A MAN WHO STEALS AEROPLANES

Evening Post, Issue 86, 11 April 1936, Page 21

A MAN WHO STEALS AEROPLANES

Somewhere in Europe there is a master spy specialising in the most modern sort of crime; he steals aeroplanes, writes Mr. Victor Burnett from Paris, to the "Sunday Express," London.

During the past few months aircraft have disappeared from aerodromes in France,: Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Holland. Some of them have been military machines of new and secret types, others have been luxury-appointed private aeroplanes. All of them disappeared mysteriously, quietly. Nobody saw them go, nobody heard them go. One day the machines were there. A little later they had gone.

These thefts have led the Secret Services of ■ the countries concerned to an extraordinary theory. Somewhere in Europe there is a secret aerodrome. It may- be on a hidden plateau in the mountain ranges, or it'may be in a clearing in one of the many dense forests in Germany, France, or Austria.

Aeroplanes have been stolen from Budapest, Amsterdam, Marseilles,' and Warsaw,. In , Germany. the air police have special instructions to intercept any strange machines they see. But so far the thief has evaded them. The Secret Services' theory is that ■ the thefts are an extension of the wave of espionage now sweeping over Europe.

It is common knowledge that whenever and wherever a new type of military machine is designed the plans are automatically copied by photography and smuggled out of the country concerned. The work is done by the many international spy groups now operating. In some cases, however, a machine cannot be copied from plans alone. There must be an actual model

to work from. This is the opportunity for the groups who are stealing machines. '.■...'■

In one recent instance, a warplane of an entirely new type disappeared from a central European military aerodrome. It was placed in a hangar -overnight within sight of a guard, but in the morning it had disappeared. It is practically certain that the guards . were heavily bribed —with so much money that it would cancel out the disgrace and possible prison sentence of a court-martial after the theft.

Inquiries after this theft show.cd that the machine could not have been built from the plans, which were purposely left incomplete. Therefore, the entire aeroplane disappeared. The noise of an engine running up is not unusual at an air force aerodrome. Nobody would take any notice ■of the sound. •

A reconstruction showed that the machine must have been started up during the night and flown • away. No pilots were missing. It is, therefore, considered that some one" must have got into the aerodrome, been admitted to the hangar, and taken the aeroplane. Foreign Air Ministry officials have a good idea of the nationality of the spy responsible.' Until they can discover the secret aerodrome or the method of disposing of the machines they are powerless. They have no direct evidence.

It is thought that 'some of the minor agents have been arrested recently in some of the mass arrests of spy groups in Germany and Copenhagen, but so far no direct evidence has been obtained.

New and secret military machines in Britain are heavily guarded day and night by trustworthy men.