AIR STOWAWAY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 67, Issue 219, 28 June 1947, Page 6

AIR STOWAWAY

ARRESTED AT SINGAPORE IHD IN LUGGAGE CHEST (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright.) (Roc. 11.20.) SINGAPORE, June 27. The Singapore police to day arrested a stowaway, who arrived here last week aboard an AvroAnson and gave the name of G. Stanford, on a charge of entering the country without a valid passport. The arrest followed the receipt from the Australian police of a newspaper cutting of an Associated Press story from Singapore containing a description of the stowaway, together with the police dossier on a man named Hammond, wanted on a charge of embezzlement.

Police escorts from Australia are expected shortly to return the stowaway to Australia. Gregory Board, pilot of the AvroAnson. which is alleged to have been grounded at Banka Island for four days by the Dutch and was tired on when it took off without permission, had booked a return passage to Australia by a flying-boat on July 7, together with the stowaway. The Avro-Anson was yesterday advertised for sale in the lodal press, and the agents for the sale are the people with whom Board and the stowaway were staying. The stowaway did not contact the Australian Commissioner while in Singapore. Pie dealt only with the immigration authorities. Pilot Board declared that he had not met the stowaway until a few minutes before he took off from Mascot for Singapore. He agreed to give Stanford a lift to Cloncurry and Wyndham, and showed him on the manifest when he landed at both places. Stanford hid in a luggage closet at the rear of the plane before the plane left Wyndham, and emerged only when the aircraft was 150 miles across the Timor Sea. “I was furious, but had to take him on with me,” Board said. The stowaway was shown on the manifest throughout, and as soon as he landed at Singapore Board reported his presence to the airfield control office, then to the Australian and immigration authorities. In a story cabled on June 25, Stanford was described as a New Zealander.