EMPIRE WIDE

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 21, 24 July 1940, Page 7

EMPIRE WIDE

PRIDE IN "COBBER" KAIN

PRAISE AND CONDOLENCES

The wave of enthusiasm aroused throughout the Empire by the courage, skill, and daring of "Cobber" Kain is reflected in over 450 letters received by his father, Mr. R. G. Kain, of Wellington, commingling with the sympathy of the writers an intense pride in the ace's achievements. There are letters and cables from all parts of! the Australian Commonwealth, and from Canada, South Africa, Great . Britain, Ireland, and the U.S.A., and they are from all sorts of people, many! of them complete strangers, and range from the heads of families to children writing of their own initiative. Several are in verse. Many of the letters were merely addressed "Parents of Cobber Kain, New Zealand," others were addressed to the Prime Minister, | with a request that they be forwarded. One of these was from Lord Bledisloe. Mr. Fraser himself received congratulations from abroad upon being Prime Minister "of the country that could produce such a man as "Cobber." Mr. Fraser's own letter to the family refers ' to the death of a.great war: ace pilot

who did his duty with outstanding efficiency and daring courage. The same feelings are variously expressed from back-country homes in Queensland. A Transvaal writer who had closely followed "Cobber's" meteoric career feels a sense of personal loss, and says, "I am glad that no Nazi swine can claim the credit of having brought him down." South African Press references sent to Mr. Kain contain tho -following, dated June 10, from the "Durban Daily News": "He" had become a living sym-

bol of the gallantry, fighting spirit, and modesty of the birdmen of today. So amazing was the skill he exhibited with his squadron in shooting down enemy planes, that a fortnight ago he and a few other men who had distinguished themselves similarly were detached from their squadrons, and given roving commissions. Kain was placed at the head of this band of freebooter pilots. They were given a free hand to go marauding on their own, their distinctiveness unhampered by having to fly with others unable to keep pace with them. A fortnight ago, after only two weeks of 'total warfare,' Kain had shot down 40 enemy planes. In the succeeding fortnight he must have shot down another 10, possibly more." This was the first he had heard of a roving commission, said Mr. Kain. Naturally letters have come from many organisations in New Zealand and overseas, the latter including the New Zealand Societies of Sydney and New York, while private condolences have been received from every section of the community in New Zealand.