1940-10-11 — Page 40

THE CHINA MAIL, OCTOBER 11, 1940.-

AIR FIGHT THAT CAME TRUE

"DARKNESS FILLED HIS EYES, BUT IN HIS MIND HE COULD STILL SEE THE FACE OF THE ENEMY GUNNER, RED, AND FOOLISHLY GRIM, AS HE FIRED FROM THE REAR COCKPIT OF THE FIGHTER.

"The wheel went limp in his hands, the strain of months of war, the nag of responsibility, lifted from his consciousness.

17

In those words John Llewelyn Rhys, R.A.F. pilot, described the death of an airman in the last short story he wrote published in the "Sunday Chronicle" less Ihan a month ago.

same

Last week John Rhys crashed to his death an active service. He went out... in the spirit as he had lived. In the same spirit in which he had written in- spiring stories of Britain's air heroes.

In John Llewelyn Rhys-his. real name was Rees, but he adopted a different spelling as. a pen name Britain has lost

one of her most brilliant young writers... and a hero worthy

of his own pen.

"England Is My Village," his last story, which appeared in the "Sun- day Chronicle" on July 14, created widespread interest throughout the country. People recognised it as a true picture of R.A.F. heroism without false sentiment or "heroics."

Foretold Own Death

Llewelyn Rhys foretold his own death in this dramatic ending to the short story he wrote for the "Sunday Chronicle”

ENEMY

BRING

SCRAP

German 'planes brought| down by the R.A.F. are contributing valuable scrap to Great Britain's salvage campaign.

Already many tons of iron, brass and aluminium have been recover- ed from the raiders that have fal- len to our anti-aircraft guns and fighters.

These metals have reached the factories and will soon be used against the enemy in the form of new aeroplanes," bombs, tanks: and guns.

Every 'plane brought down is His vision cleared, and he pull-first examined by officers of the. ed the aircraft level. To his sur-Maintenance Command of the prise the fighters had vanished, R.A.F. They examine the angles and at his side was the squadron of bullet. holes, because this gives Leader's machine which he valuable information to our fighter thought he had seen go down.

pilots. They test the oil and They flew at a few hundred feet petrol. They look for new in- over the sleepy countryside. . . . struments or constructional fea-

tures.

How familiar, he thought. How well I know it all, Truely, England is my village.

When he brought his 'plane in the airfield seemed strangely quiet, He went into the mess.

When Robert saw the other players he stopped in his stride.

There was Nails, who got His on the first show, and Dick, who went down in flames, and Thistle, his Second Pilot, and Badger, who was lost in the North Sea in De- cember,

"Come on!" Badger said. "We're waiting for you.”

"But I thought... ." Robert said.

"I thought

Lived For Flying

One of Rees's most intimate friends told the "Sunday Chroni ele":

"Rees was a typical pilot of the R.A.F. Charming, retiring, round-

He was 30 years old. He lived for flying and writing.

"Son of a clergyman at Arthog, in Merioneth, he joined the R.A.F. seven years ago, and rose to the rank of flight-heutenant.

Then the 'planes are handed over to salvage experts for: transformation into war material.

On a twenty-acre site some- where in England nearly 200 men are hard at work every day break- ing up a constant stream of Ger- man bombers and fighters.'

Here in a mountainous plle lie the grey-green and black bodies of machines that have paid the penalty for daring to

THE FATHERLY NAZI

An American travel- ler who arrived in Lis- bon, from Paris said the French national defence posters had all been torn down and replaced by pic- tures of a German sol- dier carrying a baby in his arms. This bears the slogan, "The Nazis' are the chil- dren's friends."

According to reports from Berlin, Gestapo reinforcements have been sent to Paris and neighbouring districts to help in rounding-up Austrian and German refugees,

attack our. shores. Shattered and broken, these hundreds of 'planes are being tackled by men who sort out the different metals with aledge-hammer and blow- pipe.

First, the instruments are taken out. They are useless to us in their original form, but compon- ent parts can be built into new instruments for our own 'planes.

Graveyard Of Nazi

Hopes

Machine-guns are useless, too, so they have to go on to the iron scrap heap, ready for dumping into the blast-furnace;

Aluminium in German 'planes is of a different type from that used in our bombers and fighters, but it is useful because it can be. melted down and used again.

In this graveyard of Gorman hopes bullet-riddled - wings are used to separate piles of piping and tubing from piles of brass or aluminium. Every day these heaps are spreading over more and more land.

