MAGINOT MEDAL

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20106, 28 November 1939, Page 11

MAGINOT MEDAL

SOUVENIR FOR PILOT A “HAPPY LANDING” MET BY FRENCH COCKNEY LONDON. Oct. 13. The first Englishman entitled to wear the “Maginot Medal,” the emblem borne by all the defenders of France's great line of fortifications, is a flying officer in the R.A.F. He was “awarded” the medal when he made a forced landing in the Maginot Line and was royally entertained by the officers there. The emblem bears the words “On no passe pas,” reminiscent of Madrid’s famous “No pasaran." The British pilot was out on a photography reconnaissance with two other planes over the Siegfried Line when, without warning, four Messerschmitts flashed up from below and engaged them. For half a minute a tremendous running battle raged. Then help came for the British —four French fighters swooped down and opened a withering fire on the enemy machines. Suddenly the British flyingofficer heard the faint voice of his navigator in his earphones. “A bullet has splintered into my body,” it. said. “I don’t think I can last much longer.”

Surprise Of His Life

At the same time the engine began to splutter, and the pilot realised that he must pull out of the fight and dash for safety. He looked round and saw that his two companions had got away. He then dived for the French lines, with his gunner still blazing away behind him. Somehow or other he reached the Maginot Line, made a faultless landing, and stepped out. Then he had the surprise of his life. A little French poilu appeared from nowhere and said in perfect Cockney.

"Blimey, guv'nor, you ain’t ’arf been lucky.” The astonished pilot asked the Frenchman where he came from. “Camberwell,” was the reply. “Look there,” he added, pointing to a black column of smoke arising from a wood a little distance away, “that's the plane you've just shot down." With the poilu’s help the pilot extracted his navigator, still breathing, from the cockpit and arranged for him to be attended to. He is now in a French hospital and expected to live.

Bewildering Passages

Then French officers approached and invited the Englishman into the Maginot Line. They showed him their bewildering honeycomb of subterranean passages, gun emplacements, storehouses, dormitories, and all the underground marvels of the line. Then they took him to their mess and gave him a meal.

It was a part of the Maginot Lino opposite where the French have been advancing, and their captured trophies were proudly displayed on the dinner table. The crockery was German, the knives and forks were German, even the wireless set on which they got him London was German. “It shows us that we have been fighting and winning,” the French officers said.

Finally they gave him one of the “medals” they were all wearing, and now he carries it proudly about in his pocket. He drove back to his own squadron deeply impressed with the strength of the Maginot Line and the quality of the men who hold it.