THE "SALVATION NAVY"

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 75, 25 May 1943, Page 6

THE "SALVATION NAVY"

HAS SAVED MANY AN AIRMAN'S LIFE Wings drone over the coast. Britain is carrying hostilities across the Channel. And as the hum of aerial legions, drills down from five miles up the war correspondent standing next me at the cliff-top vantage point murmurs ''There they go!" "They" are two high-powered motor boats painted a virulent yelloAV— units of the "Catch 'em as they drop" brigade manned by Royal Air Force volunteers. Personnel of the little publicised Air-Sea Rescue Service, in their hands rests the safety of British and Allied (and even German) airmen shot down into the sea Hanking Britain's tormented shores. And the sight of dartlike motor boats creaming at 40 miles an hour across t/lie Channel has caused many a youthful air fighter suspended over the ever-grasping waves by a slowly descending 1 arch of white silk to mutter a silent prayer of thanks to the "Salvation Navy."

I remember the "old days" when airmen shot doAvn into the sea took their chance of rescue. Balcd-out pilots Avere two a penny during the. Battle of Britain. Many of them plunged into the sea after their flaming, petrol-laden. Avinged mounts Parachuting down from 20,000 feet or more, pilots had ample, time to wonder if a naval auxiliary or an ancient, tub-like fishing boat mantied. by longshoremen Avould resell them in time.

It Avas infuriating to see lionhearted representatives of "the fcAv" drifting seaAvards in the Avake of stricken planes, to measure the distance between chugging, spluttering "round the. lightship, sir," motorboats of i}re-Avar jays and thei approximate spot, where perhaps a Wounded airman Avoukl "land" to see him splash into the briny, to knoAV that Avavclets slapped into his mouth, and to know that there, was nothing one could do but Avatch Some old tub "racing" to l his rescue.

Many pilots Avere rescued by naA r al auxiliaries and fishermen's boats; but I think many valuable lives Avere lost simply because rescue did not materialise in time.

The spring of 194.1 altered all that. For it witnessed the establishment of Air-Sea Rescue Service bases at strategic points along the coast. And personnel of the A.-S.R.S. have done sterling work, sometimes hurling up the spray literally under the noses of. German coastal guns to rescue Allied airmen from death by drowning or from capture by the enonj', and to deny the Luftwaffe the continued services of a valuable pilot by scooping him from the sea and rushing him back across the straits as a prize! John Citizen Helps The "Salvation Navy" calculates in split seconds. For where lives are at stake every moment counts.— which is the reason for its ex;tj*aordinary efficient "intelligence, service." Rescue bases are connected by telephone to flanking military and naval establishments and aerodromes to Home Guard posts, police and coastguard stations, and through civil telephone exchanges: to Mr and Mrs John Citizen themselves. The appearance of mushroom-like blobs; following long bursts of cannon gunfire, sets the wires humming. Aboard rescue craft the phone tinkles: "Parachute drifting in Square X. Believed Hurricane. South westerly prevailing wind. Proceed to rescue." As the connection is vipped from dockside telephone plugs, ropes splash into the sea, powerful engines roar into noisy life, propellers thrash and grip the water, and ass quare sterns settle deep into a welter of foam, two trim craft, race Channelwards. Rescue nets at the "ready" Lewis gunners clinging to shelving decks, their skippers scan blue heavens for the white blobs their binoculars seek. With 'luck, the baled out pilot will be "caught as he drops"! It strikes one as strange tSiat A.-S.R.S. craft should wear 3'ellow paint. WII3- not the standard service grey? The answer is: Yellow stands out more clearly against seascape background than any other colour, and Salvation Navy boats are meant to be seen! Yellow has been adopted by both sides as the colour of rescue craft. But it must not be thought yellow has proved an insurance against enemy attack. Oh no! The Salvation Navy has been gunned I'm told it's been gunned by enemy airmen even while rescuing German pilots from (Continued in next column)

almost certain death! One young airman seaman said: "Remember the. pre-war days when seaside, tourists were entertained by daredevil pilots 'bombing' speedboats with soot bombs? The. speedboats took avoiding action. Well, 60 do Ave Avhen Jerry guns chatter. Only there's a difference. Unlike pre-war speedboats, we can hit back." One. can imagine the feelings, of the Messerschmitt pilot hauled nn- '■ ceremoniously froni the sea by the Salvation Navy men lie strafed! Needle-and-Haystack Hunt In blue, skies parachutes are visibile at tremendous heights. And— Hun airmen willing—it is a simple matter to rescue their burdens within seconds of 'chutes spreading over the water. The other day a rescued Spitfire pilot, shot down by tA\o Messerschmitts said: "My pants Were barely Avet when I Avas Avhippccl out of the Avater!" But at night, or in foggy Avcather: That's a very different matter. "Square X" may comprise many square miles of -heaving sea. Somewhere "out there" a pilot, flounders in a Mae West lifcjacket, or an aircrcAv huddles in a collapsible dinghy. Yet A.-S.R.S. craft have an exceptionally high aA'cragc of rescues eA'cn at night. Salvation Navymen brave many dangers. Recently, Dover's high speed launch base's CO. ay as. decorated for persistent rescue efforts, despite frequent enemy aerhil attack, shelling by German long-range gunners, and the. ever-present menace of mines. To-day, coastal Avatchers connect the sudden departure of straits rescue craft Avith coming Royal Air Force fighter sweeps over France. [n mid-Channel they await, returning bomber and fighter squadrons. They follow in the Avake of winger planes—just in case., and many a pilot struggling to keep ■ his machine on an even keel lias cast thankful glances at the little yelloAV craft with Lewis guns at the ready as they scoot along 20,000 feet below. Most rescues are effected by nets. But more than one wounded pilothas thanked the airman-seaman avlio dived into the icy sea to hold, his chin aboA'e water while tender hands reached OA'er the side. One young Salvation NaA-yman said: "I joined the Royal Air Force to get me wings. Sometimes I think it's me water wings I've got!" Air-Sea Rescue Service personnel are trained in first aid; officers are permitted to give morphia. And. if it were not for the Salvation NavA-'s persistent endeavours to rescue shot doAvn airmen, the. morphia, the Avarm blankets, tots of liquor, and gentle hands carried by the little yellow marine "darts," many a fighter pilot, many a Avhole aircrew still harrying the enemy Avould have, been <lenied Britain by the sea.