國軍第34中隊並沒有使用過NC-123K

 我們航空史研究會的臉書粉專有會員貼出34中隊的C-123K 序號55-4543的照片，將其稱為NC-123K，其實那是不對的，NC-123K只有兩架，分別是54-691及54-698 (請見附圖一，來自美國科學家聯盟網站)，他們本來是C-123B，後來提升到C-123K的規格。在一項實驗性質的Black Spot計畫下加裝夜間偵測及攻擊的武裝，成為NC-123K，一年後就改名為AC-123。在美軍1962年的三軍飛機型號系統中，N這個字首代表永久性的特殊測試(N: Special test, permanent)。至於會員提到我國空軍34中隊在越南使用的55-4543號機，根據本人筆友Dr. Leeker的詳細考證，它從頭到尾就沒有成為NC-123K過(請見附圖2，來自德州大學Air America網頁)。我猜想會讓該會員誤會的原因之一可能是34隊的C-123K及美軍的NC-123K都採用了特殊的黑綠相間迷彩，但這並不代表兩者是同一回事。

附圖一

附圖二

敬悼Mr. White—Robert L. Kleyla

 

與Bob在DC的旅館合影  2007.2.10.

 Chris Pocock告訴我，Bob Kleyla在2009年7月20日過世了。我雖然和他不熟，只在2007年2月10日晚上見過一次，但還是要藉此致上哀悼之意。當時Chris從倫敦飛來DC，和他約在我住的旅館見面進行訪問。Chris驚訝的發現Bob知道很多事，所以之後又和他另外訪問了幾次。

Bob在二戰時是第八航空軍的B-17轟炸員，他參與過第一次轟炸德國本土的任務，後來他改學飛行，也成為B-17的飛行員。他戰後被中情局借調，前來台灣協調處理第卅四中隊的機密計畫。我在空軍特種作戰祕史書中提到，呂德琪組長及美方駐新竹基地的官員Mr. White曾經到琉球探視奇龍計畫的組員，Mr. White就是Bob在台期間使用的假名。

Bob是美國空軍退役中校，他的葬禮將於10月8日下午3時於阿靈頓國家公墓以全軍禮(with Full Military Honors)舉行。願他安息。

Chris 幫Bob寫的悼詞請見:

https://rocaviation.blogspot.com/2023/06/bob-kleyla.html

2009.8.8. 難以置信的巧合

 

3D drawing by Chang Kuo Cheng 

我撰寫空軍特種作戰祕史之後，陸續有幾位家屬跟我連絡。每位家屬對於能夠讓他們父兄當年為國犧牲的事蹟得以彰顯，都表達感謝之意。我也覺得自己為了寫書，過了兩年沒有假期的日子還是值得的。

 

最近一位犧牲隊員尹金鼎的公子與我聯繫，他跟我說了一段親身經歷，我覺得實在是太巧了，簡述如下:

1992年他從美國前往大陸洽談生意，航天部派了 一位經理陪他從北京飛往西安。他在上機前買了一本軍事雜誌，一翻開就看到一篇文章，介紹當年老共高砲部隊如何在遼東半島碧流河河口設伏，擊落國軍一架P2V的經過，他的父親就是那架飛機的飛行員。

 

多年以來，他們家屬只知道父親在大陸失蹤，其他細節一概不知(這也是我當初要寫書的原因之一)，直到那時他才了解父親殉職的情形，多少舊事一下湧上心頭，情緒起伏，就把雜誌闔起。

 

旁邊這位經理問他怎麼了，他就不講話，把雜誌遞給經理。經理打開雜誌一開，正巧也是看到那篇文章，脫口就說他的父親是高砲的隊長，當年為了在遼東半島部署和操練，幾乎半年沒有回家。這時尹先生回說他的父親就在那架飛機上，接下來的旅程兩人都沒有再講話。

 

我聽了這個故事，覺得實在是太巧了，隨即想到，如果要拍成電影，這可以當成最開始的一幕，做個引言。

 

我幾年前在航空史研究會的月會上聽到鄒立徐教官談到他出大陸任務的經過，我就覺得黑蝙蝠中隊的故事是絕佳的電影題材。暗夜低空，P2V飛在海上，一次又一次的被全世界最大的攔截機Tu-4P攻擊，或是B-17飛在山谷之上，MiG-17PF射出的曳光彈照亮B-17機艙內部，這些是何等驚心動魄的畫面。

