Bombing Raid On Bangkok ...

[Flashermac]

USAAF raid in December 1944 ...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn4LgI0VqhE

[limbo]

American bombs? Jim Thompson house got damaged and some burns can still be seen there, if I remember correctly.

[Flashermac]

Jim Thompson didn't come to Thailand until shortly after Japan surrendered. He built his home later from 3 or so old houses. Maybe one of them had been damaged? Never heard that though.

 

p.s. Both the RAF and the USAAF bombed Thailand, hitting targets of military use. The Allies agreed to spare Hua Lamphong, since the Free Thai underground was helping them, though the railyard was plastered and area around it (mostly wooden houses) were almost all burned. The Makasan and Bang Sue yards were major targets, and the station on the Thonburi side was obliterated. The Seri Thai were making regular weather reports to India to help the bombers on their missions. They guided them to Don Muang, where they were only supposed to strike the Japanese warplanes. But the pilots got a bit gung ho and destroyed the RTAF planes as well. Also, they were supposed to leave one of the city's 3 power plants intact. Instead, the bombers destroyed all three - leaving the city without power or water. The Seri Thai weren't too happy about that.

 

http://en.wikipedia....in_World_War_II

[StoneSoup]

From the film, it looks like the bombers were pretty good about just targeting the river bridges and approaches - they look like railway bridges to me - but maybe roadway bridges also. But - all the strikes look like they were consistently 50 to 100 meters too far to the left.

[Flashermac]

[Flashermac]

From the film, it looks like the bombers were pretty good about just targeting the river bridges and approaches - they look like railway bridges to me - but maybe roadway bridges also. But - all the strikes look like they were consistently 50 to 100 meters too far to the left.

 

You'd figure the bombardier would have tried to compensate that after the earlier drops.

[YimSiam]

Little did the USAF know that the Thai ambassador to the US had a copy of something like a declaration of war/alliance with Japan in his desk drawer, playing the usual Thai game of both sides... They might have been less enthusiastic about avoiding Thai targets...

[Flashermac]

It was absolutely no secret and the air farce knew full well about it. Ambassador M.R. Seni Pramote showed it to the US state dept, but informed them he would not deliver it, since it had not gone through proper channels nor been signed by the Regent (as required). The US accepted that and considered Thailand to be an occupied country, not an enely.

 

That did not stop the USAF from tangling with the RTAF and shooting down their planes when found in the air. Since the RTAF had purchased Japanese-made planes before the war, and the Allied pilots didn't worry about looking to see what country's markings were on them.

 

<< The Phibun government declared war on Great Britain and the United States on January 25, 1942. Although the Thai ambassador in London delivered Thailand's declaration of war to the British administration, Seni refused to do so. Instead, he considered organising a resistance movement in the United States.

 

Following a late morning interview with Secretary Cordell Hull on December 8, Seni returned to his legation to confer with his staff. The ambassador and his staff unanimously decided to cast their lot with the Allies. Late the same afternoon, he returned to the State Department to offer their services to the Allied cause. Blaming pro-Japanese elements for the early Thai surrender, he spoke to Hull of unfreezing Thai assets in the United States for further prosecution of the war and suggested that the Thais in the country might “organise and preserve a government of true patriotic, liberty-loving Thais while his government is in the clutches of Japan.â€

 

The State Department decided to act as if Seni continued to represent Thailand. This enabled him to tap into the frozen Thai assets. When asked to draw up a list of “reliable and influential Thai nationals known to be definitely patriotic and anti-Japanese†by the State Department (at the suggestion of John P. Davies), Seni named Regent Pridi Phanomyong, politicians Khuang Aphaiwong and Wilat Osathanon, and diplomats Phraya Sisena and Direk Jayanama as “reliablesâ€.

 

Seni advanced plans to mobilise Thai volunteers in support of the Allies. Beyond the legation staffers and their families, most other Thai residents were students enrolled at colleges and universities, including institutions such as Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Cornell. Many chose to stay following the Thai declaration of war in January, refusing repatriation. Most, like Seni, saw their nation as a victim of Japanese aggression. >>

 

 

 

http://en.wikipedia....iki/Seni_Pramoj

[limbo]

Jim Thompson didn't come to Thailand until shortly after Japan surrendered. He built his home later from 3 or so old houses. Maybe one of them had been damaged? Never heard that though.

 

p.s. Both the RAF and the USAAF bombed Thailand, hitting targets of military use. The Allies agreed to spare Hua Lamphong, since the Free Thai underground was helping them, though the railyard was plastered and area around it (mostly wooden houses) were almost all burned. The Makasan and Bang Sue yards were major targets, and the station on the Thonburi side was obliterated. The Seri Thai were making regular weather reports to India to help the bombers on their missions. They guided them to Don Muang, where they were only supposed to strike the Japanese warplanes. But the pilots got a bit gung ho and destroyed the RTAF planes as well. Also, they were supposed to leave one of the city's 3 power plants intact. Instead, the bombers destroyed all three - leaving the city without power or water. The Seri Thai weren't too happy about that.

 

http://en.wikipedia....in_World_War_II

 

OK, fair enough. During one of my first visits to Thailand, I visited some tourist destinations in BKK and one of the wooden buildings had burn marks from a bombardment, just remembered this as being JT house, but that obviously was a mistake.

[Flashermac]

It may have been this one. I vaguely recall something about burn marks, unless I'm just imagining thing.

 

 

 

http://www.suanpakkad.com/main_eng.php