1941-01-24 — Page 11

DONALD DUCK

OH, BOY!

SAVED BLAZING PLANE, GETS V.C.

"THE plane was on fire and by the time my whiskers wore singed It looked as if it would blow up. We made for our parachutes, but when I got mino I found it was on fire too."

This is part of a letter Biome in which. Sergeant John Hannah, an R.A.F. wireless operator, tells how he won the V.C.

Hannali, who is only 18, in the youngest recipient of the

nieco the war began,

V.C.

Bingle-handed, he extinguished fre when the plane was hit by anti-aircraft Are over Antwerp on September 19, after the rear. gunner and navigator had baled bul.

The plot, who brought the machine aately home, huas niready been awarded the D.F.C.

"I am really lucky to be alive." Bays Sergeant Hannah's letter.

"The plane was a blazing maxs, and a terrific target for the Ack. Jack.

Quick Thinking

"I did some quick thinking and started throwing out the daming

max.

"During this time ammunition]

SERGEANT J. HANNAI

The official nccount of Sergeant

Jon the 'kile was going off 10 allannah's work cays he forced harj

penny and the heat was terrife.

Finally I got the Are out and

we limped homo and landed at bur basc.

way through the flames to'get two extinguishers, with which hd fought the fire for 10 minutes."

When these were empty he continued to beat out the flames with his log book. Meanwhile thousands of roundi Ammunition were exploding

"I hear that AA, chiefs- and RA.P. officers have been having the 'kito' photographed from all jangles, and I have had so many

visits from the big shots that I am of beginning to feel quite a big shot(inside the aircraft. myself.

Heat from the Bre was so intense

I have been congratulated on that all the aluminium sheet metal ponduct. It seems to have been the on the floor of the cockpit was first time a fire has been put out melted away, leaving only Lad In the air.”

"cross_benrcza.

Crossword Puzzle

ACROSS

-Riained with blood

-Former Conitai

American netird 10-now vonials 1-Melody

16-Girl's BEME

10 Whit's opponent

17- éklaride

1-08 12

1-Ireland

20-olds in garmen!

21-Lofty place.

26-Toothed wheel

25-Arrest

17-Acted as female

parent

Character 24

snakespeare's

•Twelfth Night"

J-Province to India

30 Scene of action

J-At prezent

30-Lock over

10-Permit ta live #1-Boon

42-Bardigla (abbr)

43—in lealand, enda of Norse papihenn 44-Yas

lovrat naval com- misaloned officer

43-Pilled with booty

of plants

tahl-and

-More Armly

supported

50-ield under faasa Bo-Buspend

1-Food in general -lind mammal

2 B

By LABS'MORRIS data

ANSWER TO

PREVIOUS PUZZLE'

64-Cenus of Old

World platila

65-Bound in Trasaiage

se lord

-Hound toy 81--Military meal

-Catcher of eela 69-Kind of rem

DOWN

Ulter brokenly Verbal 5-MARO KIKTY 4—Turklah sword

5 6 17 18 19

29

Bo

35

52 53

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49

WO

ཨི ཨི ཇ

-Ancient nomen

emperor

Bila Dama 3-teligious crfemony

Luted articles -Mate vates 10-Inbus thoroughly li--Without terenda 12-Ancient and

navian navigator 13-Unit of forza 21-Are hill to ater-

nowing

- Dame 25-listresta

27-Dimicat shot in

Lydia

26-Cue of very ancient

Inti

-Absolute ruler 30-Draw water from 33-That blen

within

of cope

J-1000ed

37-Made mistake 40-Exhibiting sound

judgment 4-Negro tribe of Congo

-Old

(4-County in Nebraska 44-Visible representa

LON

4-Hat ke warm a 60-Eagle's fest

- Latsety

A-Glory

recian seaport $5-pool

A1-Cleansing agent 88-cilppa name

3-MER! Arcluted valley 02-Year of life

110 # 12.73

75

19

£23

132 33

34

56

57

162

63

15857

Friday,

HONGKONG TELEGRAPH

YE TREASURE MAP

GO EAST JON MAIN, TURN TO YE RIGHT LEFT..

BUCK

MAIN

January 24, 1941. By Walt Disney

STORE

YE |TREASURE

CHEST SALE LAST DAY

A TREASURE

OF

BARGAINS

Birth of The SPITFIRE

mono-

Britain's "Spitfire" figh- ter was really born 15 years ago! It began its amazing career in 1925 as Supermarine S4 plane, designed and built, to take part in the Schnei- der Trophy race off Balti- more, U.S.A., and piloted by H. C. Baird.. 'plane, after setting up a

The

the speed course of seven rounds totaling 217 miles,

What appeared to be a silver bird dancing in the sunlight was the senplane banking round the first pylon off Bembridge. Across the open sea it dashed to. West Witter-

by

the age of 11 sold newspapers, on the streets of his home town,

•

+

The "Spitfire" was evolved by the late Mr R. G. Mitchell, chief engineer and designer of the

Supermarine Aviation

Works, Southampton.

record of 226 m.p.h., crash. Arthur Lamsley easingly,

el in a test flight before the contest.

Two years later the Air Ministry took the

up Schneider Trophy chal- lenge through the Royal Air Force. In the contest off Venice Flight-Lieuten-

Webster ant

the Trophy for Britain in. Supermarine S5 with a speed of 281.65 m.p.h.

won

Flying Officer Waghorn, R.A.F., won the Trophy again in 1929 in an improved Super- marine S6 at a speed of 328.63 m.ph. During the same year I watched Squadron Leader Orlebar, now Director-General of Training at the Air Minis- try, create a world record of 357.7 m.p.h. with the same machine.