 

想歸想，從現實面來看，最該拍這部電影的地方是台灣，但是台灣電影這幾年的慘況大家都曉得，而且這種題材在政治上也不正確了，藍綠都不會喜歡。這個題材如果由大陸來拍，就會變成殲滅入侵之敵，證明社會主義優越性的八股電影，那就更不必了。

 

片中的空戰場景也是個門檻，兩岸大概都還達不到這個要求，只有好萊塢才做得到。現在只能寄望Chris和我合作的英文版新書出版之後，會不會讓美國片商感到興趣，但麻煩的是出任務的飛機上一個美國人都沒有，片商一看到這點可能就打消念頭了。

 

Chris因為寫了幾本U-2的書，成為知名的U-2專家，好萊塢拍驚爆13天時還找他當顧問，但是我看了電影中U-2閃躲飛彈的誇張鏡頭後，當面問Chris，他不好意思的回我說: You know, it’s Hollywood。所以如果好萊塢真的願意拍，我就要忍受湯姆克魯斯駕著受傷的P2V，拖著黑煙迫降在新竹基地的畫面，哈哈!

 

34中隊歷史傳承

 

在2009台北航太展的海軍攤位上看到P-3C的模型，如果這個塗裝是正確的，那麼以後黑蝙蝠的隊徽就會出現在134中隊的P-3C上面。這個中隊雖然改隸海軍，但還是傳承當年34中隊的精神，令人欣慰。

 

34中隊早在1966年就接收過兩架P-3，40多年後又要接收P-3，不過從A型改成C型。

更新:   等到這批飛機後來運交到台灣時，又回到空軍了。

Bob Kleyla 葬禮悼詞

 

英國友人包柯克2009年10月8日參加Bob Kleyla葬禮時發表的悼詞。Bob從B-17的時代就參與34中隊的特種任務策劃工作,一直持續到奇龍計畫為止。我在2007年赴美受訓，透過包柯克的介紹見到了Bob。

 

BOB KLEYLA – An Author’s Appreciation

 

By Chris Pocock

author, 50 YEARS OF THE U-2 and THE BLACK BATS (forthcoming)

 

Some people never get the recognition that they deserve. This is particularly true of those who work in the secret world. They sign the oaths. They keep the secrets. Their daily toil in the service of their country may be recorded in some dusty archive. But  the arbitrary and haphazard nature of the declassification process in some US government agencies, means that their deeds may never surface, to reach a wider audience.

 

I first met Bob Kleyla on the fringes of a conference on Early Cold War Overflights at the DIA in 2001. He began to tell me about his role in the planning of important reconnaissance missions over the Soviet Union from the end of the Korean War. The thought occurred to me – Bob should be up there on the podium, with all those pilots and analysts who got to speak at that event. Typically, though, this small, modest old man sat quietly at the back of the auditorium, listening to others recall their heroic Cold War stories.

 

I resolved to meet him again. I did not get that opportunity until early 2007, when I came to a cold and snowbound Washington DC to do research for a new book on the remarkable history of the Chinese Air Force 34^th Squadron on Taiwan. We agreed to meet in the hotel room of my co-author, Clarence Fu, who was visiting from Taiwan. It quickly became apparent to me, that I needed more time to learn about Bob’s extensive and fascinating career. He graciously agreed to spend more time with me. I made no fewer than three visits to his Georgetown apartment that week. Our forthcoming book will be much the better, for the contribution that Bob Kleyla chose to make.

 

As you know, Bob saw service in World War Two in Europe as a bombardier on B-17s. The story of those brave young airmen who faced appalling odds in the daytime skies over Germany is so well known, that I need not dwell on it here. Evidently, though, the experience did not deter Bob from the life of a military aviator. Indeed, when the war was over he trained as a pilot, only to learn that the US Air Force had more pilots than it could handle.

 

So Bob retrained as a navigator, and in the arcane art of airborne electronic warfare. He joined the aircrews on the mighty B-36 strategic bomber, known colloquially as “The Aluminum Overcast”. According to my notes, he flew the RB-36 reconnaissance version. (Damn! Another untold spyplane story – I should have asked him some questions about that!)