Each pile is 12ft, high and covers from half an acre to an acre. But there is still plenty of unused land waiting for the wreckage of more German 'planes.

HOME GUARD WIN

1s. TOLL BATTLE

FIRST ROUND IN THE Penarth-Cardiff toll-

faced, boyish fresh-complexioned. | road battle has been won by the Home Guard. For the owners, the Marquess of Bute and the Earl of Plymouth, it was stated that until the end of the war Home Guard members on duty, wearing the of- ficial armlet, will be allowed free passage through the gate.

"About four years ago ha tried his hand at writing, writ- Ing about the things he best-the thrill and adventure

of the air...

The fight opened when Mr.1 Frank Morgan, a.Home know

would prefer to go to prison rather section leader, announced that he

than pay a fine of 10s. for refusing i ask the Secretary for War, Mr." to pay the Is, toll.

Guard LANCES FOR L.D.V.

"Apart from many short stories, he wrote two novels with an air theme. The first was **Flying Shadow. The second, "The World Owes Me A Living', is likely to be filmed shortly.

"Just over a year ago he mar ried Miss Jane Oliver, the novel- lat and short story writer."

METAL FROM ZEPPELIN

Lt. Col. Sir Thomas Moore, will

Eden, if he will consider the de-

taken later. Private motorists at mounted local defence volunteers A new step in the campaign was sirability of arming, some of the a meeting at Penarth decided to with lances. calling for the complete, abolition organise a public demonstration

of the toll for the duration.

To Save Petrol. "Our only motive," Mr. Frank Weight of Penarth, said, “is to secure that time and petrol, which are so precions now, shall be sav as much as possible.

"Thousands of gallons of petrol

weapon for many years, although The lance has been an obsolete

the name "lance" is retained for some of the cavalry regiments of the Line now-light tank ori motorised units, and of Yeo- manry..

GERMANS TO GO HOME Some future Spitare may, have in its structure pieces of two Zep-must be wasted every week by The 30,000 Germans living in pelins shot down, one at Potters motorists using the Leckwith road Lithuania are to return to Ger Bar in 1916 and the other off the with its longer route and steep many when the "new political Norfolk coast in 1918. The pleces Penarth have to pay. 29. for every Baltic States and the harvest hill. Buses between Cardiff and | order has been Introduced in the are among aluminium sent to journey over the toll-road. Fares completed," the Cardiff depot.

are therefore, higher than they news agency stated. 'should be.".

BALLOON DAMAGES

CHURCH

Mr. Frank Morgan is still deter- mined to go to prison rather than pay the finc... He said:

*"If it is within my power. I shall A barrage balloon cable became not allow members of the Home *entangled in the pinnacle of a Guard to subscribo-pennies:for the church tower in a, Midland town payment of the fine. Thò whole and brought it to the ground. Nothing is wrong, and I mean to see, one was Infürede s

it through

Page

STOP IN AT OUR SHOWROOM NOW AND TAKE OUT.

A NEW 1940

STUDEBAKER

CHAMPION

FOR A REVEALING, CONVINCING:10-MILE TRIAL DRIVE,

HONG KONG HOTEL GARAGE

Phone 27778-9

Stubbs Road

HANDSPRINGS ETERNAL

"Do you gain merit by standing on your hands, Philip, or are you merely giving your feet a rest?"

whole, course of my life—how to have a good party and feel jolly fit next morning.”

"You're not by any chance refer "Bet you

a good digar you ring to Rose's Lime Juice?" couldn't do it."

“Why have you heard about it too 2."

"The attitude would no doubt be a congenial one for a bat or a sloth, but to my eyes, Philip, it lacks elegance and, moreover, contributes nothing to human progress."

If you must know, I'm celebrating a discovery which will alter, the

BURNS

"Heard about it?..There isn't a man on this continent who doesn't know that. Rose's is a remarkable: therapeutic agent →→ with the exception possibly of one or two odd people who spend their lives standing on their hands."

PHILP LINE Passenger & Freight Service To

AUSTRALIA

We have

a vessel

sailing

· for:

Manila,

Madang,

Salamaua,

Rabaul,

Sydney &

Melbourne

About the

Middle of

October

Excellent passenger accommodation with a large number of single cabins at no supplement. Built- official German in Swimming Bath and Spacious Sports Deck.

Passenger & Freight Agents:-

WOMEN-AS PORTERS.

GIBB, LIVINGSTON & CO., LTD.

indon Transport · Board. ore unsidering the possibility of em Telephone 28031 ploying women as porters on the -Underground Railway.

P.&O. Building.