N.Z. SERVICEMEN

Grey River Argus, 20 October 1943, Page 2

N.Z. SERVICEMEN

Doings Abroad (Special to N.Z. Press Assn.) (Rec. 6.30) LONDON, Oct. IS. Warrant Officer John France, of Invercargill, aged 26, was the first man to land .a Beaufighter in India and so to start a fierce strafing campaign which disrupted the Japanese communications in Burma. The Air Ministry News Service stated that he previously led many raids in the Western Desert, .and he had many hair-raising experiences. Once bullets came through the bottom of his cockpit, grazed his leg, flew past his face, and went out through the hood. His most unusual experience was when he dived to attack a German lorry in the Western Desert. The driver jumped in fear from the moving vehicle and broke his neck before the New Zealanders had time to attack. France aiso has escorted bombers and convoys, shot up troop concentrations and harrassed Japanese rail and river communications in Burma.

Two brothers, Lieutenants A. G. Tait, R-.N. and J. E. Tait, R.N.Z.N.Vffi. of Timaru, are among the few New Zealanders serving in submarines. A. G. Tait joined the Navy in 1939, and was a midshipman in the Nigeria. Before becoming a submarine officer he was a gunner officer. He is now a First Lieutenant serving in a boat commanded by Lieutenant Commander Wingfield, R.N., which surfaced in an Italian harbour and bombarded a warehouse. J. E. Tait, a former Otago University student, arrived in England in 1941 as an ordinary seaman. He served in the Arethusa in which he participated in two Malta convoys. After being commissioned he did two more Malta convoys in the destroyer Ithuriel. She once rammed an Italian submarine off Sicily. Tait was among those sent aboard to try to take her over. He was below when the boat started to sink so ho scrambled up and was sitting on the conning tower when the submarine sank below him. He swam in the warm sea for half an hour before (being picked ’Up'. He began his submarine course .in December, 1942, and for a month took the same course as his younger brother. He is now a navigator in a submarine serving from Home stations. Winp- Commander Alan Deere (Wanganui) who already holds tho D.S.O, D.F.C. and Bar, has. been awarded the D.F.C. by the United States Army Air Force and the Croix de Guerre Avec Palme, by the Fighting French Forces. Deere when wing leader 'at Biggin Hill, frequently led a wing escortng U.S.A.A.F. bombers and also in the wing was a Fighting French squadron. Deere is now resting from operations. He has been appointed officer commanding an important gunnery school, .a position once held by the South African Group Captain A. G. Malaji. With no fewer than five awards Deere must be ..the most decorated New Zealand fighter pilot. The New Zealand Spitfire Squadron is now in the wing led by anothei* famous New Zealand ace, Wing Commander W. V. C. Compton (Mission Bay), D.S.O, D.F.C. and Bar, and the United States Silver Star. Group Captain A. J. Manson, R N Z.A.F. Headquarters, recently visited 19 R.A.F. aerodromes in the Scottish area where New Zealanders are stationed, discussing service and personal matters. He also met members of the New Zealand, torpedobomber squadron.