 

In the headquarters of the Far East Air Force in Japan from 1953, Bob was part of the secret group that organized Project Westwind. He planned various overflights of North Korea and Soviet Asia by RF-86s, RF-100s, RB-45s and RB-57s. In so doing, he acquired all the ‘tickets’ – the Top Secret and Codeword clearances need to work on these very sensitive and carefully controlled missions. And that brought him to the attention of an even more secret team of airmen, who worked for the Central Intelligence Agency.

 

Bob told me that it was Willy Homen who recruited him into the covert world. Homen was another Air Force ECM officer, who had been seconded to the CIA. Homen was the project officer for a joint operation on Taiwan between the US and the Nationalist air force, that was overflying mainland China at night to collect electronic intelligence with an old, four-engine Privateer patrol plane. In 1956, this was replaced by a couple of B-17s. They came to Taiwan from the Agency’s depot in Japan, and so did Bob Kleyla, with his first wife, Lynne.

 

Bob Kleyla became Bob ‘White’ under cover, and remained with the Agency for the remainder of his career. He did two tours on Taiwan, where he was an operations officer and mission planner for The Black Bat Squadron. The CIA provided the aircraft, sensors, expertise and support for the joint operation. The nationalists provided the base, the maintenance and most importantly the brave aircrew who flew into China hundreds of times to collect ELINT, and drop agents and propaganda packages. You may be surprised to learn that the Black Bats made no fewer than 585 overflights of mainland China between 1953 and 1966. In so doing, they sacrificed over 100 aircrew in the loss of three B-17s, two B-26s and five RB-69s – a special version of the P2V Neptune maritime patrol plane. 

 

In 1957, the US began providing support to the independence movement in Tibet. Bob trained exiled Polish airmen employed by the Agency to fly the B-17 that was used to airdrop guerillas and supplies to that remote country. In between his tours to Taiwan, Bob worked in air operations at Agency headquarters. He planned U-2 missions over the Soviet Union and other ‘denied territories’.  He became the project officer for STPOLLY, the CIA codename for the low-level operations over China

 

Bob met his second wife, Helen, in Agency headquarters, and she accompanied him on the second tour to Taiwan. The Communist Chinese air defense system was reacting with vigor and ingenuity to the unwelcome nighttime incursions from Taiwan. Bob’s task of mission planning required meticulous attention to collateral intelligence, and a good sense of the limitations of both man and machine, in order to provide the safest penetration routes for those national aircrews.

 

During this period, Bob formally retired from the Air Force as a Lt Col and became a GS-14-level government employee. Back in Agency headquarters again, he was Deputy Chief of the Air Branch. He suggested arming the P2Vs flying over China with air-to-air missiles. He was involved in the development of a new aircraft for the China low-level mission – a ‘black’ conversion of the P-3 maritime patrol aircraft.

 

In 1968-9, Bob was project officer for one of the most audacious covert air missions ever conducted by the Air Branch. In order to gain technical intelligence on China’s nuclear weapons and missile developments, special sensors were combined onto two aircraft pallets. Now the task was to airdrop the camoflaged pallets onto the desert wastelands of Xinjiang province in the far northwest of China, close to the test sites. Undetected!  The Agency turned once again to the Black Bat squadron on Taiwan. Bob helped to train the nationalist airmen to fly a C-130 at low level, and planned the 13-hour roundtrip from Thailand across the eastern Himalayas. The flight was a complete success.

 

Bob continued to work as an air operations officer in the CIA’s Special Operations Group until his retirement in 1980.

 

It was a pleasure and a privilege to talk with Bob about some of his activities as a covert air operator. Unlike many interviewees I have known, he did not exaggerate his own role, nor try to speculate on the details that his memory could not recall. During my last telephone conversation with him earlier this year, he quietly suggested that I should expedite my research. It was his way of telling me that he wouldn’t be able to contribute for much longer.

 

So long then, Bob. Our book will be published early next year. I’m truly sorry that you won’t be around to read it.

