TINA
ON the day the war started we taxied our Gaunt
let fighters down to the gun-pits, jacked them up into flying position, tethered them to the ground, started the engines and fired the two Vickers guns through the propellers to make sure that the gynchronisation system was working properly.
The rat-tat-tat of the guns combined with the clatter of the radial engines produced exactly the right kind of noise to excite the senses of anyone who had seen the films Hell's Angels or Dawn Patrol.
And the stubby little bi- planes, with their open cockpits get midway between nose and tal, seemed failor-made
Biggles or Errol Flyan.
for
A few days later 1 was climb- Ing away from the airfield
one of those Gauntlets, goggles down; scarf neatly adjusted, confident that anything Flynn, could do. I could do better, when a twin-engined Hampden bomber came alongside and passed me on the climb.
SOUPED-UP
The pilot made a rude and familiar sign as he went by. I opened the throttle wide, but. the big Hampden climbed in- solently and easily away.
At that moment I understood why the older and wiser pilota in the squadron were passionate. ly anxious for our delightful Bitle Gauntlets to be replaced with Hurricanes or Spitfires.
A few of the old-generation bi-plane fighters did go to war, A squadron of Gladiators- souped-up versions of the Gauntlet-fought
in Franec.
And the same type of airplane bad an effective period of activity in the Mediterranean against the Italians,
But against the Luftwaffe in northern Europe and in the Battle of Britain, nothing than the Spitfire and
Hurricane would do.
BIG PART
ss
the
10
The Hurricane, though played a leading part in the Battle of Britain on our side, though in the circumstances of that battle it was able to indict great damage, was in fact ob-
SCRAMBLETON
The story
greatest boʻl¢ of the der.
Part 3
Goering's big mistake
-he misjudged
HUGH
DUNDAS
D.F.C.
čery overrated the effectiveness of their fighters in reistion le
As walk was our own,
-new Buisudros FL) VS. livia'da vizas batulpat
the spirit of the Few
Hurricanes were never again fast enough to evade even the used with success in large scale Hurricane, particularly when
against operations
German operating in formation. fighters.
At
the beginning of
די,
*
in
equivalent number of hits from tracer ammunition.This, our own Browning machine, fact, probably, redounded to our guns. On the other band, the advantage because it could Aring rate of the Brownings war the unwary pilot that he And they were indifferently was much higher, which gave was being shot at and give him the armed. They could rarely a better chance
of fire.
evasive action, Battle of Britain there were 22 bring more than me gun, at a with a short bune of scoring a split-second chance to take squadrons of Hurricanes ready time to bear on an attacking: In one vilal respect the Me But I always thought per-
fighter.
sonally that bullets. you could see were worse than bullets you could not see.
And the spet tacle of yellow noses hosing out orange-coloured tracer unsettling for the nerves.
for action in Fighter Command and 20 squadrons of Spitäres- a total of about 620 planes.
NO FEAR
Another 8 squadrons of Hur- ricanes were forming or re- forming. Of the front line squadrons, 18 were in 11 Group. with a front stretching from in 10 Group, from the Isle Essex to Portsmouth; four were of Wight to Cornwall; 10 were in 12 Group, between Suffolk and Yorkshire; the remaining 10 were in 13 Group, which cover- ed the whole northem area
Yorkshire from
to Calth-
ness and the Orkneys.
109 was at a disadvantage against the British atrplanes. i bould be out-bursed both by the Spitfire and the Hurricane,
Our feelings towards the Messerschmitt 109 - principal single-seater fighter in the Ger man air force-were vary patte
different. There was a little. This was a serious handicap ditty we used to sing to the to the Luttwater pilots allotted tume of "Hold Tight" which the duty of escorting the bom- suramed the situation up. It bers. Their freedom of action began like this:
was curtailed:
"I like Heinkels, 888 too. I like a tasty bit of Stukal
But when those Jerry
planes come down,
I hope it ain't 'à
Messerschmitt
The Me109" was a very effec-
Actoss the Channel, ranged five fighter indeed and it
the They could not purwe isatio best multed to their nir- planes, of 'high-spoed attack followed by dive or zooms.
They hid to try "to" stick around and fight it out.
