Thanks for posting the link Alex. I will put this up on our recent thread on the subject of 'Blackpool' and all the other Chindit strongholds and landing strips. Here: http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/55252-chindit-2-general-maps-including-strongholds-and-landing-grounds/?hl=broadway#entry644767
Yes, an interesting site, Alex, and many thanks for pointing it out. Forgive me, though, for the negativity which will follow. It does not reflect upon you in any way! That website is tinged with hype, so I caution readers against taking everything at face value. For example, on the home page is this statement about the 27th Troop Carrier Squadron's legacy: "No USAAF unit gave more of itself to preserve freedom forever and a day." Rah, rah, rah, and let's wave the American flag a bit more fiercely, with swelled chests and biceps of steel! I can say that...I'm a bloody Yank. Of course the 27th consisted of great men who did great things, and I'm certainly humbled by such deeds, but I can't take the bull without a resulting rising of bile... I think there are a few other US units who would claim THEIR legacy was greater, in defense of freedom. Now, if you work your way to the index page, you'll see that "Broadway" is one of the tabs. Go there, and you'll see this caption, to accompany a photo THAT IS NOT BROADWAY: "Broadway" Air Strip carved out of the jungles of Burma enemy lines by airborne invasion - "Operation Thursday." Give me a break...Carved out of the jungles? It was a wide open area surrounded by jungle. That's why it was chosen as a landing ground -- because it was a pre-existing clearing! The carving out of the jungle, if it was done, was probably accomplished years, or decades, or centuries earlier, as trees were felled, and removed, and the land cultivated or otherwise used! Of course, Broadway was worked-over as soon as possible to create improved landing strips in two locations. But there was no carving out of the jungle. Again, this photo is NOT of the Broadway landing ground. This can be confirmed by comparing with the 1944 air photos of Broadway I posted to the forum recently. A version of the same photo shown on the 27th TCS site is similarly misidentified as Broadway in - (gasp!!) - "WINGS OF THE PHOENIX, The Official Story of the Air War in Burma" by His Majesty's Stationery Office in 1949. So the King's official historians got it wrong. This is a good lesson, actually: Just because we see a factoid in print doesn't mean it's necessarily correct, even if it's an official source! Most likely this non-Broadway photo, which clearly shows gliders on the ground, is of one of the other Operation Thursday strips, but the identification error has been repeated, and repeated, and repeated. I've seen the same propagation-of-error syndrome rear it's ugly head on historical forums...because we tend to believe that legitimate researchers get it right every time. They haven't. Again, Alex, thanks for posting! There is much worthwhile material in that site...but I will take it all with a grain of salt.
Yes, a great deal of this type of post is spoiled by jingoism and erro. But there is still always valuable information to be gleaned in passing. Alex
