her the "blonde-haired and blue-eyed English rose," and Pat vowed their marriage would last forever.
Subsequently, Lieutenant Ferguson was sent to India with his unit, the 607th Squadron, against the Japanese. Ferguson wanted his wife, Pat, to make a promise that if he was killed in the operation, Pat would go to New Zealand so that parents could see their son's widow.
Ferguson piloted his hurricane and soon began fighting over Burma. On December 16, 1942, his combat report claimed to have damaged a Japanese bomber.
On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1942, four Hurricane fighters from the 607th Squadron, along with four Hurricane fighters from the 615th Squadron, attacked the Japanese airfield in Magway in Burma, and Lieutenant Ferguson disappeared during the operation and failed to return.
His companions believed that Ferguson had died in battle, and explained to his "widow", Pat, that Ferguson's fighter jet had been shot down by the Japanese and that he himself had not been able to escape from the fire.1
His companion was only half right, and Ferguson did not open his parachute, but he miraculously survived the crashed fighter.
His plane rushed forward at 300 miles per hour, falling beneath him and exploding, the blasting waves cushioning his speed of falling from the air, and then he was lucky enough to land in the shallow waters of the Irrawaddy River, which extinguished the flames on his body. This miraculous escape made him a member of the "Gannet Club".
Ferguson was captured by the Japanese and remained a prisoner of war until the end of World War II, when he returned as a survivor to his family, whom he thought was long dead.
For the next half-century, Ferguson was silent about his wartime ordeals, and he wanted to protect his family from the painful and terrible details.
During the last 10 years of Ferguson's life, he spoke with a close friend about the air battle on Christmas Eve 1942:
When he was being chased by Japanese fighters, his wingman warned, "Be careful, Jock, you have two Japanese fighters on your tail!" At this moment he was flying over a forest.
At this moment, tracer projectiles flew over his cockpit, and Ferguson immediately tried to flee the Japanese fighter in a vertical dive.
Due to the excessive angle of the dive, Ferguson fainted due to excessive G-force when pulling up the joystick.
When he woke up, he saw and smelled a crashing hurricane in front of him and thought, "Some poor Japanese devil has shot it down." (Note 2) He stood in a shallow river, feeling a huge pain in his shoulders, very dazed.
Note 2:
On 24 December, two Falcon fighters of the 50th Flying Squadron attacked Second Lieutenant Ferguson, with Lieutenant Shigeru Nakazaki attacking first, followed by The Army Ace Chiki Cobia, whose fire set the Hurricane on fire.
His parachute was not on his body, presumably a burning hurricane that threw him out of his fuselage. The parachute was torn off of his body at that time, which was why he felt severe pain in his shoulders.
Two Japanese soldiers with rifles loaded with bayonets rushed across the creek toward him. Ferguson tried to pull out his pistol, but his hand was badly burned, and he gave up resisting.
He was severely beaten and interrogated by the Japanese army, the Japanese interrogators asked him the number of the unit, he refused to answer, and then he was severely beaten, he was almost beheaded by the Japanese army, but a car drove up and a Japanese officer stopped the incident.
Subsequently, a Japanese military doctor treated his burns, and then the Japanese police interrogated him repeatedly as a spy, because the Japanese did not believe that a person could survive the crash without a parachute.
Yangon prison for Allied prisoners of war
In general, the Japanese treated prisoners of war more inhumanely than any other participating country: prisoners were tortured, beaten, and starved. Thousands of people died of disease and malnutrition, and many prisoners of war were beheaded or hanged.
Interior view of Yangon Prison
Ferguson told his friend: "One day the Canadian pilot went missing — and soon after, we heard a gunshot. That night, there was a strong smell of cooking coming from the kitchen. We can smell meat when there is little meat. "The prisoners of war realized that the Japanese had murdered the Canadian pilot and ate his flesh.
The Allies gradually gained the upper hand in the Far East, eventually sweeping Burma, and on May 5, 1945, Ferguson was released from a Japanese prison in Rangoon.
During his captivity, Ferguson developed beriberi, scabies, ulcers, and dysentery. He weighed 80 kilograms when his hurricane crashed, and when he was released from prison, he weighed only 35 kilograms.
His wife, Pat, was already engaged to an American pilot by this time, but considering that Ferguson might survive and become a prisoner of war, they agreed that they would not marry until the end of the war.
Pat dissolved his engagement with the American pilot and returned to Ferguson.
In August 1946, Ferguson retired from the Royal New Zealand Air Force with the rank of lieutenant and used the money he had saved in the North Island
Near Tokoroa, 150 acres of land were purchased and a dairy farm was opened.
They raised 4 children. Ferguson has consistently refused to buy any Japanese-made goods.
Ferguson died on December 12, 2004, at the age of 83, buried with his wife, Pat.
~(End)~
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