“NUISANCE VALUE”

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 April 1940, Page 5

“NUISANCE VALUE”

OF FLIGHTS OVER GERMAN COAST WORK OF BRITISH PILOTS. STANDARDS OF RESISTANCE VERY VARIED. By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright. LONDON, April 2. Royal Air Force reports of the recent patrols over Borkum, Norderney and Sylt on the German north-west coast, reveal the "nuisance value” of these almost nightly flights. The pilots see the lights of the seaplane bases going out immediately on their approach, and a strict blackout is enforced as long as the patrol remains in the vicinity. The resistance varies. Sometimes the Britons face fierce anti-aircraft fire and regiments of searchlights, and sometimes only a few guns and searchlights come into action. One pilot reports that he patrolled Borkum for 30 minutes without opposition. German chasers occasionally appear and they seem mostly to confine their activities to reporting the Britons' course to the ground batteries. Pilots have spent as much as 40 minutes evading chasers before eventually eluding them and reaching their objectives. Almost every report contains the words: “There was no failure of our equipment. The aircraft behaved perfectly.” _____