GUARD FROM THE AIR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 December 1939, Page 10

GUARD FROM THE AIR

COASTAL COMMAND WATCH OVER CONVOYS' WORK DESCRIBED BY PILOT. CO-OPERATION WITH WARSHIPS. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY. December 16. The following account of a spell of duty with a Royal Air Force coastal command aeroplane providing protection to a merchant vessel convoy is given by an occupant of one such aircraft; “Our flight started from the east coast. Taking off in a haze of smoke blown over the countryside from the factories farther north, we were soon out to sea. and in a few minutes we had reached the convoy. The toy-like ships followed steadily in each other's wake, while the destroyers zigzagged on each side and ahead. Guarded by sea and air. the convoy was a formidable formation for any U-boat to tackle. There could be little doubt that bombs and depth charges would send the pirate to his account. “The aircraft we were relieving flew alongside, while the pilots, who came from the same station and were due for a game of squash together later in the day, waved their arms. The other banked away, setting a course for home. "At a height of a few hundred feet we made a round of the convoy, lookdown on the grey-painted hulls and funnels, and yellowish-brown decks. From above the ships seemed hardly to be moving, though the splashes of spray round the swinging bows showed that They were really making good headway.

“Every ship must keep its station. To leave the formation is to invite danger from mines. We saw a small, fast steamer try to make use of her superior speed and draw ahead. She looked like a motorist trying to cut out of the convoy. Turning sharply, a warship raced back and signalled to the delinquent to move back into line. The cargo boat's bow wave disappeared as she fell back to take her proper place, and soon she was in line again, and the destroyer back at her station. "We flew ahead on the patrol route. Suddenly a light winked intermittently from the bridge of one of the destroyers. Our wireless operator picked up a signalling lamp and pointed it through a window toward the destroyer. Moving his finger on a trigger like that of a pistol, he clicked out an acknowledgement. Again the distant light flashed, following us as we circled the destroyer. Our operator wrote out the message as he watched the signals, and handed the slip to the pilot: ’Am going to let off some practice rounds.' "We flew to a safe distance, and saw the flash of an anti-aircraft gun as the destroyer fired a target shell. Tiny puffs of smoke appeared high against the blue sky. and a powerful salvo followed. In the aircraft we hear the boom of the guns above the roar of our engines. In a few seconds the sky was spotted with smoke puffs, and we saw a spectacle which made us heartily glad it was not our duty to attack British warships. “Later, hot tea from our thermos flasks and packets of sandwiches made a welcome interlude, and in due course we were on lookout for the aircraft which was to relieve us. Dead on the minute it arrived. Once again greetings were exchanged, and on this occasion it was our turn to hand over. We waved our arms, banked away, and sped homeward. “A new sentry was on duty, carrying on the guard from the air of the ships at sea.”