with the Americans. When Russian-
made Ilyushin Il–18 Coot BH-195
landed at Gia Lâm in Hanoi without
bringing home any agreement with
the Americans, the instincts of the
Vietnamese leaders told them the
worst was yet to come.
The newspaper of the provisional
government of South Vietnam,
the Nhan Dan, and the Hanoi
paper Quan Doi Nhan Dan
bore editorials showing how
the Americans had cheated the
Vietnamese people in the Paris
talks. The Vietnamese knew that
the bombings were inevitable but
became unified in the belief thatsurrender would not be an option.
The Vietnamese were of the
opinion that the Americans were
going to use the Apollo landings on
the moon to deflect world attention
away from any missions that they
were planning for North Vietnam.
It was known that the Americans
were definitely planning some
major activity, as reports had been
coming in of the largest number of
Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses ever
assembled – about 50% of all such
aircraft available worldwide.
On December 18, fighter ‘ace’
Nguyen Van Bay recalled: “We
just had dinner and were about to
watch a movie, like we did every
week, when there was an emergency
alarm. Following this, all the pilots
returned to base and reported to the
base commander as usual. We were
then shown a map which showed
us the American air movements and
awaited our orders.”
During this alarm many airmenbusily noted down the latest
developments in the sky. The
information would then be given
to two women officers who then
would plot the movements for all
to see. Even at 500 miles (800km)
distance it could be seen that the
American aircraft were shaping up
for an approach on Hanoi.
The pilots then received
their orders from the supreme
commander to stand by and get
ready for an alarm start scramble.
Dang Rang recalled: “Although we
had been given this order many
times over the last few days we did
not expect the attack this soon.”
It was reported that in Hanoi
itself many people were walking
about, looking up at the sky while
others huddled in their homes,
listening to the cultural radio
station for news about the coming
raid. Many people longed for peace,
their only crime being that they
would not give in.KILLERS
In a new book, Roger Boniface reveals North Vietnamese accounts of the
‘Linebacker II’ campaign, including the shoot down of a B-52
March 2018 FLYPAST 27The blue-black smoke trails made
by the American aircraft became
longer as they worked their way
towards their targets. The heavily
laden B-52s were streaming
towards the capital.Back on fumes
The pilots on the air bases shared
this tense feeling. They looked out
of the windows and saw “the whole
sky brightly lighted like dozens of
lamps”. This was because the anti-
aircraft guns had begun to fire at
the incoming aircraft as they came
into range.Le Thanh, the famous
Vietnamese painter, wrote at
the time: “For the last eight
years under this sky we have
seen all kinds of attempts by the
Americans to bomb us but still
they continue to fail.”
On this day his house was
burned to the ground when the
wreckage of a B-52 fell on it after
it was shot down. The author
had the honour of confirming the
story, as the wreckage is still in the
garden today.
A radar unit in Quang Binh
province tracked the bombers from
the direction of Guam towards
Hanoi until the Americans
jammed it. Later in the day, the
18th and 45th Radar Companies
reported a group of B-52s heading
towards Haiphong at 1830hrs.
The 16th Radar Company
followed the bombers’ steady
course north towards Haiphong
and an intercept was ordered.Roger Boniface reveals North Vietnamese accounts of the
Top left
A USAF technician fi ts
tail fi ns to AIM-7 Sparrow
air-to-air missiles for F-4
Phantoms.Above left
Pham Tuan gained fame
by being one of the elite
group of pilots who
managed to down a B-52.