{"id":44070,"date":"2020-05-02T16:18:39","date_gmt":"2020-05-02T16:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?p=44070"},"modified":"2021-12-19T09:22:56","modified_gmt":"2021-12-19T09:22:56","slug":"the-savior-of-ceylon-the-pilot-who-stopped-a-repeat-of-pearl-harbor-by-jay-hemmings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-savior-of-ceylon-the-pilot-who-stopped-a-repeat-of-pearl-harbor-by-jay-hemmings\/","title":{"rendered":"The Savior Of Ceylon: The Pilot who Stopped a Repeat of Pearl Harbor by Jay Hemmings"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Savior Of Ceylon: The Pilot who Stopped a Repeat of Pearl Harbor by Jay Hemmings<\/span><\/h1>\n

\"Supermarine<\/p>\n

Supermarine Stranraer<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Source:<\/span>warhistoryonline<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

He was transferred to a POW work camp that had been erected in a baseball stadium. The conditions in the camp were harsh and the rations were scarce.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

One of the things Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Air Commodore Leonard Birchall is most remembered for is being the \u201cSavior of Ceylon.\u201d He was the pilot who warned the Allied forces in Colombo of the Japanese surprise attack that was on its way, thus allowing them to prepare and preventing a repeat of Pearl Harbor.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, he showed the true breadth of nobility and valor of his character in Japanese prisoner of war camps over a period of three years, in which he saved many men\u2019s lives and took many prisoners\u2019 beatings for them.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Leonard Birchall was born in July 1915 in St Catharines, Ontario, in Canada. From an early age he had been fascinated with airplanes and flying, and after graduating from school he worked a number of jobs in order to pay for flying lessons.<\/span><\/div>\n
\"Royal<\/div>\n
Royal Canadian Air Force Squadron Leader Leonard Birchall, the \u201cSaviour of Ceylon\u201d, aboard a Catalina aircraft before being shot down and captured near the island of Ceylon by the Japanese in 1942. Before being shot down, Birchall warned of a Japanese attack on Ceylon.<\/span><\/div>\n
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He eventually decided to embark on a military career, and enrolled in the Royal Military College of Canada in 1933, after which he was commissioned as a RCAF pilot in 1937.<\/span><\/p>\n

It wouldn\u2019t be too long before he saw action: the Second World War broke out in 1939, and Birchall got involved from the very outset.\u00a0His first duties involved flying a Supermarine Stanraer with RCAF No. 5 Squadron over Nova Scotia on anti-submarine patrols.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"RCAF<\/p>\n

RCAF Stranraer in wartime camouflage<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1940, he managed to virtually single-handedly capture an Italian merchant ship in the Gulf of St Lawrence by making a low pass over it, feigning an attack, which caused the captain to panic and run his ship into a sandbank. Birchall landed nearby and waited patiently for the Royal Canadian Navy to get there, whereupon they arrested the Italian seamen.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1942 he joined No. 413 Squadron, and shortly thereafter was transferred to Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka). Upon arriving in Ceylon, Birchall saw action almost immediately. Less than 48 hours after touching down, he was flying his Catalina on a patrol mission when he caught sight of an Imperial Japanese Naval fleet which was clearly on its way to attack Ceylon.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"RAF<\/p>\n

An RAF Bristol Blenheim bomber takes off from Colombo Racecourse in Ceylon during the war.<\/span><\/p>\n

Birchall didn\u2019t have much time to act, for not only had he spotted the Japanese, but they had also spotted him. Despite the imminent danger, Birchall flew closer in order to gather details about how many ships and aircraft he could see.<\/span><\/p>\n

He desperately relayed details to the Allied base even as anti-aircraft fire starting ripping past him, while Japanese fighters took off from the aircraft carriers to shoot him down.<\/span><\/p>\n

He managed to get a few messages through to the base before anti-aircraft fire tore through his Catalina and disabled the radio. Further fire crippled the plane, and he went down, crash-landing into the ocean. He and the other surviving members of his crew were picked up by the Japanese and taken onto one of the ships. Thus began three years of imprisonment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Royal<\/p>\n

Royal Air Force mechanics at Royal Air Force Station RAF Koggala, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As soon as Birchall was brought on board the Japanese destroyer\u00a0Isokaza<\/em>, he was singled out as the senior officer and brutally interrogated. Despite being beaten and tortured, Birchall repeatedly denied that he had sent out any messages before his plane was destroyed<\/span><\/p>\n

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