SHOT DOWN OVER

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 280, 25 August 1942, Page 5

SHOT DOWN OVER

MALTA

Auckland Pilot Bales Out

How he baled out of his plane when he was recently engaged in an air battle over Malta, is described in a letter from Pilot Officer J. D. Rae, Auckland.,, “One well-placed cannon shell, he says, “struck the base of the control column, placing me iu a similar position to a car without a steering wheel. Some shells smashed into the instrument panel, obliterating most of the instruments, others penetrated the petrol tanks, causing petrol to pour into the cockpit, and the armour-plating behind my back must have been struck, because there was an odd nick in the top of my helmet and a slight furrow ou the top of the head. “The machine went straight into a spiral dive, picking up a colossal speed. The height then would be approximately 27,000 ft. I decided to depart without further ado. Owing to the speed, estimated at nearly 500 miles an hour, plus the spiralling effect, the stress was terrific, and I failed in my attempts to lift the hand high enough to undo and remove my helmet, to which was attached oxygen and radio telephone equipment. Fortunately I was able to lift my hand high enough to extract the pin which releases the Sutton harness, a strap which holds one in. My first attempt, nt getting out resulted in the opposite, and I finished under the instrument panel and tangled up with the remnants of the control stick. “After several attempts to extricate myself from the mess I suddenly found myself free and hurtling through the air. All that had to be done was to pull the ripcord. When standing on the ground you know 'exactly where it is, and it is just, a matter of pulling the handle. But when , there is a deafening roar in your ears and a mix-up of clouds, sky and earth whirling past like a crazy panorama, my frantic grabs for the ripcord were having no results. 11 was at the useless stage of panic that I remembered the good book form logic, namely, ‘when trying to find the ripcord, look for it,’ and that is precisely what I did. after tearing off the flapping oxygen mask so that I could sec. and there it was. already half extracted.

“I pulled it, and suddenly everything was quiet and peaceful, and 1 seemed to be perfectly motionless, suspended far above the earth. The only sounds to be heard were the droning of Merlin and Daimler Benz engines above intermingled with occasional bursts of cannon fire. Pure luck was still with me, as the wind was in lh'.‘ right direction, and blew toward the island, which looked so small a thing to hit from that height. “I had yo wish to hung conspicuous and completely helpless in a parachute while there were still Messerschmitts about. I attempted lo collapse tile parachute, nt. th<' same time side-slipping toward the isle, but the physical effort required. coupled with the lack of oxygen and the previous effort of getting out of the machine, loft me completely exhausted. It seemed an interminable age before I neared the ground, and yet in the last few seconds the rocky and uneven surface just rushed up to meet me. I rolled over a few times without doing any damage apart from the wounds sustained from a cannon shell which exploded by my log.”