NAVAL VISITOR
Mr. C. M. Bruce Entertained At Luncheon FROM ENGLAND BY AIR Members of the New Zealand Ulub at their luncheon in tlie Y.M.C.A. Lounge, Wellington, yesterday had as their chief guest and speaker, Air. C. M. Bruce, C. 8., 0.8. E.. who, before bis retirement about, four years ago, was assistant principal secretary to the British Admiralty. Mr. Bruce is visiting New Zealand at the request of the New Zealand Government to place his knowledge at its disposal during the inquiry into conditions in the naval service.
Air. Bruce, who flew from England to Australia, told the gathering of his impressions of the eight-day trip. On June 23, he said, he was sent for by litis old department, the Admiralty, and asked if he would undertake io serve on the committee. He accepted with great pleasure and, having been told that he would have to leave as speedily as possible, set out on his journey by air on June 28. Each day on the journey, he was called at 4 a.m. in his hotel and a start was made about 6 a.m., the hour of arrival at the next night's stopping place being from 6 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. To Batavia, the aeroplane which, when it left England carried 21 passengers, was piloted by Captain Van Dyke, of the Royal Dutch Air Force, the pilot who accompanied Kingsford Smith across the Atlantic. The passengers then changed into a much smaller machine to complete the journey. They had to accustom themselves to rapid changes of temperature. Leaving Sourabaya, the passengers had fans turned on because of the heat, but at Cloncurry the temperature was only 40 degrees. On the last hop across the Timor Sea, thanks to a favourable following wind, the speed averaged 250 miles an hour.
The whole trip had been a memorable experience, said Air. Bruce. He was looking forward to seeing as much of New Zealand as possible during his stay. The president, Mr. J. R. E. Bennett, presented Air. Bruce with a small silver kiwi on a greenstone base as a memento of the occasion.
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Bibliographic details
Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 260, 1 August 1939, Page 8
Word Count
351NAVAL VISITOR Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 260, 1 August 1939, Page 8
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