Came 1931-the last of the Schneider contests when Bri- tain won the Trophy out- right, with three successive

wins.

✩

The day of the great race arrived, September 12. But what a day! Visibility was reduced to about a mile with blinding rain and mist, and the wind howled half a 'gale. A more unfriendly day for high speed racing could not be imagined. The rules provid ed for unfavourable weather, and the international racing officials abandoned the race till next day.

Sunday, September 13-un. lucky number to the super- stitious, but the luckiest day in British aviation-dawned a magnificent day, sun-flooded und with a visibility of over 15 miles. Huge crowds of spectators lined the shores of South Hampshire and the northern coast of the Isle of Wight.

In the testing area off Cai-

ing, off Chichester Harbour, rose higher, swooped down round the next pylon and on along the 14 miles' leg of the course fringing Southsea and Portsmouth towards the pylon in the Solent.

M

2727

Lieutenant Boothman flew superbly. His machine was steady as it hurtled through the air at 343 milles an hour! He shattered the world's lap record in this first round..

Round after round he flash- ed by the spectators, flying so low that his figure could be seen crouching in the cockpit. The crowd could never have realised a fraction of the colossal strain on the pilot in this dash through the air, faster than any man had ever flown in a distance flight.

In exactly 38 minutes 22 seconds, at an average speed of 340 m.p.h, Flight Lieuten- ant Boothman won the Schneider Trophy for Great Britain, and presaged-the. "Spitfire" fighter. A few days later Flight Lieutenant George Stainforth in the same winning monoplane created the world's record of 407.5 m.p.h., in a series of dive tests from a height of 15,000ft, into a messured mile in Spithead.

The "Spitfire" had arrived! All the experience gained in these Schneider Trophy con- tests was embodied in the pro- duction of the single-seater fighter which was to become the wartime terror of the air. It was powered with Rolls- Royce engines designed by the late Sir Henry Royce, who at

Only 30 years old when he designed the first Super- marine S4, he laboured un- with undaunted courage against falling health, for a dozen years during which he successfully re- designed his first creation and made it possible for,a British machine to attain a world record with a speed of 407' m.p.h.

It was

a great blow to British aviation when he died suddenly at the early age of 42, a few months before the delivery of the first fighter. Squadron of Spitfires to the Air Ministry in July, 1938.

Designer Mitchell, although born at Stoke, made his home in Hampshire, and the "Spit- fire" is a Hampshire machine, created, perfected and pro- duced in the works оп the northern shores of South- ampton Water.

Over 1,000 years ago King Alfred founded and built the firat British Navy on this same bit of Hampshire coast.

Alfred's ships cleaned up the invading Danes in a West Solent battle in 897 A.D. and established the beginning of British nea power:-"Spit-- fire" fighters, arriving 1,043 years after, are to-day shoot- ing down invading German bombers in the skies over these same historie. English waters.

Recently over Spithead and the Solent it might almost have been a repetition of the Schneider Trophy races when squadrons of "Spitfires" were hurtling through the air after German bombers, sinking one every minute with the fire from eight machine guns,

History repeats itself to those who invade Britain's shores.

Some New War Means

Are Old To

have

Magicians

psychle phenomena more

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Don't leave it

to

the other

fellow;

are without

shot Castle in Southampton MAGICIANS tricks than Foundation," Mrs Houdini says.

A

Water a small silver sea- plane waited near the start- ing line, rising and falling un easily on the short, choppy waves. One o'clock came, gun boomed! A dull roar followed immediately, and B. great splash of spray told that Flight Lieutenant Boothman, R.A.F., England's first choice of pllot, had taken the air.In Supermarine S-0B.

His mighty engine, sensitive to the touch of his fingers, roared as the seaplane took off, circling at about 150ft, then landing gracefully, skim- ming the shimmering blue water like a great gull. It was a magle moment. The crowds within sight gasped as they watched the seaplane again riso suddenly whon Lieutenant Boothman opened his engine full throttle and flashed the starting-line into

ever this season, but without a' single exception they are based on known physical foundations that can be mas- tered by anyone with a proper training in. legerdemain, nc- cording to Mrs. Harry Hou- dini, who has just returned to her home in Los Angeles from a round of conventions of the Pacific Coast Association of Magicians.

"It is a mistake to teach children superstitions about supernatural phenomena,'

says the widow of the man who was world famous for his illusions, and who spent much of his lifetime exposing and debunking the so-called "su+. pernatural."

"Master magicians with few ex ceptions are franker to-day than they've ever been in admitting that even their most mystifying per- formances have natural explana~ tions, and that all forms of alleged

spent

Magicians

considerable time at the conventions discussing the extent to which nations at war are now using some of the most spectacular tricks of the trade.

Mrs Houdini says It was her husband who taught the inventor of the rip-cord parachute how to fold huge pieces of silk into a small package, a trick first demonstrated on the singe of the Hippodrome Theatre in New York.

Prior to the World War, Houdlul himself

gave to the Navy Depart ment a diving suit which he per

seted for one of his acta,

For a number of years, magi- clans have startled their audiences with "devil fire," harmless looking bits of paper that suddenly burst into flames, a devico reported to have been scattered in large quan- titles by war planes, in Europe recently.

Camouflage is but a large scale adaptation of principles known and practiced by magiclons for cen- luries, according to Mrs Houdini, and even recent stories of new "Invisible paint" applied to nero- plane are "old stufr" to profes alonal prestigilators.

he's doing his share.

Send your donation to

War Fund; South China Morning Post, Ltd.

Total at 23-1-41

$1,550,081.56

Remitted to London

£96,389.19.64