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1:
THE CHINA MAIL, FEBRUARY 19, 1941.
CHINA MAIL
"WINDSOR HOUSE
"CONFUSIONISM"
Portrait Of A
This is the story of a twenty- two-year-old pilot
who is
now
man who is not regarded as a hero,
(Without
Medal)
By RALPH INGERSOLL
langs "Je suis Anglais. Anglais."
Je suis
must
Hart explained his nasty job, because "Tail-ass-Charlie" fly so fast and throw himself into all such violent, continuous banking
that he is either continually black ing out that is, throwing the blood out of his head until he goes temporarily blind-or com-
flying a Hurricane in a squadron I have In a dispatch from Bel-stationed near London.
chosen it to write out of many grade to "The Times" a that I have heard first-hand be few days ago there ap-cause it is the story of a young peared this comment: ""The
He has never broken up a for- Berlin corres-
ination of bombers single-hand- pondent of the semi- ed-a fleet of Messerschmidts -
Belgan soldiers ran up official Vreme wrote downed two and chased the rest around him, pointing their guns home-as had two of the men at him. Finally an officer came. to-day that high German met who had recently been de- When the officer recognised his I shall not call my un-uniform he told the men to put circles were declaring that corated.
decorated hero by his name be- down their rifles, and came uping close to it. Germany has been Tead-
cause he is very shy, and this and embraced young Hart. ing journalists on' with story will embarrass him enough.
The officer turned out to be rumours of impending
count--cousin of the King of the trouble in the Balkans, so
Belglans, that now they had lost their orientation and had no idea where the expect ed 'decisive' blow from Germany was going to fall."
As it is, I shall call him Pilot Officer Hart, and this is his story her: ---
in as much detail as I can renem-
When the war began he was at Oxford, and had done a little By- ing there under the direction the R.A.F. He went to France shortly after the war began, fy- The fit time be ing a Spitfire was shot down was over Belgium during the retreat
He was in a dog-fight with a
108 at 20,000 Messerschmidt
20.000 feel, breathing oxygen through his mask, watching German as the two 'planes, circled, sparring for an opening.
the
The first thing he remembers is getting what felt like a terrific
This is a good example, of the new technique of propaganda developed to a high art by the Nazis. It consists of spreading half a dozen different rumours to confound the enemy, of turning the other cheek kick in the pants. His plane went while preparing to slay several hundred feet straight the bemused, of display-seconds, he got another kick ing coyness and an ac- the pants. The plane went on and commodating spirit that four or five hundred feet, and glove a murderous intent. It
might be called the technique of "confusion- ism."
"Confusionism" played a very real part in the downfall of France before and during the German armed attack. It is being used on France to-day with a devilish disregard of human feelings but with the same singleness of purpose that has car- ried Nazism thus far. The Vichy Government is told that some
in the air. Then, within a [ew
11
this time, he says, when he look- ed out, his plane didn't have any wings on it.
He sald to himself. "1 don't know what did it, but it is obvi- ously time to get out."
A
By this time he found himself and his fuselage upside down. Tho glass cover to the cockpit if Spitfire slides back. He Was looking down through the closed glass cover to the ground below
hun.
the
Using both hands he got glass hatch free and slid it clear.
Then he expected to fall out. He wanted to fall out.
But he didn'; because he had forgotten about the safety bell.
dropped out sharply and he win 1 began to turn him round. As he arms flew out from turned, his his sides, and he found himself
Looking at his hands,
He says when he saw his hands
What was left of the plane con- tinued to fall upside down. Fin-
remembered of the many ally he
the safety French prisoners will be belt, and he let go the clasp. He released; then the an- nouncement is found to have been premature. The frontier between occupied and unoccupied France is opened a little; then it is closed tight. Rumours are spread that the British people hate the French
After the parachute opened he and care nothing about
found himself sitting there with suffering humanity. no sense of motion. He felt "very Classes are played off, safe and sound," and decided that this was rather a unique oppor- one against another. tunity to look around the coun-
brand
social-tryside. He was still very
A
of
"ge-
he thought very clearly he didn't like them, because they ought fo be pulling the rip-cord on his , parachute. In a kind of rush of panic he looked for the handle of the ripcord, found it and pulled.
high
thing he noticed was that some-
neath hirn He could see puffs were running across a clearing.
soth. Once he
WHS
He said he
was doing quite nicely, except it was late after noon and they were flying east and the sun was right behind him.
Two Messerschmidts with cannon came out of the sun and were o17 his tail before he could do any thing about it,
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