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Frank Higgs became Dude Hennick in Terry and the Pirates. The CNAC Web Editor would like to thank Jeanne Holder, the niece of Frank Higgs, for providing this wedding picture of Diana and Frank Higgs and the following information.  Calcutta, India October 1944 In 1935 Lt. Higgs weighed-in at 155 lbs., was 5'10' tall, had brown eyes and black hair. Along with Emil Scott (another Flying Cadet, but now Lieutenants) Frank sailed from New York June 1, 1936, through the Panama Canal to San Francisco and then on to Honolulu. Frank was stationed at Luke Field on the Island of Oahu for 2 years. He resigned his commission with the U.S. Army Air Corps December 31, 1937 (soon after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War) and left Honolulu to go to China as military advisor to the Chinese Air Corps, instructing Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's pilots how to fly without killing themselves or their instructors! Family History refers to Dude as a "civilian advisor" to the Chinese Air Corps while another note says, "He went to China as aviation instructor, serving with the U.S. Army Air Corps. And, other Family records say Dude began as an Army flyer, resigned to instruct Chiang Kai-shek's fledgling Air Force, then went with CNAC as a Captain. Mr. Frank Higgs was fined $5.00 for failing to register with the police within 48 hours of arrival in the colony of Hong Kong and listed his age as 30 and occupation as "geologist" (his major in college, I think). When Dude first arrived in China he kept a diary. He sounded lonely, talked of the cold, missed people, had he made a mistake by going over there??, always a mention of drinking in the evening, and seemed to write a lot of poetry (wish we had some of his poetry). His address on January 19, 1938 was c/o YMCA, Salisbury Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong. From January 20th to February 6, 1938, he was at the Army-Navy Club in Manila. February 6-10 he was at the Metropole Hotel, Hong Kong, and from February 10-12th at the Victoria Hotel, Shameen, Canton. July 18-20th at Liuchow, Kwangsi Province, China, and August 20 thru September 30, 1938, in Kong Kong. October 31 thru November 2, 1938 in Hanoi, "the capital of Indo China, a typical French city". February 1939 in Mengtsz.  Chris Angle and Frank Higgs Probably Kunming - 1940 (Photo Courtesy of Judy Polanich Niece to Paul Kessler)  Hong Kong Bay - 1941 William McDonald and Frank Higgs without shirts Shelly Mydans to the right of Frank Others are unknown What a beautiful day! (Photo Courtesy of Tom Moore) Frank became a pilot for the Chinese National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) in 1940/1(?). CNAC was operated jointly by the Chinese government and Pan American Airways. As a "Senior Pilot" Frank flew many passenger flights in and around China. Frank flew many famous passengers, including Wendell Wilkie and Clare Booth Luce. What may be regarded as Higgs' "shining hour"came in the rescue of several hundred persons from Hong Kong during the Japanese attack on the city. From The Dragon's Wings, "The first aircraft, a DC-3 piloted by Frank L. Higgs, roared off Kai Tak's runway at 7 P.M. for Namyung, a small airfield about 200 miles north of Hong Kong." He and 9 other pilots, including many ground personnel, managed to salvage five planes, filled in crater holes on the airfield and flew as many people as possible to safety in free China. Dude was in China before the Flying Tigers, originally called the "American Volunteer Group" (AVG), and had dealings with them. The AVG was disbanded in July 1942 and 18 of their pilots went to fly with CNAC. William McDonald's wife, Peggy, said that Dude had dealings with the Flying Tigers as with the regular U.S. Forces that replaced the Tigers in 1942. But, that he was neither a Flying Tiger nor a member of the U.S. Forces during the time he was in China. Frank once said, "I came over here because they were willing to pay more money each month than I thought was possible this side of Utopia. That feeling has changed. It now has become a personal struggle between me and the Japanese." (He was paid in American gold dollars.)  left to right Frank Higgs, Frieda Chen, George Huang, Lucille Lee-Mac's Secretary, "Mac" McDonald Calcutta - 1942 (Photo Courtesy of Jeanne Holder - niece to Frank Higgs) Jeanne, Higgs' niece, called Charlie Uban in May, 1994 (he was 73 yrs. old, who wrote "The Boy from Burma Hump" in the DesMoines Register and later published in Robert Waller's book, "Old Songs in a New Cafe"). He is a former Rep. in the House in Iowa. He said he had 1 flight together with Frank (a DC3, in 1943) to find Anderson's plane which went down near Kunming. They found it in the hills on the way up to Burma. They buried his bones and scratched his name on the propellor. Frank made Uban the captain so he would be paid more for the flight. Frank became the co-pilot. He said there was to be "No drinking 8 hours before flying". They drank to escape pressure. It was not usually a difficult trip from Canton to Shanghai, low flying (but now we know he was TOO low). (All the information above from Charlie Uban.)  