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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 1421.PDF
FLIGHT, June 26th, 1941. g- BELGIAN ARMY IN BRITAIN factories. It is hoped that some of them will be able to join the all-Bel- gian squadrons. There is now being published by the Belgian troops in this country—whom I recently had the privilege of visiting in one of their camps, where the morale was all that could be desired— a paper called Vers I'Avenir (" To- ards the Future "), with an identical uion in Flemish, which provides for the further happiness of the troops. In a recent number it referred to the air- men. In Belgium, it reminds us, the Luftwaffe started a terrible offensive on August 8th. Few in number, the Belgian pilots took the air with their comrades of the R.A.F., and in thaj first month of the offensive they shot down 16 Geripaffl machines. Several of these pilots were killed in action or have been reported A young pilot gave the following account of his doings:"After having joined up with the squadron to which 1 *was appointed I had some additional training, partKUlarly1 with regard to wireless. Then we left for an aerodrome, where we were able to do some useful patrol work. Although I have been in action pretty often I have never yet been able to say for certain that I have shot down one of the enefliy, but I am sure that I have damaged some of them three times I returned to my base with my plane riddled with bullet holes. A few days ago I had a tight with a Messerschmitt 109, and my Hurricane was com- pletely wrecked, half of the left wing being shot away the controls cut and the main fuel tank demolished. I was smothered in petrol from head to foot. Bullets were pouring in and I was nearly blinded. Fortunately the machine did not catch fire before I had jumped out with my parachute, and none of the bullets hit me, although mv trou^eVs were pierced in several places. Versl'Avenir does not confine itself to serious military and political subjects, nor to the domestic details of the troops, for it does not disdain humour in slogans and little stories. ,, , "Belgian soldiers in England," it says, are a real DOTS AND DASHES : Here we see a class of Belgian air-men practising Morse ; their instructor taps out a message on the Morse key for them to take down. , (Above) AB INITIO: An R.A.F. in-; structor gives a group of Belgian pupils a final word before taking the a:r. ThenosCbf «>««l^laggie '' can be seen in the *""""** j background. "QUALITY AND STRENGTH": Apicture which not only shows the quality and strength of one of ourIghters but also the power of the pilots. The pilots of this squadronhave shot down 112 enemy planes. band of brothers, and there are still a few vacancies." It also says that those who cannot make up their mind to join them had better stay at home and come in after the victory. Then there is the story of a new and secret Italian plane which moves very silently and can traverse thousands of miles in the air. Itspurpose is to drop parachu- tists behind the enemy's lines, and the crew consists of a pilot, an observer, a gunner and 20 others, of whom one * is the parachutist and the duty of the _ . " , remaining 19 is to push him out. One of the officers I met in their camp told me that when he arrived in Madrid he was warned by the proprietor of his hotel that the German Gestapo, who are present in Spain in large numbers, of course in mufti, working by the side of the local police, wefe after him. The proprietor helped him to get an aeroplane for Lisbon, and although it was the grandmother of all planes, and its passage over the mountains at a height of 4,500 metres made the occupants* rather appre- hensive, it reached Lisbon with no untoward incident. The proprietor had acted in this kindly fashion because, during the Spanish civil war, his two children had been given hospitality in Belgium
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