BULLION IN RIVER

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 768, 14 September 1929, Page 13

BULLION IN RIVER

AFTER AIRPLANE’S CRASH PILOT STANDS GUARD A French bullion airplane carrying gold to the value of £IOO,OOO from London to Paris had a forced landing at Smardin, in Kent, on a recent afternoon, crashing into some trees in a field at Vesper Hawk Farm, at the edge of the River Beult. The under-carriage of the machine was torn off and two boxes with same £II,OOO worth of gold inside were hurled into the river. Immediately the airplane came to rest the pilot and the mechanic, who were uninjured, jumped out and, in a state of the greatest anxiety concerning the safety of their precious cargo, sought for assistance in its salving. The bullion boxes were eventually raised from the river-bed by Mr. Palmer, the owner of the farm, and some others by means of grapnels. The boxes were then, with the remainder of the gold, sent by lorry to Lympue airdrome, where a relief machine conveyed them to Paris. The gold was in the field for an hour berore its removal. During that time it was guarded by the pilot and mechanic, both of whom were armed—and for a short period, while the mechanic was away obtaining help, by the pilot alone. Mr. T. Graudon, of Smarden, who was one of the first on the scene, said: "There were IS wooden boxes of bullion in all. While the pilot was watching them some local people came to the spot, and he was evidently rather anxious, as he told them the boxes contained ballast.” Very large consignments of gold have recently been conveyed from London to Paris by air. The Imperiol Airways recently conveyed in nine days 40 tons of gold, valued at about £5,000,000.