AIR-RAID COMEDIES

Taranaki Daily News, 24 September 1940, Page 6

AIR-RAID COMEDIES

SOLDIER DIVES IN COAL NUDE OFFICER JUMPED ON BOMBS NEAR N.Z. CAMP Bombing near an encampment of New Zealand forces in England had its humorous side. The spectacle of a naked officer, covered in soapsuds, running for a shelter trench, only to be jumped on by an army-booted ! private, is described by Corporal Howard Frost in a letter to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. V. H. Frost, Eltham. "We had two air raids alarms one day last week," writes Corporal Frost. "The first one we ignored as we could not hear any planes overhead, and by the time the 'all clear' was sounded, about an hour later, we had forgotten all about it. The second one sounded just as we were going into mess, and even when we heard the roar of many aircraft we took no notice, thinking that they were our own. We started tea, but one chap suddenly spotted a large number of planes approaching and he called every body out to have a look. We all streamed out and gazed skywards. "Suddenly we saw a number of small objects fall from the planes and come whistling down to strike the ground and explode with a terrific roar, And at the same time there came the rattle of mach-ine-gun fire and bullets thudded into the ground all around us. Dive Into Muddy Trenches. "Well! I have never seen such a scatter. There was a wild rush to the trenches and the chaps just dived in head first. In some of the trenches were several inches of water; others were muddy. One of our Taranaki boys flung himself down between two heaps of coal. When we all emerged later we found him black from head to foot, the result of trying to bury himself in the coal. He now rejoices in the name of,'The Coalman.' "Another very funny sight was that of our adjutant, Captain . He was having a shower and had just reached the stage where he was soap from head to foot, when he Sieard the bombers coming. He ran outside and gazed skywards. When the bombs started to drop, he, tbo, streaked for the shelters, tumbled in and flattened himself on the bottom to be followed a few seconds later by one of the boys who, not being aw.are of the unlucky adjutant's presence in the trench, took a flying leap, and landed feet. first (clad in army boots) on top of him. The air was blue for many ydrds around. "Fortunately, there were no casualties and no damage was done, owing to the usual badmarksmanship of the 'Jerry' pilots. But we all had a good laugh out of it afterwards," says Corporal Frost.