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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 1541.PDF
MAY 26, 1938. FLIGHT. OVER the OUTPOSTS The Manifold Duties of the Royal Air Force Abroad-—and Some Lighter Reminiscences '- By NAVIATOR OF a pilot with Overseasservice a sere skin anda becoming reticence are expected. The latter is often ascribed to native modesty, but it may well derive from having little or nothing to say about the tedious monotony of "police" and patrol duties over vast tracks of desert, endless ranges of stark moun- tains, or the wastes of the sea. There is not much to relate about a three-hour routine flight in the Pesha- war district. The romantic sea palls after a week. The high efficiency of bomber and co-operation aircraft of to- day are partly to blame for lack of incident in thousands of patrol flights which are carried out year after year, for watch is constantly kept from the air. Much of the R.A.F. patrol work passes completely un- noticed and unrecorded save for bare entries in log books. Flipping back the pages that tell of a thousand hours' fly- ing, many of the flights logged are meaningless even to the pilot—just routine journeys in space. That these flights checked some errant local from subversive activities cannot be logged : their purport is now as dissipated as the engine echoes that made tremble some fakir, bandit, pirate or political fanatic. Patrol under active service conditions is to-day chiefly operated in the North-West Frontier and unsettled Arabian districts. In the majority of cases air operations in these places are necessary against restless tribes which have been stirred to cause trouble by religious and political fanatics or want of food. Hardy hillmen regard the plainsmen as legitimate prey whose comparatively fat farmlands will replenish their food stores—usually a seasonal need. Motives behind political and religious unrest are obscure, but their roots lie bedded in the promise of food or pastures to come. To use aircraft against such primitive troubles seems far-fetched, yet it is by far the least costly and most effective of all military measures and is now a recognised procedure. Various methods can be employed to quell tribesmen whose shooting prowess is so phenomenal that it renders low flights really hazardous. Eight hundred yards is a deadly range for hill marksmen. They cherish good weapons, often of the latest pattern. Patrol by air must therefore be conducted warily. Wise tribesmen move only by night, and are exceedingly difficult to locate. It is these nomad tribes' activities which find their way into the newspaper headlines. Recalcitrant villagers who refuse to pay their taxes are soon subdued. Procedure has its local adaptations, often governed by the report of the district British agent. In every case a warning is first given: dropped leaflets and a loud-speaker trailing far below the aircraft are two methods likely to impress natives. The latter method has its drawbacks. It is necessary to employ a native conversant with local dialect to make the broadcast. One sportsman pressed Vickers Valentia bomber-transports (two Pegasus) over Cairo. Though of somewhatantiquated type, the Valentia is still doing yeoman service out East. into service for this job spent his entire time praying to return safely to terra firma. Another occupied the entire flight haranguing and abusing relatives below. Following the warning—which, experience soon teaches, should not go unheeded—operations may be intensified! The object at this stage is to harass the normal lives of the community. This is achieved by continuously inter- rupting the daily work on the grazing grounds, in the farm fields, and in the village. Though bombs may not actually be dropped the drone of an approaching aeroplane is the signal for a sprint to cover—very hot, very undignified, very nuisance-making. Trusting the Engine To forced-land in country such as the N.W.F. is to crash. Terraces of sparsely cultivated land traverse the hills (anglice: mountains). A dried-up stream in summer or a raging flood in winter is found down each valley. Tiny communities somehow exist on these vast ranges of rock. To have a cra6h in such country is to place your fate on the knees of the gods. Swarthy gentlemen with piercing eyes will debate your ransom value. Your watch and glit- tering buttons will be immediately forfeit, though nowa- days most tribesmen realise the cash or in-kind value of a '' returned-to-store-undamaged '' pilot. Savage hostility lies only in the passionate breasts of fanatics against whom war operations have been undertaken. At the hands of the fakirs cases of mild torture are not unknown. Redheads are venerated in many primitive districts. There is a case of an officer being held in close confinement whilst his observer corporal, a man with a mop of red hair, threw a party with the tribesmen. Most keen young pilots, on first posting to India or the Near East, determine to learn the local lingo in case of trouble in the future. They may well learn a lesson from the pilot who swotted Urdu (or Pushtu) and who one day forced-landed between Kohat and Risalpur. A native helped him, dazed, from the cockpit. The pilot attempted a few phrases in Urdu (or was it Pushtu?) and received a reply in Pushtu (or Urdu). Impasse! Signs were equally unavailing. Finally, after ten minutes exploratory conver- sation the native queried brightly: " Parlez-vous ? " Dumbfounded, the officer racked his memory for phrases
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