BIRTH OF A MYTH

It's the end of 1941 in Toungoo, Burma. One hears the tinking of temple bells. The melody carries through rustling bamboo bushes and flower-heavy flamboyants onto the burning landing-strip where a young pilot was busy daubing the nose of his machine. The job finished, Eric Shilling steps back a little to admire his work. The idea crossed his mind during an exotic meal with his missionary neighbour. There, Shilling uncovered a journal with a photograph of a luftwaffe Messerschmitt 110 stationed far away in the Mediterranean, named "Haifischgruppe" or Shark group. So he was busy to adorn his Curtiss P-40 with the same gaping jaws. Above the double teeth rows he painted a menacing eye at both sides. Satisfied with the result, he left the field determinedly and returned with a svelte tanned man, sporty and with a piercing glance. The newcomer stepped back, observed the work from various angles and grinned approvingly.