THRILLING AIR DISPLAY

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 307, 19 March 1928, Page 9

THRILLING AIR DISPLAY

King Amanullah Pleased

IMPRESSED BY BOMBERS’ ACCURACY

B?'itish Wireless—Press Assn. —Copyright Reed. 1.0 p.m. RUGBY. Sunday. THE King and Queen of Afghanistan witnessed a stirring display of military aviation at the Hendon Airdrome yesterday morning. Over 100 machines with picked pilots took part.

J£ING AMANULLAH with Sir Francis Humphreys, the British Minister at Kabul, at his side, acting as interpreter, was greatly impressed. His Majesty wore the uniform of the Royal Afghan Air Force, with gold crossed swords below gold wings on his breast. Queen Souriya sat beside Lady Humphreys, who interpreted for her and Lady Maud Hoare, wife of the Air Minister, Sir Samuel Hoare. Air-Marshal Sir Hugh Trenchard, and Air-Marshal Sir John Salmond were with the Royal party. The item which pleased King Amanullah more than anything else was a thrilling display of acrobatics by two daring young pilots, Gray and Barlow. With perfect grace and rhythm they went through a series of amazing antics, climbing vertically into the sky spinning upward, which is one of the most difficult aerobatic feats, and falling dizzily to a low altitude, whence they swooped up again over King Amanullah’s head. A flight of great bombers rose with a roar, climbed to a dfzzy height, then dropped almost perpendicularly to within about 50ft of the ground and loosed their smoke bombs on a dummy camp which quickly burst into flames and was reduced to ashes. The King was much impressed by the fact that every single bomb hit its mark. TRIP IN SUBMARINE King Amanullah will create a precedent to-morrow when he makes a 20-mile cruise in the submarine L. 22, which, for a considerable part of the time w r ill travel under water, and he will experience the thrill of torpedoing a British battleship. He will be the only monarch who has ever made a submarine trip under what will be very largely service conditions. Among the escorting vessels will be the minesweeper Alresford, from the deck of which Queen Souriya will watch the progress of the L. 22. In order that she may better follow the manoeuvres of the submarine it will submerge only to a depth of about 25ft, so that its periscope will be visible above the surface of the sea. The L. 22, which is commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Stephens, is one of the most modern in the British Navy. She is 238 ft long and carries a crew of 40. Her armament consists of four torpedo tubes and a quickfiring gun.

Real’-Admiral Grace, Rear-Admiral o£ Submarines, will be aboard the L. 22 to explain to King Amanullah the various manoeuvres. When the submarine leaves the harbour she will fly the Afghan standard, and royal salutes will he fired. King Amanullah will acknowledge salutes from a position on the conning tower, where he will remain until the submarine reaches Stokes Bay, when he will descend into the interior of the boat, in preparation for its submersion. Then will come the most exciting incident. King Amanullah will be conducted to the bows of L. 22, where her torpedo tubes are fitted. Into one of these a 21in torpedo with a dummy head will be loaded, and this the king will fire at the old battleship Ross the whole practice being carried out as in actual warfare.—A. and N.Z.

“DUKE OF AFGHANISTAN”

TITLE FOR HINDENBERG By Cable.—Press Association. — Copyright. BERLIN, Saturday. “Duke of Afghanistan” is the title King Amanulla conferred on President Hindenburg and the Chancellor, Dr. Marx. Both honours, also two red silk capes, were conveyed through diplomatic channels after the departure of King Amanulla from Berlin. It was explained to him that the Republican regime in Germany prevented their acceptance from him personally. The President and the Chancellor accepted the distinction as souvenirs of the Royal visit.*—A. and N.Z.