1956-12-01 — Page 6

Page."6

THE... CHINA MAIL, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1956. --

THE C.O. WAS STRUGGLING IN THE SEA... COULD THE YOUNG PILOT HELP HIM?

IT MEANT DEATH

BUT STILL

D

HE BALED OUT

URING my own ex-

his farkard. The locals at his perience as a fighter favourite pub knew The Trick pilot I personally witnessed hundreds

of acts of extraordinary

heroism. But now

20171

But casual visitors not quite a stock.

Legend had it that Geof Warts took a glass of sioul, wih hla

bath arx

going to tell you the story med of a squadron commander atter H. and a young Australian pilot, neither

ever met.

תיתי את

J cigar immediately

I

of whom tough. He was 1150 4

He was not only

ROY Unl leader

of men.

IL IM a story of great bravery and deliberate, cold. blooded sacrifice.

گردی

• Group Captain J. E. Johnson, DSO & 2 bars, DFC & bar, the top-scoring Allied fighter pilot of the war, con- tinues the story of the battle as ho saw it. Today—the drama of a pilot's deliberate, cold-blooded sacrifice.....

eneiny shipping to the west of Tuff switched on his rudio the Channel Islands.

and wald:-

Disaaler overtook the 50મી

10 miles dron about Jale

west Guernsey They were still flying only a few feet above the sen in their wide, search formation, when the engine of the leading Typhed cut and Warnes said..

"I'm going to ditch."

It was one of those dreary

day's

the February winus There was no blue sky, mid no high paintsuโปร clouds drifted across wile horizons. It was the sort of day plots bate, when eleud and sea merge int. diary, grey, yielding blanket, and a flight over the ssa meant a lot

Telmanent work leader.

It so impressed me at the time that. I jolted down the bare facts in my Recently 1 have checked them from official records and from the people who still remember.

Geoff Warnes, from RI accounts, was a robust and cheerful character. He join ed 268 Squadron as a pilot officer in 1941. Just over he was corn-

a year later manding the squadron, and he was wearing both the D.S.O. and the D.F.C.

A LEGEND

HE had poor eyesight. But the

doctors had fixed him up with contact lenses, and as one of his party tricks he would loosen the lenses and let them drop into

for

SACRIFICE

IT way bitterly cold. Below the clouds the seu looked blerk and choppy-so cold that a pilot would be dead In less Than hour unless

1.:ul. So

choppy that the

fine dinghy which fighter pilots enrried clipped vlake harn avush,

to their para- would oOLL

ive

Warts led nae Typhoons to Burnwbeer at first light. From there they took off for a fighter

стелеу coust

ever France, but low sno clouds over the mude Warnes abandon the planned operation. Sooner than return <mpty-handed he decided to keep low and have a look for

The vigil pilots vireled their adter One pilot climbed up a few hundred feet and gave a long transmission for the air- sea Pesque

Good organisation, xes were obtained from the wirele's receiving stations Middle Waliop and Exeter.

^

"I think the C.O.'s hurt and can't get to

I'm his diughy. going to bale out and help hlan

Lom

Sumcone shouted: "Don't be a blondy fool." Back in the op

the controller verheurt. some of the puols' conversation? and alerted the rescue organisa- Vion.

Tuff ekbot a few hundred feet and baled out,

The visibility

at

worsened.

Australian young

pilot, Flylu: Officer Tull, who had been a inember of the squadron for eight months, flew low over the ditched Typheon and

his squadren commander swim- ming towards what looked Hike a half-submerged dinghy.

