CLOSE TO EQUATOR

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 304, 23 December 1944, Page 6

CLOSE TO EQUATOR

DOMINION FLYERS

RECONNAISSANCE BOMBERS R.N.Z.A.F. Official News Service (Delayed Dispatch) FUNAFUTI, December 12. Ventura reconnaissance bombers of the R.N.Z.A.F. are now operating close under the equator from the tiny atoll of Funafuti, in the Ellice Group. Their duties are similar to those of the R.A.F.'s' famed Coastal Command, to safeguard all shipping in the area by patrolling shipping lanes, perform escort duties where required and carry out operations against enemy submarines or surface vessels. Although they landed on Funafuti only a few weeks ago, the Venturas are now, and have been for some time, operating smoothly, with an operations room, signals and cypher sections all playing their part. Funafuti is almost a perfect atoll, consisting of some 30' islets, with ■the R.N.Z.A.F. airstrip .on the largest island, which is less than seven miles long, some 700 yards across at the widest point, and at. the highest point only 16 feet above sea level. A roofless shell, which was once a church, and blasted coconut palms bear evidence of Japanese interest in the atoll in the days before the recapture of Tarawa. Being only some eight degrees south of the equator, the heat is considerable and conditions for the ground'staffs are particularly trying.