MRS VICTOR BRUCE SAFE

Hokitika Guardian, 22 October 1930, Page 3

MRS VICTOR BRUCE SAFE

RESCUED IN DESERT. EXPERIENCES WITH WILD TRIBESMEN. United Press Association.—By Electric lelegiaph.—Copyright.j ! LONDON, Gctoer 19. The Hon. Aim Victor Bruce, the famous woman motorist, who went missing in the course of her flight to Japan, has been safely rescued and lias reached Jask, at the entrance to the Persian Gull. Details of her experiences while living with wild Baluchi tribesmen in the desert have now reached England. Mrs Victor Bruce made good progress until after leaving Bushire, when she encountered a violent sandstorm. She attempted to land on what seemed to he hard sand, but the aeroplane sank into it and overturned. Baluchi tribesmen appeared on the scene and iseemed to be hostile, but she made friends with them by interesting them in all alarm clock, and by dancing and singing to them. After some nights in the desert, living on water and dates given by the tribesmen, she persuaded the chief to send a message to Jask, forty miles distant, and three Englishmen came to her assistance. They mended the machine and Airs Bruce flew into Jask with one of them, A;Jr Wilson, an engineer of Imperial Arivvays.

“Crashed. Please help” was the message from the Hon. Airs Victor Bruce, which was brought by Persian tribesmen to the cable office at Jask on October 7.

According to the messengers, Airs Bruce was stranded in the Kohimobark hills, north oh Jask. The machine was badly damaged, but Mrs Bruce was unhurt.

A rescue party, consisting of the superintendent of the cable office, the Imperial Airways ground engineer, with two assistants and a doctor, left Jask to render assistance.

Few details of Mrs Bruce’s flight have been cabled. Her intention was to fly to Tokio, 11,000 miles, in fifteen days, via Constantinople, Bagdad, Karachi, Calcutta, Rangoon, Cochin, China, Hong Kong;.:' Airioy and Shanghai. Except for the last stage, across to .Japan, the route lay practically all over land. Her machine was a BlackBurn Bluebird, of standard pattern, except that extra fuel tanks had been fitted. Leaving Heston Aerodrome on September 25, Airs Bruce experienced very bad weather over Europe and reached Munich exhausted, from there she flew to Constantinople, but no further word Was heard . until a message came from Calcutta, asking where she was, on October 1.