In cleaning out Dad's things, I found that he had plans to write a 12-section book.  The title of the book is "Adventures in the Land of the Folding Nickel (Japan) including the Suez Fiasco, which was called by some the Suez Crisis

Premise -- How I managed to blunder through 2 plus years as an aviation maintenance officer without causing death or injury

Outline of book

1.  The Suez Fiasco
2.  How It Started -- R.O.T. C.
3.  To Active Duty- September 1954--loafing at Lackland A.F.B.
4.  Non Mechanical Me an Aircraft Maintenance Officer?  Yes!  Off to school at Rantoul Tech Chanute Airbase, Rantul, Illinois
5.  From Rantoul to Tokyo via Hawaii and Wake Island and on to Ashiya Air Base in Kyushu
6.  Life in the Land of the Folding Nickel.  Here I serve in Ashiya.
7.  Two weeks in Korea--Kee--Kee Kee Keoria--I want to go Pee Pee Pee Peoria!
8.  A serious moment Airplane crashes of planes from Ashiya
9.  Trips Hong Kong, Bangkok (via Vietnam) and Manila
10.  Time is up in Ashiya -- back to the Land of the Big PX
11.  Discharged from Active Duty at Parks AIr Base --- The Bar Sinister
12. Conclusion

[Note:  this section was handwritten and included with the typewritten chapters.]

When I arrived at Ashiya Air Force Base in Southern Japan in 1955, I wanted to do a good job as an Aircraft Maintenance Officer.  But I was concerned, that despite my training at an Air Force School, I was not suited for the job.

I am an unmechanical person. I had never owned a car and never tinkered with anything.  I was OK at the school until we got to the hands on stuff, where I had a real problem.  I decided to attack the problem from a different direction, rather than being hands on I would be more reserved on the job.

It worked out OK mainly because of the cooperation of a very good humored LINC Chief (the services now concedes officer.). We worked it out so that he took care of the planes with only minimum interference from me, and I took care of the mound of paperwork (which he hated).  This worked out OK.  Nobody got killed or hurt because of my acts or omissions.

It was about September of 1955 when I arrived in Tokyo, flush from completing a nine month course to be a "qualified as an Aircraft Maintenance Officer."  It was a serious blunder of the Air Force to waste this time and training on me.  My mechanical ability was pretty well restricted to screwing in a light bulb.  But it turned out that I failed the flight physical, borderline color blind, and they had a need for Maintenance officers.  My objections were "noted" and ignored.  So off I went to Aircraft maintenance Officer school at Chanute Field, Rantoul, Illinois.

I hooked up with a couple of guys who also were going to assignments in Kyushu, and we got the train to the station.  We go to the correct train and had about an 11 hour trip before us to get to Oongagawa, the closest town to Ashiya.  This was long before the Japanese high speed trains.

After being underway for a relatively short time we had to get off the train and on to another train.  The new train went the inland route, and the first train was scheduled to go down the coast.  The weather was foul, heavy rain and wind and we were approaching the Typhoon season.  The transfer of trains was wild.  The Japanese apparently thought that there was a shortage of space on the new trains.  Those rumors were false but my companions and I got pretty well run over with our baggage by screaming Japanese.

Once we got settled on the new train we were very happy to see it had a multitude of butch boys to serve food and drink -- INCLUDING BEER.  We settled into our trek with many bottles of Nippon beer.  Being true to our calling to be ugly Americans, each bottle rated a toast of "Sip" on a Nippon to feel your level best."

We finally arrived in Oonagawa, a small railroad junction town, and got a cab to Ashiya Air Base (about 15 miles).

Ashiya had been a Japanese Fighter base in the war.  Americans turned it into a base for C119s Flying Boxcars.  These were cargo paratrooper and airborne infantry planes.

The C119 was a 2 engine plane.  Prop engines no jets yet for transports.  Each engine was mounted on a boom that went to the tail section.  The cockpit and cargo--troop section was in a pod in the middle of the plane.  The cockpit was about 6 feet in front of the engines.  The left door was about two feet in from the left engine, making it very easy to lose your head if you went through that door while the props were turning.

