BALED OUT UNDER WATER
POLISH PILOT’S EXPERIENCE PLANE BROKE IN TWO A 28 year old Polish pilot, still bleeding from his injuries, told of his escape from under the sea in an aeroplane which broke in two. The aeroplane, an R.A.F. Wellington on'a night exercise, crashed into the sea off Brest. Three of the occupants are missing, including A.T.C. Smith, Air Training Corps, from near Shrewsbury. The Polish pilot said “We were flying at 4000 feet and only 20 miles from the French coast when the engine spluttered. “Sergeant fßennett and Sergeant Delbridge were near me, but my three other unfortunate colleagues were amidships. “We hit the sea with terrific force. The aircraft cracked and smashed in two, the fore and aft of the Wellington disappearing under the sea.
“It must have been 20 feet under the sea when I suddenly realised that the cockpit above me was open. “I released the strap which held me to the pilot seat and rushed immediately to the top. To my amazement I came up a short distance from the rubber dinghy, which was automatically released as we crashed on to the sea. “My two colleagues were near and helped me aboard. “We fired a Very pistol- and later all stood up and cheered when we saw a light on the horizon. It was a Danish vessel coming to our rescue.”
The Wellington had, besides the Polish pilot, three Englishman, a Scotsman and an Indian aboard.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BPB19470210.2.42
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Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 92, 10 February 1947, Page 6
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243BALED OUT UNDER WATER Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 92, 10 February 1947, Page 6
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