THE EMPIRE'S WAR ACTIVITIES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 05, Issue 92, 17 August 1942, Page 3

THE EMPIRE'S WAR ACTIVITIES

LONE BRITISH FIGHTER PILOT CAPTURES GKHMAN E BOAT: An amazing duel in the Mediterranean was reported rccenTy in which a British fighter pilot lost his plane but returned safo'y in a captured German E-boat. "Whilst on a recon na'si-nr.fe he- spot'ed the K.-x : at "snooping around." Milking rcpr-ated low level attacks he spray. d the E-boa'L with bullets from stem to stern, putting her jinn turret out of action. Realising he had no possible chance ' I making has- he "landed" his plane almost alongside the te-boat, sera milled out of the cockpit, swam to \\C? E boat aml climbed aboard her. There he found most of the crcw killed and the-remainder wounded. A few mi miles tinkering enabled him to start the engine and gave him iho very pleasant experiencing of piloting a German E-boat into an Allied harbour.

j repatriated men

DISCREPANCY IN NUMBERS EXCHANGED BRITISH AND ITALIAN No conditions wore attached to the exchange of certain non-combat-ants and seriously injured prisoners of war recently made between. Britain and Italy, and which has resulted in the return to New Zealand of 2(5 officers and men of medical units. Major T. de Clive Lowe, N.ZaVI.C, who was among those Avho returned, .said that as far as he knew all were at liberty to return to service. In the case of the injured, all were so disabled as to be incapablc of remaining in the x \rmy. The basis on which the exchange was arranged was. a complete mystery to him, said Major Lowe. All he knew was that one day the commandant of the camp he was in asked him to inform the three New Zealand Mcilical Corps colonels in tire camp that the four of them had been nominated lor exchange. Only live British doctors were repatriated—the four New Zcalandcrs and an Irishman. From the Middle La'st the British repatriated 75 Italian doctors. There was an equal discrepancy- in the lolal number of officers and men repatriated by each side. Aboard the Italian hospital ship Grandisca, in which lie travelled, there were 1'3!) British and Dominion soldiers. ]'n the British hospital s 111 j > Llandovery Castle there were '.mJI Italians. The exchange was effected at Smyrna, with Turkish officers as intermediaries.

Giant Carro,t Exhibited in the Beacon office was a giant carrot grown by Mr J. Cannell of. Te Teko. The monster was of the Matchless White variety, weighed 7%lbs and measured some 24 inches from crest to tip.

St. John Ambulance Meetings Permission has been granted »thc Whakatane branch of the St. John Ambulance Association to hold its monthly meetings in the Borough Council Chambers on the 4th Monday evening each month.