GARISH
was
There is no doubt, however, that Goering and his comman
LOP-SIDED
COUNTS,
against a total defending for of a tile over 600 gave '■ nice vdegree of superiority—particu- larly, when Hals' remembered that leas then, two-thirds of Dowding's airplanes were at may time within range of the south coast, battle areal › But it was not a degree of superiority which cautious commander would have accepted as sufi. cient for the job in-hand, unless he thought the defending fighters were very much in- ferior to his OWE, BIN
In this lop-sided proportion of fabbers and bombera: máy be found the fundamental · 'rea- son for Goering's failure, step by step, to achieve his objec- lives.
He thought the Hurricanes and Spfifines could be quickly brushed aside.....
both He misjudged.
the the quality of the planes and spirit of the men who flew theen.
Monday:
The killer-punch fail
--London Express Service),“
HIS GAMBLE
PAID OFF!
was a matter of "do or die" for Zü- Kong-Lien when he plunged into the
They never found a way from the Dutch islands to accounted for most of the losses round this problem and their Britany, were two German suffered by Fighter Command difficulties were made all the air fleets under Kesselring and during the battle. It was as greater when Goering, Infuriated solescent by German standards Siperle. Between then, they fast as the Spitfire consider by the losses inflicted on his waters of the Hudson Bay from the ship
in the summer of 1940.
TALKING
POINTS
Poverty, the reward of honest fools.
COLLEY CIBBER.
A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life. -BERTRAND RUSSELL.
London Express Servica).
out-::
nad about 2,400 war-planes in ably faster than the Hurricane bombers, ordered the fighter the front line 1,200 twin- and could out-dive and engined bombers, 280 Stuka climb either. dive-bombers and 950 fighters.
That was the mein enemy force. *
England.
In the squadrons we had no fear whatsoever of the German bombers-eitbe:
single-
HANDICAP
squadrons to stick closer and Southern Venture which was steaming aloser to their escort work.
Into New York harbour...
Many of the Me- 109's were painted a glaring, garish yellow from propeller hub to cockpit,
In addition there was another. sir fleet in southern Norway Its armament was formidable, Although this made them easier consisting of about 190 bombers as many of us were to discover, to see it also made them appear and long-range fighters, ready to There was a canon, Bring more frightening. Rightly or attack across the North Sea explosive shells through the wrongly we imagined that the agalust targets in north-eastern propeller hub. And there were yellow-nose airplanes belonged four or six heavy machine-guns, to some particularly crack for of which two were mounted mation and we sweated more above the engine cowling, than usual when they came
streaking down. great Another alarming feature of which were slow, badly armed damage-much more than the the 109's was that they used and easy meat either for Hurri- cane or Spitfire, or for the heavier twin-engined bombers. These, the Heinkel 111, the Domier 11 and 215 and the Junkers 88, were fast but not
the
Half a dozen shells from engined Stuka dive-bombers, these guns could do
A British Crossword Puzzle
13 14
15 16
B
10
#1
13
14
US
16
17
49.
23
26
ACROSS
1. Cut it out (6)
6 Raised portion (5).
8 Non-alcoholic beverage (5).
9. Allocate a figure. (6).
10 Hyderabad VIP (5).
11 Some strike for them (5).
12 No one wants to make it (4),
13 Ridges in Wales (5).
de Under. it something may
snap (0)
16 Excited to action? (0).
20 That would happen to me.
22 11 may be nailed on (4).
23 Ain't she sweet? (5)
DOWN
1 Any cicce oasembly (8);
2 Mackintosh of Mackintosh,
for instance? (8);
3 May be used for ablutions
(4)
4 Cow-catchers, shall we say?
we (7);
5 Subscriptions are (7).
6 Flags not on poles (6),'%
7 Holy objective. (5),
14 Sat hoped, perhaps, to see
Lily (a).
15 Length of come décoration
(8)
data
10 Surgeons sew them (7)
20 One step just in caso (6)...:17 Spun a yarn to Uncies (7),
Uza A bicycle made for two (6), 18 Not Infringing the rules (3);
21 Act as a wet blanket (8), 21 Cannot be done without (5). 23 This is one of these (5) 24 Most uncommon (4), on 28 Distributor of business
cards? (8)..
.BY. THE WAY
by Beachcomber-
and
That was last December. And since then, he has played hide- and-seek with the immigration authorities in USA.
Sheltered by his compatriots in Chinatown, the man from Hongkong remained free until March this year whest the US. Immigration and Naturalisation Service caught sy with him.
The machinery to deport the legal entrant forcibly was set in motion gate)
+
By David Lan
When the Communists came to power, his hand was still on the plough.
