DOMNION AIRMEN;

Waikato Times, Volume 128, Issue 21373, 18 March 1941, Page 6

DOMNION AIRMEN;

SERVING OVERSEAS IMPRESSIONS DURING JOURNET “BRITAIN RULES THE WAVES" With so many young New Zealand airmen serving overseas and, with the Empire air training scheme now in full swing, many more likely to go in the near future, the impressions of those who have already made the long journey to Britain make interesting reading. Two letters received in the latest mail from young Hamiltonians, who are pilots in the Royal Air Force, recount experiences and impressions in England and Canada. The first letter, from SergeantPilot J. H. Allen, to his father, Major W. H. Alien, now of the Papakura Military Camp, tells of life and experiences in England. Reporting that his training was completed and that he, at the time of writing, was in an operational squadron in the North of Scotland, Sergeant-Pilot Allen tells of his experiences in London on four days’ leave over Christmas. “On our first night we thought we would get around and see a bit of the night life—never again. We were robbed,” he writes. “We went to Murrays and one of my party ordered poached eggs on toast and I ordered mushrooms on toast. We were charged 7s 6d and 4s 6d respectively and there was no tea or bread and butter and not much of the straight order.” The party had Christmas dinner at the Overseas League and met dozens of New Zealanders serving in the Army, Navy, Fleet Air Arm and Royal Air Force. The city was fyUl of colonials and they "were all painting the town red.” Referring to night bombing he said it was really uncanny at Christmas when there was no bombing. The streets were full of hundreds of thousands of people just walking up and down. On the way from Aberdeen to our headquarters at a small place named Keith we stopped for a few minutes so got out of the train to get some tea,” the letter adds. "Believe it or not it is the first thing we have had on the house since we have been in the country. It came as such a pleasant surprise to us that we left Is each on the table. If we had been asked to pay Is each we would have grumbled at being robbed but the fact that it was offered us for nothing was greatly appreciated.” Another Hamiltonian Met “When we arrived at our destination the first person I saw on the platform was Freddy Drummond, formerly of Hamilton, who is in the Royal Australian Air Force and who completed his training in Canada. Our headquarters is a charming spot in the middle of a bush about two miles from the aerodrome. There is a long row of 14 small cabins each supplied with hot and cold water, electric light, and hot-water pipes running under the beds. “Throughout the daylight hours the pilots sit around the aerodrome, some playing cards, some sleeping, some writing letters and others listening to a gramophone. All parachutes and helmets are handy and if a signal comes through they are off like shots. The ground staff start the engines and help the pilot in. He just takes straight off whether upwind, down-wind or cross-wind, as it is time that counts. Some of the old hands can be off the ground in well under a minute from the time the signal is received.” Sergeant-Pilot Allen stated that food was dear in England and fruit a prohibitive price. Apples were is per lb, grapes 8s 6d per lb, oranges 3d each and bananas 2d each. Tnerc was very little rationing in the Army but quite a few restrictions were placed on civilians.

The other letter detailed experiences in Canada on the way to Britain and was written by SergeantPilot J. G. West, who passed through Canada at Christmas time. "We found it quite strange getting acquainted with the financial system,” he writes. “There are 100 cents to the dollar. Five cents is called a nickel (as big as a shilling), 10 cents a dime (as big as sixpence) and 25 cents to a quarter (size of half-a-crown). I received 10 dollars 20 cents for £3 New Zealand notes, so when you spend a dollar, which is done in no time, you say good-bye to approximately 6s in New Zealand money. Benzine is about the only thing cheaper here than in New Zealand.” Grand Mountain Scenery “Prior to leaving Vancouver in the C.P.R.—which was a bit of all right —we had a recent fall of snow and all the trees in the Rockies were draped in snow. The Douglas firs and the spruce were very pretty and the mountain scenery was truly grand. We were in the hills the whole of Tuesday, arriving at Banff at dusk. Spent an hour at Calgary when the train stopped there. Spent the whole of Christmas Day on a bally train but the few breaks were handy.

“We had a simply marvellous time in Montreal, the people seeming very keen to engage us in conversation as they reckon we speak just like Englishmen, whom they call ’blokes.' Five of us went down to see some returned troops arrive from England. The train was quite late and when the reception committee saw us they made a great fuss of us. Really the people could not do enough for us and were most friendly and hospitable.” Referring to an ice hockey match he saw between the Americans and Canadians, Sergeant-Pilot West said that it was as rough as it looked in the movies. Wrestling and Rugby had nothing on it for “stouch.” On at least five occasions the players threw away their sticks and piled in with their fists while the crowd of 9000 roared its approval. The thing that impressed him most about Canada was the spontaneous and warm welcome given to the New Zealanders and the determination of the Canadians to help Britain to the last ditch. Interesting sidelight on the trip across the Atlantic on the final day of the journey included the boat-drill routine and the few submarine scares. “But,” he concludes, "we all arrived safely, fit and well, at a port in the south of England. We have