N.Z. PLANES IN MALAYA

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26159, 8 July 1950, Page 3

N.Z. PLANES IN MALAYA

AID TO SECURITY FORCES SUPPLY-DROPPING ONE OF MAIN TASKS [Bl/ Air Mail from New Zealand Press Association Correspondent] CHANGI (Singapore), June 26. Silver and blue Dakota aircraft of No. 41 (Transport) Squadron, R.N.Z.A.F., manned and maintained by New Zealanders, are making the Dominion’s contribution to the war against the bandits of Malaya. Flown almost excusively by crews with long operational experience in the Second World War. and serviced by keen young airmen, the Dakotas and the men behind them have won the highest praise from senior officers of the Royal Air Force since they arrived last September. Under operational control of the R.A.F., the three New Zealand aircraft operate from Changi, home of transport squadrons in Malaya. They are not singled out for token duties; indeed their reputation has been built upon the way in which they have fitted in with the squadrons of the R.A.F., and the quiet, unspectacular and regular flying that is the essence of successful air transport. New Zealand’s Dakotas have been accepted as worthy to undertake any duty within their operational capacity. Supply-dropping in all parts of Malaya is one of the squadron s main tasks, calling for the highest degree of airmanship from both pilot and navigator. In rugged, mountainous country, in steaming jungle and in dark ravines, troops fighting the bandits must be supplied, and their needs can be met only from the air. Dakotas their fuselage doors removed and specially-trained men lashed safely with rope so that they will not follow the packages over the side, leave at first light, range far out over the jungle while navigators locate tiny dropping zones, and then creep in at tree-top level, with wheels and flaps down to reduce speed. Two or three dummy runs are made, the pilot sounds his warning bell, and on the next run the precious packages are dropped. Parachutes mushroom out against the tanaled green of the jungle, and while the pilot calls on his motors for maximum power to lift his aircraft clear, the rest of the crew can sometimes see the troops retrieving their vital food and ammunition. Fierce, head-hunting Dyaks from Borneo, half-naked and armed with keen-edged knife and vicious blowpipe, fly often in the the New Zealand Dakotas. Chosen after much bickering from among the hundreds volunteering to serve the Army as trackers, these men are regularly flown from Kuching, Borneo, to Kuala Lumpur. North-west from Singapore, the Dakotas fly far across the Andaman Sea to the tiny island of Car Nicobar, with supplies and mail for the handful of airmen manning this remote stopping place on the way to Colombo. Eastward, they fly to Labuan. off the coast of North Borneo, on similar missions. and twice a week the New Zealanders maintain the courier service between Singapore and Hong Kong. This run. of some 1500 miles, consists of two long trans-ocean hops. The first is to Saigon, in French IndoChina. where the tanks are toppod up for the lonely haul over the South China Sea. past the distant Paracels and into hill-ringed Kaitak a’rfield. in tho New Territory of Hong Kong. Since September, when the New Zealanders reached Ma’avn their ate-

craft have flown some 350.000 miles. Tn that vast distance, not a man ha c suffered so much as a scratch. Every mission undertaken has successfully completed except where rare mechanical failures have caused interruptions. /