Thanks. Definitely. This aircraft type is almost definitely Stead's inspiration for the picture on the dustjacket. It' a strange choice, though. Stead and Johns were familiar with more modern types. And the range of the S-43B is inferior compared to say the Catalina. The Sunderland would have been best, but there's parts of the story near the end which definitely requires landing on land.

Hi, Andy - hope I haven't cluttered things too much for you. I just made a little insert on the Beaufighter and "...in Borneo". I was intrigued by your synopsis where you mention Mindanao in addition to Borneo. I haven't read that book since I was a boy, and only in Norwegian. I am in the process of acquiring English-language first editions. When I have it I need to look into that Mindanao thing as it is of great interest to me, I have studied the Philippine campaign 1941/42 quite extensively. It is my impression that it is not generally known that the Americans held Mindanao and most of the Visayas as long as the fighting on Bataan and Corregidor continued. Only when Corregidor Fortress surrendered in the beginning of May '42 did the Americans (and Filipinos) in the rest of the Philippines surrender and an underground resistance was established.

Action on Mindanao is therefore quite feasible.

Fred