Frank Higgs - 1944/5 (Courtesy of Diego Kusak) On October 20, 1945, Frank was flying between Shanghai and Canton, supposedly with some bankers aboard (and much gold and currency); the plane crashed into a mountain, killing all aboard. A newspaper clipping from Manila said there were 20 passengers aboard (Editor's note: I'm trying to find a copy of this newspaper article or other documentation regarding this crash. Can you help?). Dates and Places: July 23, 1939, Dude took a plane to Hanoi August 1939, Saigon to Phom Penh, to Angkor to Siemscap to Aranyu to Bangkok August 13, 1939, he sailed from Bangkok to Singapore (Phnom Penh?) August 23-30, 1939, to Singapore October 1939, Singapore to Haiphong January 4, 1940, in Hanoi - then to Kunming, Yunnan Province, China (Chinese Air Force Cadet School) March 1940, in Rangoon. March 19, 1940, left Kunming on leave to the U.S. visited Columbus and Curtiss-Wright to procure lend-lease planes and ferry pilots for China. Spoke to many groups and schools while there. Returned to the U.S. again in 1943. December 8, 1941, Dude was in Hong Kong and was the first pilot there to evacuate civilians to Free China. He made 16 flights out of Hong Kong, one of 10 American and Chinese pilots who ferried more than 275 people out in two nights. Those he evacuated were Madam Sun Yat Sen and Clare Boothe Luce. On other occassions, Frank flew Wendle Wilke, Madam Chiang Kai-shek and General Chiang. Other names mentioned in Frank's letters and scrapbooks were: Frank Knapke, Pottschmidt's, Hauptmann's, Eleanor Carroll, Harriet Myer, Carolyn Connor, Bob Rengo, Kalva Mi, the Naughtman's, Hessover (The American Consul), Chuck Sharp, Kuke Williams, MacDougal, Bermood, Charlie and Gladys Day, Moosky, Jim Bledsoe, R.C. Moss (Doe Run, Georgia), Co. Royce, Scott, Carney, Dudley, Andy & Mrs. Sargent, Arnold Weir (mechanic), Patty W., Hal Sweet, Mrs. Porritt, Gisele Dupont (in Saigon), Norma Aldrich, Seton Miller, Bonnie Miller (Singapore), The Angle's (Mengtsz in November 1939), Vera Prince, Mrs. Paul Walter Meyer, W.J. Law, louise Connor, Mary Dinsmore, General Chow, Mac McDonald, Nanee(? -male), Marie McCammon 12/31/1937, Dave Fair, Ede Corbin & Marie, Marion Chase (of Detroit), Mrs. Thraves (Mercy's mother) and Charles Sharkey (youngest Captain in CNAC at age 22, at that time). Dude had 6000 flying hours and experienced 20 air raids while in China. CNAC pilots were the first to fly the "Hump". At this time when the Burma Road was bombed out, these pilots were flying supplies across the "hump", through Japanese lines in unarmed planes at night. Dude lived with William C. "Mac" McDonald in an exquisite 4 bedroom, 4-bath apartment for 4 years before Mac married Peggy and Dude married Diana. "Bless Bess", was one of Dude's favorite sayings. American airmen in the Orient said Frank's initials "FLH" stood for "Fly Like Hell". In the 1943-45 log book of Don McBride, Frank listed his home address as:  F.L. Higgs 1286 Fairview ave Columbus 8 Ohio  Diana and Frank - 1944/5 (Courtesy of Diego Kusak) Dude married Diana Barrington Menzies on October 14, 1944, at Scots Church, Calcutta India. Diana was from Edinburgh, Scotland, the daughter of a Scots building contractor who lived in Calcutta. Their wedding and reception was held at the 400 Club in Calcutta. A Russian friend was the chef. A big crowd attended. Diana and Dude spent their honeymoon of two weeks on a houseboat at Srinagar, Kashmir, India. They lived in Calcutta (#3 Lansdowne Road) until the Japanese surrendered and then moved to Shanghai in mid-August 1945. Dick Rossi said that the Japanese were still wandering around the streets with guns, not knowing what to do with themselves. Diana sailed to the U.S. arriving in Seattle, Washington in April 1946. She visited a friend and then traveled by train to Ohio to meet Dude's sister, Alleyne Higgs Jones and family. She ultimately married Jack Dean, was divorced and married again to Richard Sweetman of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Diana died October 14, 1974 (?). Dick Sweetman died about 1980. The following from Jeanne Holder happened on a Family trip to Ohio in May 2000: "I did visit with an 86-yr. old lady in the retirement home in Columbus, Ohio, who dated Frank when she graduated from high school. I actually met her in church in Columbus years ago when I was visiting and they sat next to me. Her husband had a beautiful voice and just on impulse, as I went out of the pew, I said to him, "What a beautiful voice you have, you must be Welsh." He was and he lived near my dad in Southern Ohio and was distantly related. His wife (this 86-er) said she had my grandmother's wedding ring because Frank gave it to her "for safe-keeping" when he went to China and she never knew what to do with it. So she sent it to me. I had a matching one so I wear both of them. Isn't that incredible?"  or would like to be added to the CNAC e-mail distribution list, please let the CNAC Web Editor, Tom Moore, know. Thanks! |
