Bhowanipur War Cemetery, Calcutta. Photos copyright: MIKE McMAHON
The story of Flying Officer Arthur Maurice Owers Pring is a perfect example of how the Internet brings together the jigsaw pieces of a life from a previous generation. Flying Officer Pring, of the Royal Indian Air Force, lies buried in the soft green turf of Bhowanipur War Cemetery in Calcutta, the city where I was born.
He was only 22 when he died. It is my privilege to tell his story.
Late last month, I received a group email that mentioned the exploits of a fighter pilot called Pring. The name rang a bell immediately. I recalled vividly how my father had told me about this World War II pilot, how his name became a byword for heroism and how Calcutta, the city which he defended so nobly, grieved when he died.
The emails went back and forth and gradually many people across the globe began to unravel nuggets of his life.
On March 21, one person on the email group referred to a poster on the back cover of the recent book 'The Eagle Strikes'. Was it the same Pring, the sender of the email asked, ``who appears (as a Flight Sergeant) on the recruiting poster which forms the back cover of the book?’’
Within a few hours came a reply, from the author of the book, Squadron Leader Rana Chhina, who lives in New Delhi. Yes, it was the same Pring.
The author said: ``The poster on the back cover of 'The Eagle Strikes' dates from circa 1943. It shows Harjinder Singh as a Pilot Officer. Harjinder received his commission in September 1942. The blurb for Pring (an NCO pilot) reads: `The Flight Sergeant who shoots them down quickly. A cool nerve, a clear brain, and unlimited guts, that’s what it takes to make an ace pilot like Pring. Shooting down Japanese raiders takes more than courage.’’
Concluded Chhina: ``Judging from this I would wager that this indeed was the same Pring currently under discussion. The incident (and his name) would have been well known at the time, and he would have been the ideal candidate to figure on the recruiting poster that aimed to attract young men to serve in the fast growing Royal Indian Air Force.’’
At this stage, my brother Brian, a marine investigator based in Canberra, found an Internet reference to Pring. He sent me a weblink to the Sepia Mutiny website that took me to a tale narrated by someone who had lived in Calcutta while Pring was still alive.
The tale spoke of the regular Japanese air raids. ``During these many regular air raids we usually listened to All-India Radio. The reception was not good as commentary was frequently interrupted by pops, shrieks and whistles caused by atmospherics. Our hero was a pilot by the name of Pring, who shot down Zeros in fierce combat. We used to listen to his exploits with bated breath; we became an integral part of this man who was up there fighting our battles for us. It was rather like listening to a soccer match in the sky. We reacted to his every valiant move and kill with rapturous joy.
``He became the focal point of a Zero attack in the early hours of one morning. As we sat in the flickering glow of a lamp, we stared at one another in utter disbelief - through the static came the news of Pring’s death. There was a silence that seemed to last for an eternity. We all cried unashamedly…’’
Just who was this man Pring?
The answers started to come swiftly, beginning with a series of emails from John Feltham, a Queensland-based ex-RAF man. He gave me a weblink to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as well as relevant information that produced a nugget of information about Pring’s parents and where his remains were buried.
The CWGC site confirmed that Pring was the recipient of a DFM or Distinguished Flying Medal and that he was the son of Arthur Benjamin Pring and Doris Lilian Pring (nee Garrett), of Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. It also provided an exact reference to his grave at the Bhowanipur War Cemetery - Plot L, grave # 113.
Another email from John Feltham, quoting Internet research, brought yet one more side to the Pring story. ``Yes, Flying Officer AMO Pring was the pilot who shot down three Japanese "Sally" bombers in one night in January 1943, which seemed to put an end to night raids on the city. At the time of the incident he was a Flight Sergeant, and he was not commissioned till later in the year.’’
At this point in my research, another of my brothers became directly involved in the story. A fighter pilot himself, he made a trip to Calcutta and set aside time to visit Pring’s grave. His photographs are the images that illustrate this article and I could not help but think it was extremely fitting that a hero of World War II should be honoured by a combat pilot of the jet generation.
And just to put things in perspective, my brother was only a few weeks old when Pring was shot down over the same city.
It seemed as if the story was all wrapped up and ready to print. But just when I was about to do a final edit on the feature, I received one last email from another former pilot, Air Marshal Philip Rajkumar, who lives in Bangalore, India.
``Hi David,’’ said the email, ``I surfed the web and found out that Pring was an Argentine citizen of British descent. I also found the name of a Japanese fighter pilot who had shot down a Hurricane near Calcutta on 5 December 1943, but it will be difficult to find out who the pilot was as three Hurricanes of 176 Squadron were lost that day.’’
So many questions answered; but a few left unsolved.
The full-length version of the article appears at Anglo-
Indian Portal and contains details of Flying Officer Pring’s combat history; as well as details of the Japanese pilot who might have shot him down.
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