The strip for take offs was marginal (short) for planes the size of a C119, but we made do with it (more later on the short field takeoff).

I was assigned to a squadron as assistant Maintenance Officer.  The maintenance office was  pilot and fine gentlemen and it was a pleasure to work for him.  He gave me certain duties to keep me busy.  Mostly paper work.  There was a log for every plane.  Any work on the plane had to be recorded.  Serious matters were marked with a red X and it took the signature of the maintenance officer or assistant maintenance officer to clear those entries when repairs had been made.

So I fiddle around with my duties.  I eventually become Maintenance Officer and held that job for a long time until I was passed to Wing -- the next level up to be assistant maintenance officer there.  This was not a promotion as we were having trouble keeping enough planes flying.

I don't believe I had yet been transferred to Wing, when the Suez Fiasco occurred.  We were called together for a meeting.  After a few words about the problems in the Mideast.  It is my recollection that we were told that Nasser had seized the Suez canal and the British and French were going into military action to get it back.  I can't recall if we were told that the Israelis also had invaded.  Then the hammer.  We were told we should immediately get yellow fever shots, which were required for the Mideast but not in Japan.

We were restricted to the base until further notice and told to prepare to fly to the Mideast to help the Egyptians flight the British and French!  There was stunned silence, and then a long drawn out "WHAT."  But we were told to shut up and obey orders.

I got my shot and my arm was sore for a few days, about the length of time for the Suez Fiasco to play out.  Of most concern was a the rumor that we were not sending ground troops or enough ground troops to guard the airfields were we would be operating. But not to worry.  We would be protected by the flower of the Egyptian Army.  That gave me a lot of comfort, with the British and French paratroops hurrying to see who would be the first to stick a bayonet in my rear end!

But in a few days, it all went away.

Here is what I later pieced together.  President Eisenhower and British Prime Minister Eden had tentatively agreed to guaranteeing the funds to Egypt to build the Aswan Dam.  Then they pulled out when further studies convinced them that this was too risky.

Nasser promptly went to the Russians who agreed to the funding.  He was still angry with the British.  Nasser and Eden hated each other.  To follow up with British Nasser seized the Suez Canal and nationalized it.  The Canal was operated by a private company whose shareholders were mostly British and French.  Their equity was now worthless, and the British and French employees who ran the canal were fired.  But the Egyptians were able to handle the Canal with no problems.

Eisenhower was proposing settlement talks and possible mediation.  He was not told that Britain, France, and Israel made secret plans to invade Egypt.  Nasser agreed to operate the Canal as an International waterway, but Egypt would get income from its operation.

The British and French proposed that Egypt and Israel withdraw their troops behind lines in the vicinity of the canal with British and French troops to occupy the Canal and its immediate surroundings.  This made no sense.  By this time the Israelis had invaded, but they were a long way from the Canal.  The Egyptians were in control of the Canal and its surrounding land, so they rejected this proposal.  The Egyptians sank some ships in the Canal, preventing passage by other ships.  At about this time, Eden began to realize his problem.  Most British oil imports came by tanker through the Canal.

The British and French bombed Egyptian airfields and other military targets on October 30 and 31, 1955.  British and French troops landed in Port Said on November 5.  But Britain and France accepted a cease fire by midnight on November 6.  The UN was bustling about and finally got the partners to agree to a ceasefire.  Eisenhower helped by putting a run on the British pound by having his treasury people sell English pounds.

Everything sorted out.  The shareholders got payment for their equity in about a year.  The English and French withdrew their military forces in short order.  So did the Israelis, except it took them longer to clear out to Gaza.

The Egyptian military had nothing to brag about.  But that seemed to make little differences.  Nasser had successfully stood up to Britain and France.

The big loser was Eden.  He was in poor health, and was not in power very long after this Fiasco.  The timing was poor.  Just a few years before, England had to hand over to India the right to run their own Country.  Now the English colonial were passing away.  

Guy Mollet was a prime minister of France.  Little was heard from him.  It seemed like France was just along for the ride.  After the Fiasco was over, it appears he did better than the British in salvaging something for his country, in the Mideast.