There

was T

Ilok. There

was no sudden decision

suddenly Although Le Typhoons circled for another 30 ninults, neither pilot was ever seen again

MY

PROBLEM

4

"He saw his squadron commander swimming towards a half-submerged dinghy.”

ww on

turn out to be a Hun. It was a

A simple gesture. But for me As usual, the Fortresses were This action was received with 1 could hardly believe that it had

deep

uncomfortably significance, dead on time. They few toward several

well this unknown alteraft) would The flashes were sewn on and

of fire and two years were to clipse before It was time to take them down,

From that day a mutual bond HAD served with plenty of

of confidence WTS established between me and the Comadiun Donunion pilols

before my fighter

pilota. We flew and

a converging course, directed bursta beautiful and stately, keeping à hastily ordered our withdrawal brave Hin who would have the good balanced formation.

to a safe position.

posting 83 Wing Leader at fought together almos! daily, were no enemy fighterTS, There Kenley. But that had been In and the Wing's score of kills

in the mixed squadrons, with pilots of mounted steadily. treat of battle. There was only severni nationalities. the struggling man, who Word contact lenses, In the cold sea, the eight circling Typhoons, and Horrowbeer, 90, mijes away.

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During that summer the Now I found mystif facing American daylight bombers the problem of dealing with mounted their massive, gallant, three squadrons manned exclu- sively Canadians,

Canadian unlis, I know, hud a reputation for toughness — in more ways than one. They could | be magnificent. But they could

also be awkward.

Could I hold them? Would they accept me, an Englishman, as their leader in place of the Canadian wing commander

whose job I was taking?

I was "on approval” for about three weeks from the day in and sustained attack against the March 1943 when I arrived at Reich. Often it was our job to Kenley. During that time cover their withdrawal. weather was bad and operations were limited,

Was

over

It

Then we saw the 100's too. They were preparing to carry out the dangerous but effective head-on attack.

I turned.

trylog to draw # bead on the leading 190, Bul 1 was too inte. The second Hun was in range and I gave him a short burst. Then he, too, was gone, and I completed my turn

into

It had been quite a trip amusing even in retrospect, And.

we cama miraculously, oul of it without casuallies. But next time the outcome might prove more serious. I decided to do something about it.

to

So I flew

some of the American bases and spent the dght at one of them. It was

OUT OF THE SUN: PART 4-

By JOHNNIE JOHNSON

nerve to stalk a wing of Splt- fres in clear, blue sky, Wally called again--

“Grrycrp, he's gaining on ús. He's not much more than 1,000 yards now. It's a:190!"

"Take your number two and break fito, him when you're ready" ordered, "But don't wait too long!"

A tew seconds clapsed during which we ll “continued to fly straight and level: to draw on the unsuspecting Hun. Then Walter sang out

"Blue two, break right, now!" And I turned the rest of the Canadians to watch the unequal fight between our two 8pitäri and the bold, pilot of the 190.

BALE OUT?

BUT the gheny pilot had scen the stream of enemy as I had suspected. They did

the two Spitfires break away fighters behind Focke-Wulf not want a close escort, prefer- from our information, and number three but presumably ring a fighter BTIEN thrown he half-rolled and dived down in front of Focke-Wulf number well ahead and to the flanks. towards Dunkirk with Wally' and four.

his wingmat, Flight-Sergeant i was abic to report these Shouldice, streaking efter him,

This Wie 11 new kind of details to 11 Group and from combat.

then on new, muually efficient

tactics were evolved.

One of our first operations of this nature involved meeting Then, one fine Saturday after-

the American force noon in April, I got my chance. Antwerp and bringing the An operation was laid on involv- bombers home from there. ing the bombing of Abbeville

I gave the 190 ahead of me a exceptionally

deep

long airfield

burst cu by

cannon fire. One day in August we were a squadron of w

penetration and so we innded at Simultaneously I Typhoons, led by my old friend Manston,

saw puffs of part of a fighter force covering A big grass airfield bluish

of a masalve and colleague Denils

smoke whipping back the withdrawal Crowley- Milling. I was ordered to take at the North Foreland, to tap from his gun ports as he fred, Flying Fortress rald against the

up our fuel tanks before setting nose-tp-nose, at the leading Mo

Musserschmitt factory. The two of my Canadian equadrons out.

