AIR-SEA RESCUE

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 237, 4 July 1944, Page 4

AIR-SEA RESCUE

Hauraki Gulf Incident The Royal New Zealand Air Force airsea rescue service was responsible for a prompt rescue on Friday when a Warhawk fighter aircraft made a crash landing in the sea about two miles off-shore in the Hauraki Gulf. The pilot, Pilot Officer J. 8. Gillam, Hawke's Bay, who was not injured, was picked up 'by a Walrus amphibian aircraft. Pilot Officer Gillam was flying in company with another Warhawk when the accident occurred. The pilot of the second aircraft radioed for assistance, and within five minutes of the news being received at Ilobsonville a Walrus was in the air, heading for the scene. Meanwhile, Pilot Officer Gillam decided to swim for the shore, but was forced to give up the idea owing to the strong off-shore current and the extreme cold, and returned to the aircraft, the tail of which was protruding above water.

The Walrus arrived overhead, being guided by oil slick, at approximately midday. A landing was made nearby on the deceptively glassy water and Pilot Officer Gillam was taken aboard, numbed with the cold after having spent an hour halfsubmerged in the water. A towboat and barge were dispatched by the R.N.Z.A.F. Marine Section to salvage the aircraft early in the afternoon.

Crew members of the Walrus which effected the rescue were: Flying Officer C. Watchlin, Auckland, Flight Sergeant R. Hawken, Wellington. Sergeant R. M'ickems, Masterton. Corporal M. D. Leahy, Auckland, and L/Ac. S. Richards, Auckland.