The flying cats of Borneo – apocryphal? Hyperbole? Fantasy? Jungle legend? Imaginary animals?In response to a request from a professor at The University of Iowa: Here at least is one piece of the story of Operation Cat Drop backed by the official record. (For a little background see earlier posts: The great cat drop and The truth about the flying cats.)

Above is the relevant page from the Operations Record Book as compiled by Flying Officer Humphry with the account of the RAF flight that parachuted the cats in their baskets to wage war on the rats. “Over 20 cats” – far short of that mythical and highly unlikely tale of the 14,000 – imagine the herding involved. (So – still missing – approximately13,980 allegedly rounded up, flown and parachuted cats.)
The particular cargo listed in this record was but a sideshow to the wider military operations in Malaya and Borneo during the 1950′s and 1960′s during which British, Commonwealth and Gurkha forces were involved in a protracted light infantry campaign to contain an insurgency.