Night-Flying an Arduous War Task

Radio Record, Volume VIII, Issue 35, 8 March 1935, Page 14

Night-Flying an Arduous War Task

Heroism of Dangerous Actions Passes Unseen in Game Where Men Are Pawns Of Fortune — Australia, Divided And As A Whole, Seeks Her Own Solutions.

MR. A. R. KINGSFORD (3YA). NiGHT-FLYIN G during the war was not as spectacular as day-flying Yor instance, a dog-fight in daytime and the victor following the vanquished to earth might be witnessed by thousunds, and any outstanding action on the part of any pilot would be noted, and often led to reward; but with the night pilot nobody witnessed his performance, and many heroic actions worthy of reward passed unseen. Tew

pilots would put in a report after a raid in terms of self-praise, and so it was that this branch of the Air Force was not heard of very much, and did not receive in many cases well-desery-ed decorations or acknowledgment for services rendered. In daytime ihe pilot could see danger ahead, and his chances were equal; but with nightflying there were many hidden dangers. The greatest of these was a forced landing, often in enemy territory. witiout a light of any description to guide you, not knowing what was beneath to land on, AVIGATION at night in those days was another problem which faced the pilot, for there were no instruments such as. the machines to-day possess. To guide us on our side of the lines we had lighthouses which signalled a letter continuously, but once over enemy territory it was a matter of skill with a large amount of good luck thrown in. Then again, the enemy bad all sorts of traps which, owing to the darkness, he was able to set to the best advantage. The night bomber neyer knew what was ahead of him. NE of our machines is missing. . . . What a lot lies behind those six words! Can anyone realise the feelings of the two unfortunate men in that machine? Let me give you a description of a raid which actually took place, The weather was doubtful, and the night as dark and cold as it could be. Wighteen machines took part. Sharp at 6.15 p.m, the first machine took the air, After-circling the aerodrome’ to gain height, we headed for the lines, Our target was roughly 40

minutes’ flying from the ‘line, which we crossed at 8000 feet. Everywhere. was inky darkness. I peered over the side to try to distinguish something which might serve to assure us that we were on the right: course, but the dense night gave no sign. Suddenly the monotony was broken. We forgot our’ discomfort-a searchlight had pierced the darkness and we _ were caught in its beam. Every part of the machine was visible; my observer was immediately on his’ with machinegun ready for action. We dived down the beam and let go a burst from the machinegun, but it had no effect; the searchlight still held us; we sideslipped. out of the beam, which was swung frantically to and fro across the heavens in an endeavour to pick us. up again. As last he got us, and we again took a steep dive, and our gun spat. Our shots eventually got home. We picked up our course, and we were straining our eyes in the hope of finding our target when, to our right, a Lomb exploded. By the colour of the flame we knew it was our leader's phosphorous bomb, and we could see it had started a fire. . With the exploding bombs, a. burning building, machine-gun fire from several directions, and anti-aircraft shelis bursting above us, the whole presented i most spectacular sight, like a huge fireworks display. Having dropped ail our bombs, our one thought was to get eut of it, and so we took our homeward course, An hour later an examination of our plane revealed seven bullet Wes in the wings. MR. LEICESTER WEBB (3YA)S you are probably aware, it is net only in the matter of Governmeiut finance that the Australian constitutie. is being criticised. At a recent referendum the people of Western Australia voted in favour cf secession from rhs Commonwealth; and «wt the moment a petition in favour of secession is being considered by the British Parliament. The cause of the trouble in Wester Australia is that this State depends mainly for ifs prosperity on primary industries; and the primary industries have been hard hit by the tariff impose] by the-Federal Government. In addition to the secession movement. ‘yui have the movement,for the creation 9f new States, which is strongest in the Riverina district of: New South Wales The cause of the new States movement is the fact that a very large proportion of the population of Australia is concentrated in the large towns, I suppos? that the proportion of urban. dwellers in Australia is higher than in any other country in the world. The result is that in New South Wales, despite the device of the country. qvota, the policy of the State Government is very large!? ‘dominated by the needs and the wishes of the metropolis of Sydney. The farmers of the Riverina feel, and with

some justification, that their interes:s are negiected. They are therefore caipaigning for the establishment of a new State in the Riverina. The agitiation is a strong one, aud the Government of New South Wales appointed a Royal Commission last year to conside; the subject. The report was summasised in the cabie news a short whil¢ ago. It expresses the opinion that the ‘creation of new States is possible, br: does not say that such a step would he desirable. The average business: mau

cal in Sydney or Melbourne is mainly concerned with the. high cost of Goverument and with the obstacles to coim- . merce: presented by the existence of State boundaries. He feels that seven Parliaments and seven civil services are too heavy a burden for a nation of only six millions. The Westralian or the Tasmanian will assure you coniidently that in the end the federation will be destroyed by economic. maiadjustments. The -Riverina farmer will tell you that the remedy is the creation of more States. In the meantime the Federal Government is ‘extending its powers,. particularly ov the financial side. Already through the Premiers’ Conference and the Ioan Council it has a substantial measure of control over the budgets of the States. I am inclined to think that ultimate!y the problem will be solvec along these lines, and eventually the States will be reduced to the status of the provinces in South Africa. In other words, they will be glorified local bodies. MR. W. J. HUNTER (3YA). yy . primitive communities there is _ often no regular system for the administration of justice. The principle of "an eye for an eye. a tooth for a tooth" is in force, and if a person is wronged he and his kindred set out to right the wrong or obtain revenge against the aggressor and his kindred. Iingland was not an exception to. this general rule. English law is a product of native growth, not an impcrtation. The laws of Scotland, Germany, France and most of the European states, of South American states and of parts of the British Commonwealth itself, are derived from Roman law. But the law of. England, which we call Common Law, is native. It was never laid. down in a code, but grew and developed with the growth of the country. We in New Zealand took the Common Law from England and so did-the United States of America.

QE of the chief characteristics of early English law was that there was no equality before the law, as we claim there is now. The law applicable to any particular man depended mainly on his status in the social system. The oldest form of redress for injury was the Feud, and there was no law against it. The first restriction imposed, however, was that indiscriminate vengeance was prohibited. Later the aim of this primitive law was to persuade the person injured, or his relatives in the case of his death, to accept a blood fine, instead of relying on corporal vengeance. In other words, right must be demanded before vengeance wus taken. So, in the case of a stolen beast, the holder must be given a chance of proving his innocence. He may have bought it in the open market before witnesses. It is here

we get the germ of our modern system of trial,

LATER came the beginnings of state action in the administration of justice. The records show signs that royal

officers were beginning to take a larger part in its administration. In this they found a means of increasing the revenue by the imposition of fines, and it was found useful also from a police point of view. For example, the farmer whvu neglected military service paid a fine to the King, and there were spevial fines payable for disobedience to the Royal command. It was also found that vengeance by the community was a process slow and unorganised, and a great step was gained when the King took its place. The list of the King’s offences was greatly extended by the. time of William the Conqueror, Thus began the true criminal law. The . however, were weighted against the accused, and it was not for ceuturies that the accused at the King's suit secured the elements of a fair trial.