05
They did not brainwash convert him but simply took away his farm.
In 1953, his mother passed
On first hearing the possibility of "voluntarily going back to Hongkong, Lien thought of away. tairing a second plunge into the octenust to drown his 27 years of life and suffering at the bottom of the sea
Sympathy
THE headline, "Pistols Drawn man introducing uproar
by Boarders" has called possible bloodshed into my Out of sympathy, his em- attention to a rather curious dining-salon over a routine mat-ployer, Mr. Joe Young, owner of incident at Mrs McGurgle's er of second portions (the the Shun Wai Restaurant at establishment,
ladies having prior claim over 1042 Northern Boulevard, Roslyn the gentlemeny is too foolish Estates, Long Island, went into She herself, in a statement for serious consideration." action immediately, Issued, claims that the affair has beta much
Mr Young's lawyer, Mr John exaggeraind. Apparently a Mr. Webcraft, an The Motheton mystery, (3) J. Barry, Long Island City, old boarder, Became Incensed
A Queens, contacted his Congress-
Droinian. man, Representative Steven B
when a naw arrival passed up (THIS," said burly George his plate for a second portion Mulph, the village con- of fig pudding before one of the stable, "is a matter for the ladies had finished her first Yard, portion. Mr Weberuft drew his
cigarette-Hghter, which is "Scotland Yard, Detective In- fashioned like a pistol, and spector Malpractice speaking. Yes, Constable. A what?
playfully threatened to shoot ⠀ the newcomer to teach him Imanners,
Mra McGurgle's statement
Mr. Drounian had a trump card up his sleeve that saved Lien from that possible second- and last-lunge into the ocean.
The Congressman introduced a bill in the House, to give Lien In the drawing-room? permanent residence in America. Are you aze it's an elephant? | ?*%
Reason? Lien was the son of Yes, but how did it get a war hero who went donn there? Perhaps it has just with the Pacle fleet cruiser fainted
No, no. Get a USS Houston mink by the vel. Try the Zoo, Japanese In World War 11. UT of this incident," says Murderod? Any maries of "OUT of the densation violence?
Had Lien's father survived, be Right. Don't let
would have been automatically mongers have invented a scene anyone touch anything in the
granted American citizenship.e unbridled violence more house. Question the staff.
But which would have extended to suitable to the Iceland fisheries I'll be right along” izbrat
his son FUN FARSAIRE than to a reputable boarding- house colebrated for its high
The bill, however, could not be class cuisine and its smooth Malpractice was on his way to acted on by Congress in session running. Mr Webcraft is Motheloc in his Thanatos Six a month ago... mild man Interested in old
Five minutes later Jack
coins," and the Idea of such a This is very tiresome....
TARGET
words of
How many ETE to ar Letters
ARM
OF MOTE CAD -
from the letters: In
the square mozga inh,the-left-7-
each Award;
"A
A plea
To lide over the period, Mr Dromian made a 'special plea to
66 AGNES" cried, the marquis, the House Judiciary Committee "you have given new who asked for a full report meaning to my "Hey!
on the case from the Immigra made a pretty grimace, and at fort and Naturalisation Service/ that moment (Turn to page 22-The Committee, also requested
Prodnose: This is most aggra-y vating and misteriing
Myself:. It encou
to read the paper more
kamena i buksichten, by stimulating their interé
the small matures" rody: be nied
curiosity.
once on 7. Each work 1-0 (Londen Eryrga
tain the large letter in the cellre
sunare, and there, mat--be: #1;")
an aine-icier word in the
Tok words el 80-ptapes names
TODAY'S, TARGET EN
YES DAYS CROSSWORD, Arosa Busman, 534,on
8 Láze Coffer, 11 Anaul, 12Ttered. 14
Terms," 28" Temper, Dowar-1 Back,
• Meadows, 6 Tonsme, “7 Reloads 10 Fiend,
13 Ostlers 17 Older 18 Intách, 21-keb, 22 Roer
Chess News
So, with his brother, Wal-kong Lien, and his sister, Lee-chew Lien, young Zu-kong found his way to Hongkong after a fort- night of trekking and hitch- hiking.
Lien's wife foined him later. Jobless, Zu-kong went to sea, working on a number of ships.
The last vessel be salled on was the Southern Venture of Panamanian registry--a name symbolising his adventure out of the South China Sea,
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