The airmen and the headhunters : a true story of lost soldiers, heroic tribesmen and the unlikeliest rescue of World War II /
November 1944: Army airmen set out in a B-24 bomber on what should have been an easy mission off the Borneo coast. Instead they found themselves facing a Japanese fleet--and were shot down. When they cut themselves loose from their parachutes, they were scattered across the island's mountainous...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Orlando :
Harcourt,
[2007]
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| Edition: | 1st ed. |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Table of contents only |
| Summary: | November 1944: Army airmen set out in a B-24 bomber on what should have been an easy mission off the Borneo coast. Instead they found themselves facing a Japanese fleet--and were shot down. When they cut themselves loose from their parachutes, they were scattered across the island's mountainous interior. Then a group of loincloth-wearing natives silently materialized out of the jungle. Would these Dayak tribesmen turn the starving airmen over to the Japanese occupiers? Or would the Dayaks risk vicious reprisals to get the airmen safely home? The tribal leaders' unprecedented decision led to a desperate game of hide-and-seek, and, ultimately, the return of a long-renounced ritual: head-hunting. This survival story features a bamboo airstrip built on a rice paddy, a mad British major, and a blowpipe-wielding army that helped destroy one of the last Japanese strongholds.--From publisher description. |
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| Physical Description: | 289 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages [273]-279) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780151014347 0151014345 |