The “Eyes” of Britain’s Defences

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21242, 12 October 1940, Page 11 (Supplement)

The “Eyes” of Britain’s Defences

American Aircraft in Use : Stability Appreciated

J HAVE JUST BEEN out over Britain’s closely-guarded coast line in a Lockheed “ Hudson ” reconnaissance plane—one of those American aircraft which have such valuable war service to Britain, writes M. R. Maillard Stead, in the Christian Science Monitor. As we banked over the water, causing serious concern to some seals basking on a sand bank only 10 feet or so below our wingtip, the young pilot added his voice to the general chorus of praise evoked throughout Britain’s coastal command by performances of this adapted civilian machine. “It’s a fine kite,” he said. This is lyrical tribute coming from one of those British skyriders who do so much and say so little. For these California-made craft have together totalled more than 8,000,000 miles without a single case of engine failure beyond those caused by enemy fire. It explains the reason for the important role which American-made aircraft are now playing as the mainstay of Britain’s “ invasion patrol.” The American-made ships have developed a reputation not only as bombers but as incidental fighters as well. These American machines, operating as the eyes of Britain—and a great deal more beside—maintain an aggressive watch on the German-occupied coasts of Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, and France as Britain steels itself to withstand a sudden attack from any quarter by sea or air. Flair for Modesty “ Tram drivers ” is wnat the pilots call themselves with the Royal Air Force’s unrivalled flair for minimising the adventurestory angle of any job it undertakes and the prosaic title conveys at least some suggestion of the methodical manner in which the skies are scoured without cessation day after day and night after night while the British people labour below to make an impregnable fortress of their island home. As you fly inland over any of the sands, beaches, and promenades, from which the general public is now rigidly excluded at the coastal resorts that today constitute Britain’s front fighting line, the countryside beyond looks as peaceful as ever—with its checker-board of hedge-girt fields, its trees and houses and streams, its leafy byways meandering away from the broad ribbon of main roads. But if you were to descend by parachute and managed to avoid the attention of übiquitous watchers prepared to receive such arrivals, you would find the old place greatly changed—though you might not know which old place it was since Britain has gone entirely anonymous and there is K r.ot a single signpost standing to guide the B inquirer on his way. Indeed place names B have been obliterated wherever it is felt f they could possibly assist the enemy—from church notice boards, railway stations, public buildings, billboard advertiscL ments, and shop fronts. Defence Grows Deeper j From where the waves first lap the sea- * shore, to a depth inland that grows deeper every day, Britain is strongly defended. What appears to be a peaceful scene from the air proves on closer inspection to bristle with military preparedness of all kinds. On the roads anti-tank barricades, block houses, and machine-gun posts have multiplied exceedingly, the pleasant green fields are scarred with trenches or strewn with obstacles designed to prevent troopcarrier planes from landing. Heavy bat-

teries command water approaches and cunningly-located anti-aircraft guns point their lean barrels to the sky.

Normally these coastal regions, now declared a defence area, would be thronged at this time of the year with holiday makers enjoying the summer season. But today, except in certain “ exempted ” places, visitors to the whole of the East Coast and a long stretch of the South Coast are banned unless they can satisfy the police or military authorities that they have business or other urgent reasons for entering the special defence zones. Meanwhile- the streets of towns and villages near the coast are thronged with thousands and thousands of bronzed and fully-trained soldiers, part of the greatest armed force ever assembled on British soil. Above this martial scene drone aircraft of all types, but most of the time you have to go far out to sea to find the airmen of the coastal command and the twin-engined Lockheeds in which they express such complete confidence. The reasons for this confidence are many and technical but compressed into a single phrase any layman can understand it is, in the words of a pilot with whom I was chatting in the officers’ mess: “ Those kites can certainly take it.” One plane I saw in the hangar had given a particularly spectacular display of this capacity for absorbing punishment. It had been punched right on the hub of one airscrew by a direct hit from the cannon of an enemy machine and had come home quite comfortably on the other engine. Another plane had done the same thing after a piece of shrapnel had jagged its way through the petrol tank which forms an integral part of the wing. A third had come in with its wheels out of action and had landed safely on its body without any worse effect upon the occupants than a slight shaking up. Ready For Duty Again “ Restore to shape ” was the matter-of-fact legend chalked on the twisted metal work after examination by one of the American experts from Lockheed headquarters now supervising the maintenance of the firm’s machines in Britain. In a surprisingly short time that machine will be out again for service, ready to combine reconnaissance with bombing and to fight as well if combat is thrust upon it. The Lockheeds may not have much speed —about 100 miles an hour less than the German Messerschmitts which attack them in large numbers—but they can always be relied upon for about 20 miles an hour more than they are supposed to possess and they take a tremendous amount of punishment before they are brought down. As a matter of fact, not a single one has been brought down by a Messerschmitt. The Lockheeds are pretty good at bringing down planes themselves, and coastal command pilots claim for them a bigger bag of enemy craft than for any other type of R.A.F. machine except Hurricanes, Spitfires and Defiants, which are fighters, pure and simple. * The Lockheed machine arrives here for duty in pieces packed in crates with messages of goodwill from factory workers tucked in here and there. Then it is assembled, equipped for fighting, and renamed “ Hudson.” It is a R.A.F. custom to identify certain types of planes by names associated with their place of origin and the Hudson River is implied in this case as indicative of United States.