Two Men Worlds Apart Have Something In Common

      Our reader Thuan Seng Tan comes from Singapore. He spent a good part of his life in Asia. On the other hand, I was born in Galveston, Texas. I grew up in Houston. I moved to New Orleans. My life took me to Washington, DC, and later back to Houston. Then I lived around the world in the years that followed. One could say Seng and I are "worlds apart." 

     We share an incredible coincidence. We both have relatives who served in the British Royal Air Force in World War II. Seng's father was Tan Kay Hai. He was able to get out of Singapore before the Japanese conquest of the island country. He made his way to England. He enlisted in the Royal Air Force. He passed flight training. He became the pilot of a Spitfire fighter plane. As Nazis airplanes menaced Britain, he would fly out and do battle with Nazi planes. We call this time The Battle Of Britain. 

     Around the same time, my Uncle Herbert Noel Ballew left Dallas, Texas. He made his way to Canada and then to England. He enlisted in the Royal Air Force. He passed flight training. He was assigned to the Eagle Squadron squadron flying the Spitfire fighter plane.  

     Both men found themselves going into battle against seasoned and tough Luftwaffe pilots. They both survived The Battle of Britain. At that point, my Uncle Noel left the Royal Air Force. He joined the US Army Air Corps. He was assigned to fly a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter plane. 

    Both men continued to fly combat missions against Nazi aircraft and the Wehrmacht German army. Around the time of D-Day (June 6, 1944) both men had bad luck. They were shot down near Paris. They were captured by the Germans. Seng's dad was taken to a POW camp deep in Germany. As the Soviets advanced. Nazi guards evacuated the camp. Seng's father was put on a train taking him far away from advancing Soviet troops. He took a giant chance. He jumped off the train in the dead of winter. He wandered in the snow for three days. He was freezing and hungry. He stumbled upon a group of US soldiers. He returned to England and continued to fly with the RAF until Germany surrendered. 

      My Uncle Noel rebelled against his Nazi captors. He escaped from one POW camp. He was captured and taken to another camp. He escaped again. When he was recaptured, he was brutally tortured by the Gestapo. He was sent to a very high-security POW camp in East Prussia. Soviet soldiers overran the camp. Uncle Noel was relieved to see allied troops. He thought that he would be returned to US lines quickly. The Russian airmen treated him decently. It required four months of delicate diplomatic negotiations to get Uncle Noel returned to US lines. He was flown back to Dallas, Texas. When his plane landed, he was given a hero's welcome. 

      Here is a beautiful television program on Seng's father and other Singaporeans who went far from their country to fight in World War II: 

 
 

https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/watch/forgotten-heroes/forgotten-heroes-336766