2009.11.10. P2V-7U模型

 

 

 Jim Rotramel是位美國模型玩家，他本身也是飛行員。他仰慕Chris Pocock對34中隊的研究付出，特別製作一架P2V-7U模型送他。我徵得他兩人的同意，在本部落格中刊出這架模型的照片。

這架P2V-7U是在台灣使用的最後期型式，掛有原子塵偵測莢艙及響尾蛇飛彈，我本來質疑飛彈掛載的位置是否應該位於莢艙的外側，但是Jim從Chris蒐集到的一張照片證實是在內側。這張照片將刊登在2010年2月出版的The Black Bats新書中，敬請期待。後期型與前期型的另一個差別在於後期型在機尾尾桁上方多突出一個天線包。

航空史謎團(已解)C-54002的謎團

 

C-54這個飛機原本並不神秘，但是跟空軍情報署扯上關係就神秘了。11日當天拜訪曾擔任空軍專機隊及華航空服的李文淵先生，他提到陳文寬從印尼飛回來那架C-54，空軍情報署將它編為002，閒置在松山機場副跑道很長一段時間，後來泰國空軍元帥差林傑的專機1960年在台北永春坡失事之後，這架002載運差林傑元帥等人的棺木回泰國。我聽他一講，就想到我寫的空軍特種作戰祕史書中第119頁上方的C-54002照片，心中暗叫不妙。

我原先以為那架飛機是第34中隊的54002，照片中的軍人服裝與國軍不同，所以我就直覺以為那是在越南拍攝的，因為第34中隊的C-54到過越南執行任務。當初這張照片是一個英國筆友送我的，照片背後用鉛筆寫著1960，由於當時第34中隊還沒接收C-54，所以我認為他大概是指1960年代，但是聽到李先生一說，回家找出泰國專機失事的年份就是1960，所以這張照片也許有可能是在泰國拍攝。

 

我猜當初情報署為了要掩人耳目，所以將第34中隊在1961年接收的C-54漆成54002，想要混充原來的C-54002。我從第34中隊的相本中找到這架54002的空拍照片，可惜看不到側面，但至少知道左右機翼上都沒有國徽。

 

至於C-54002本尊後來變成華航第一架C-54 B-1801，相關考證請見本部落格之前的文章。

 

2009.12.14. 黑蝙蝠中隊在西貢新山一被擊落的C-123

 今天上班時突然接到一通電話，是臧宗賢先生的公子打來的。他說他父親是在越南飛C-123時殉職。他對他父親殉職的經過不清楚，不知道如何跟他的兒子講述爺爺的事情，後來打聽到我有寫書，所以輾轉找到我，我說剛好第二版不久前才再版，在幾個大書局應該都可以找到。

 

臧先生說他父親走時他已經16歲，空軍以事關機密為由，只給家屬看棺木在越南覆蓋中美國旗的照片，然後其他細節沒有多講。後來蔣中正總統在中山堂召見家屬，他們還特別搭機從屏東北上。

 

黑蝙蝠中隊犧牲147人，到現在還有家屬對他們父兄的殉職經過不了解，我希望我的書能夠多少幫助他們知道一些細節及背景，想到這點就覺得那兩年的辛苦沒有白費。

 

黑蝙蝠中隊在西貢被擊落C-123的後續

 C-123殉職人員臧宗賢少校的公子和我聯繫之後，我找到當時同機殉職美軍傑克森上尉的兒子Alan為父親設立的紀念網站，寫了電郵給他，說我會請臧先生跟他連絡，他回說歡迎，並請臧先生寄給他一張臧少校墓地的照片。

 

後來從他倆的來往電郵我才發現，原來Alan的家人被美軍告知，他父親是作戰失蹤(Missing in Action)，所以根本連骨灰都沒有拿到。根據美軍的報告，當初機上找到12具遺骸，由於難以分辨，所以一同火化，送回台灣。我真不懂當時美軍(南星三號已經不是中情局的計畫，而是由美軍掌管)長官腦袋裡裝的是啥玩意兒，為什麼不承認這兩名美軍就是在同一架飛機上殉職的呢? 害得傑克森及羅斯兩家人連個骨灰都沒有，也難怪Alan想要臧少校墓地的照片，因為裡面其實應該有一部分是他父親的骨灰啊!  

 

Alan父親殉職時，他只是個嬰兒，多年來失去父親的傷痛一直在他心中，這次能夠有一位同機人員的家屬和他連絡，知道他父親的部分骨灰埋在台灣，也算是一種安慰吧!

 

傑克森少校的紀念網站:

http://www.miacarljackson.com/

2010.1.16. B-17聶經淵機組下落

這架B-17在1954年5月26日晚上在福建失蹤，下落不明。航醫專家何邦立蒐集到資料後傳給李崇善教官，李教官剛剛傳真給我，證實這架飛機墜毀在福建仙游楓亭鎮，當地縣政府在2002年還訪談當年的目擊者，等日後有時間再為各位讀者報導。