BLOWN OFF SEAT

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21206, 31 August 1940, Page 7

BLOWN OFF SEAT

THRILLING EXPERIENCE FLYER’S VIVID STORY HALF=FROZEN BY WIND (Omclal Wireless) (Received August 31, 11 a.m.) RUGBY, August 30 An American-built Hudson aircraft of the Coastal Command has returned to its base with its nose completely shot off and all the windows in the pilot’s cockpit blown out. During a return journey of over two hours the pilot and the navigator were drenched with rain and half-frozen by the wind, which tore around them more furiously than the fiercest typhoon. The Hudson was damaged when making a dive-bombing attack on two enemy destroyers near Denmark. The first attack resulted in a near miss and the second salvo fell even closer to the target. As the Hudson was about to pull out of a dive it gave a tremendous shudder. A high explosive shell had exploded directly in front of the nose, taking it right off.

“The inrush of the wind was like a punch from a heavyweight,” said the navigator. “I was blown off my seat against the back of the cabin. We went diving merrily down and I could see the sea coming nearer through the jagged edges of the fuselage in front. “The pilot was lying back with his head outside the cabin through a hole where a window had been. I thought he was dead, I tried to wrench the controls back, but I could not stop the dive, so I decided to go aft and try to bale out. Then I found that the door between the cockpit and the cabin had jammed. I went back to the pilot and found he was helpless but alive.

Pilot Wounded

“When the first blast of wind came through it blew everything out of the cockpit. It caught his helmet, which had filled like a parachute, and pulled his head out of the window. He was wounded on the knee but was able to pull on the controls, and together we managed to stop the dive. “By that time we were pretty near the water. As soon as I had the aircraft flying again on an even keel things looked brighter. The engines were running perfectly. Of course she was difficult to trim, but it was remarkable that she would fly at all. I forced the cabin door and we took it in turns to get a little shelter behind the partition. “With the howling of the wind and the roar of the engines the noise was terrific. It then started to rain, and. the drops, streaking horizontally, hit us like a barrage of peas.

I was colder than I have ever been in my life, but we got back at last, and thanks to the undamaged undercarriage made an excellent landing.”

AUSTRALIAN SOLDIERS NOT KILLED IN ACTION ITALIAN STORY DENIED (United Press Assn—Eieo. Tel. Copyright) (Received August 31, 11 a.m.) LONDON, August 30 It is authoritatively stated that no Australian troops were engaged in the action on the Eritrea border, in which the Italians claimed on August 29 that ten Australians were left dead. ITALIAN RAIDS AGAINST PALESTINE FORTS OIL PIPELINE CLOSED (United Press Assn. —Elec. Tel. Copyright) (Received August 31, 11 a.m.) ROME, August 30 The Popolo di Roma stated that the oil pipeline between Irak and Haifa has been closed as a result of Italian raids against Palestine ports.