DEVOTION OF BALLOON CREWS

Southland Times, Issue 24241, 26 September 1940, Page 7

DEVOTION OF BALLOON CREWS

The gallantry and devotion to duty of the balloon crews is warmly praised in the following message from Air Chief Marshal Sir Cyril Newall, Chief of the Air Staff, to Air Vice-Marshal O. T. Boyd, air officer commanding the Balloon Command: — “At the conclusion of a year of war I must convey to you my admiration for the splendid way in which the balloon crews in your command have performed their duties. They have throughout been called upon to work long hours, often in conditions of much discomfort and exposed to all weathers. GENERAL EFFICIENCY “Until recently your command had few opportunities for service of a spectacular nature. On the other hand, their success cannot be measured by the number of enemy aircraft they bring down but by the general efficiency with which they play their part in the air defence.

“By keeping enemy bombers and fighters at a height where they can be effectively engaged by our fighters or by anti-aircraft fire they have been invaluable members of a team, upon the success of whose whole operations the safety of the entire country depends. “With the opening up of air warfare over this country on a large scale during the past month many balloon crews have carried out duties of a most spectacular and successful nature, often under heavy attack from the enemy.” The Air Ministry announces that

during this afternoon a formation of bombers escorted by fighters attacked enemy minesweepers in the English Channel. Hits were made on two vessels and another was damaged by a bomb which burst close to it. During this operation an attack was made by enemy fighters. One of our bombers was shot down and one of the enemy planes was destroyed.

MORE CHILDREN TO BE EVACUATED (British Official Wireless) RUGBY, September 25. Every second child of the London area is at present accommodated in a country district and a further- evacuation plan for the capital is now announced by Mr Malcolm MacDonald, Minister of Health. The total number of children of school age who have already been evacuated is 464,000 and 428,000 still remain. The present facilities include provision for the evacuation of school children and homeless children of any age with their mothers, but these are to be extended to include mothers with children of any age, whether homeless or not. The scheme is applicable in the first instance to certain most hard-pressed areas. Mothers in these areas are being asked to register at food and rest centres.