EYES OF THE FORCES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 6, 14 September 1943, Page 6

EYES OF THE FORCES

| DOMINION HUDSON UNITS PAIIT IN I'AC I l-'IC WAR (Official Correspondent) CI uadaleanal. Day after day, in fair weather or foul, Hudson aircraft of the New Zealand bomber - reconnaissance squadron now at (luadalcanal. lake oil' and between them cover thousands of square miles of ocean on routine patrols. Manned by some of the most experienced aircrews in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, the. Hudsons are performing a task that is unspectacular, bo rin si and tedious in the extreme. At the .same time, it its of vital importance in keeping the sea and air lanes open to Allied traffic and free from enemy raiders. It is still dark when the Hudson faces down the runway. The aircraft takes oil' eastward, where first light is beginning to .show, making , the steel matting' on the runway a faintly shining path in the sur- > rounding gloom. She lifts easily, i turns over sleeping camps, com- - pletes her circuit and is away. The .slim shapes that are half seen as. tllOy speed northward are Corsairs or Warhawks. oil' to keep an early appointment with the Mikado's Zeros. Early morning shadows swallow up the fighters, and the Hudson, alone in the sky, heads out to sea. Flying always below cloud. the bomber seems to be trying to race the sun, but. the light floods the sky from dead astern, and. the. incredible blue of the sea shows clearly when cabin lights have been turned off. Trimming his ship to fly 'hands off, the captains 'lets (leorge do it.' He engages the automatic pilot, and at a steady cruising speed the monoplane begins her six or more hours 5 of routine. in his microscopic compartment, the Avireless operator is gazing more' or less blankly into space. A tiny lamp over his. instruments shows his tolled ion of dials and switches, ; and incidentally, illuminates the 1 photograph of a pretty girl, lo the rest of the crew, the piping and squeaking that comes through the ' earphones are a meaningless jumble of noises, but to the operator they are the shrill voices of radios, and every so often he picks- out ol the air a message for the aircralt, and r jots it down. Orders to test guns are given by " the captaUi, and the Hudson's arma- * me.nt speaks up. Streams ol tracer pour from guns mounted to cover the whole aircraft, and little splashes in the .Sea show where bullets have fallen. Usually the trip is uneventful. So many hours out. a fresh course given by the navigator, and so many hours home. And only the sea and the skv, clouds chasing each other ' across the empty air, and the unyjirying note of the twin motors. Ever M) slowly, the minute hand on the clock molblM in the pilot's instrument panel creeps round, and, just as slowly, the fuel gauges ib'op as petrol is burned. There is no j sense of movement. The aircraft seems suspended between blue, sky and blue sea. Only occasionally i.s the monotony broken. Sometimes a Japanese air- , craft, is sighted, on a similar niis- ? sion, looking for shipping. Usually r it makes otl", though once a lloat- ; plane tried, conclusions with a Hud-. r son, and was neatly shot down by . the front guns. Even more rarely, a submarine is seen. On those occasions. the patrolling Hudson has swept down upon an enemy 'pig-

boat.' bomb-doors have swims; open, and depth charges hurtled down to | take revenge for Allied ships sunk. Wreckage- may be seen floating on the water, pitiful scraps of some unknown ship, and once—it 'happened only recently—the "watchful eyes of the turret gunner saw a tiny life-raft, and an American pilot was saved to lly again. But usually il 'is dull, deadly dull and uneventful. On the homeward leg, J'urthcr to I lie north, the crew can see the tall mountains of New Georgia and Kolombangara and the b'ack shape of Murray Island,, lamed in South Seas stories for its ferocious natives. On the north-western tip of Hie is]anl, the crew look' dewn upon the wreckage of Japanese ships. 11 rim rci'cs of the great air and sea battle of Ja»t December, llicy dot tlic rcjf. Held fast by .'oral teeth, they lie where they Avere driven ashore, being slowly battered to pieces by