UNSUNG TOILERS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 4, 7 September 1943, Page 6

UNSUNG TOILERS

AIR FORCE WORKMEN

VITAL GROUND DUTIES

(Official Correspondent) Guadalcanal

A generous share of the credit for enemy aircraft destroyed, and enemy shipping shadowed and reported upon by New Zealand fighter and bomber units operating from Guadalcanal,, belongs to the ground staff, men of a dozen technical trades who keep the Dominion's warhawks and Hudsons ready for the air. And the pilots and air crews, generally are the first to concede their complete dependence upon the unsung and usually gi'imy individuals who groom their aircraft for war. The modern aircraft embodies infinite complications in design, and there arc few men anywhere qualified to deal with engine, airframe and, all auxiliaries. Instead, individual airmen are trained to a complete knowledge of separate components, and a whole team of specialists is required to keep a warliawk or a Hudson airworthy. Ground crews work under all manner of trying conditions in the tropics, for the bombers must be ready to perform missions whenever called upon, and the fighters may be required by the American controllers at a few minutes' notice, wet or fine, hot or dusty. Seldom do hangars exist. Nearly all work is done in the open, sometimes with coral dust blowing in grey clouds from the runways, sometimes in blinding heat that makes it almost impossible to touch bare metal, and sometimes in the hot, tropical rain that turns paths into quagmires. Unfavourable conditions are. no excuse for slipshod work. In spite of the close supervision of the engineer officer and his senior noncommissioned officers, the standard of maintenance rests in the long run with the workmen themselves. It is a striking tribute to them that mechanical failures are a rarity, that Hudson crews begin 600mile patrols with confidence,, and that warhawks that have been badly shot up are flown home to be repaired and to fight again. The work of the ground staff is unending. Apart from regular inspections and overhauls at fixed intervals, there are the manifold effects of aerial combat to be remedied. Members of a fighter unit'a ground staff in particular may have worked for days to make an aircraft serviceable, and see it take the air in perfect condition, only to have it returned to them in two hours' time scarred with cannon and bullet-holes, and with long hours of hard work needed before it. can be llown again. Serviceable a'ircraft are infinitely precious in a forward area, and ingenuity and engineering skill combine in making repairs in the field. Serviceable parts from a badly damaged aircraft may be used, to repair another less severely shot about. A warhawlc brought in to a belly landing in an emergency can sometimes be back 'in the air within two days. Andd when an aircraft is returned for flying* it is as good as neW. No shoddy work goes into the Dominion's fighters or bombers:, but skilful improvisation often ma'kes the difference between essential aircraft being on the line for flying,, Or ly'ing useless in the maintenance yard. Similar scenes are witnessed daily at Guadalcanal, at the fields from which New Zealand's bombers and fighters fly. Tired men, in greasy overalls and with hands and faces liberally smeared with dust, gather in groups near the runway, waiting fur their 'kites' to come home: When black specks appear against a cloud, those with the keenest sight are quick toi count. When the Hudson stops roll'lng, a flight-sergeant is usually on hand to meet, the captain, to note any comments he. may have on the aircraft's behaviour,, and to organise first the routine inspection, and then the correction of any faults On the fighter field, the home-com-ing is more spectacular.