Fortres. I know that the same Americens had taken a ham- kind of things must be going on mering and their formations,

constant attack, just behind me and hoped sin- under

were cerely that my Canadians were spread over a large area of sky alive to the dangers of our us they came out over position as this mixed bunch of Dutch coast, friends and does hurtled toward

over France as the Typhoons came out. Our job won knock

.

down any Messerschmitter SOME PARTY! Focke-Wulfs flushed by the bombing

Things worked out well. With

first-rate

the help of some radar controlling I got my squad rons into position to "bounce" big gaggle of Focke-Wulf 190's, I knocked one down myself and re the Canadians scored five more kla between them.

FLASHES

NEXT morning Syd Ford, the of 403 Squadron, walked into my office. He laid a pair of blue Canadian shoulder flashes on my desk and said:

OUR friends and rivals, the

Biggin Hil

had Winz,

same pur- landed there for the poso While our Spitfires were being fuelled I chatted with their leader, the indomitable Al One of New Zealand's De experts,

Al destructible as well as in- domitable. In the process building up a large score during the Battle of Britain he was shot down seven times,

was in-

the oncoming American bom- bera,

WATCH HIM

the

Fortressés

We watched the three fighters until they became mere specks and were swallowed up by the early evening haze, Someone called up and said:

"Greycap, two explosions on the ground

I called up Conrad:--- "You all right,' Walter?" - An answer came back over the radio. It was from Shouldice, and he spoke very quietly:

"Greycap from blue two, I've collided with blue leader. I thinic he's gone inl? D

"How's your Spit, Shouldice?" * 1 asked.

"My right aileron has gone end some of the wing-tip, She's -very hard to control, Over" I had to give him some

My personal Focke-Wulf hak- rolled on to his back, still firing.

damaged TWO flow multi sondes broke away from the main upside down and still sending about bursts after him. I dared stream and few westwards vice at once, Either to climb not think of the shambles that parel to the enemy coast.

pad bale

ad-

out over France

was going on behind. The Yanke They were avoiding the long

or to try to get back to were firing at one and all.. A sõn crossing. But they wore England. If he baled out over great dead of lead was being sitting ducks for any prowling France he would probably sproged about this particular bit enemy fighters,

be taken prisoner in this strongly of.sky.

HE DIVED

· Into a 'voriloni dive and I

I decided to sweep through held coastal belt. But this did the danger area with them. not matter: the main thing was

A few minutes after setting to save the

pilot, The

Spitare course Walter Conrad, one of was badly damaged and it was the flight commanders in my unlikely that it could be down back to England: för a-, Kate

Now he told me of the party to end all parties being planned by Biggin's famous station com- mander, "Sailor" Malan, to celebrate the station's 1,000th kill. I asked him not to forget "The boys would like you to us when sending out invitations 2 100 in front of me wont Lorinetion, transmitted:

"Greycap, there's one lone landing. I called Shouldice and wear theso. After all

we're u and reminded him that I had half-rolled back into normal aircraft behind. Six o'clock. tried to sound reassuring and Canadian wing we've

got to some very thirsty Canadiana. Sying poaltion. My Spitfires were

About the same height and two

cheerful: convert you. Better start this Then it was time to go, "Sco

"You'd miles Away

better head passing through

Looks like he's Way."

France, you over Antwerp, All"

Climb to 10,0▼ Zeet boxes of Fortresses of a high trailing us Fate or knots. I waggled my

and bale out. We'll cover you, #AIL right, Walter 1 Over." As it turned out we saw

wings violently to show the plied. "Easo out a bit and plenty over Antwerp that day.

unmistakable Spitfire allhouette, keep an eyo on him.”

"Thanks, Syd,"

I replied. "I'll get them sewn on today.”

MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN

FRIEND

OR FOE?

HE'S MY OWN

GUARD. LET. HIM DOWNT

WHEW- I'VE NEVER

SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT!

succcadive

ARE YOU ---

CONVINCED NOW THAT MANDRAKE CAN HANDLE

HIMSELF. INTANY SITUATION?:

By Lee Falk and Phil Davis'

IAM YOU'RE THE}/ TELL ME

MAN FOR THIS...

MISSION, IF

WHAT IT IS.

YOU WANT IT.

301

(Confluued on Fare 7, Col

There's More than Magic in

CADBURY'S

It is Perfection

into