PILOT’S GRATITUDE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20477, 11 February 1941, Page 5

PILOT’S GRATITUDE

MAKERS OF PARACHUTES FIGHTERS’ EXPERIENCES ‘BALING OUT’ SENSATIONS (British Official Wireless.) Reed. 9 a.m.) RUGBY, Feb. 10. Five fighter pilots who had “baled out” by parachute visited a factory in Britain during the week-end to thank the men and women who made their parachutes. One after another the pilots climbed on to a table to tell their experiences when they jumped out, and each said .rather nervously: “Thank you for saving my life.”

One pilot describing the sensations during his first parachute jump said: "I began to float down and the sensation was absolutely wonderful. There was the North Sea below and a little ship. I saw my plane crash into the sea and I was very sorry. I began to breathe very deeply as I watched the sea in case I went under. As I hit the water, I pressed the button which threw off the .parachute harness and in a couple of seconds I was swimming round enjoying myself. Then a little boat came out from a ship and picked me up. “The second time I had to jump was when I was over London. I thought: ‘Well, here we are again. I

have done it before. It is easy this time.’ I duly landed quite comfortably in a blackberry bush. I

picked myself up and found a rifle muzzle levelled at my head, but I

made myself known and was taken to hospital.”