King’s Unannounced And informal Visit
PILOTS WHO CAN SEE IN THE DARK Received Friday, 12.58 a.m. LONDON, May 8. The King arrived at the fighter station at dusk. No Royal occasion could have been more informal. His Majesty drove up to the moss and walked in unannounced just as a number of pilots were having a glass of sherry before supper. Air Vice-Marshal Brand introduced the airmen and his Majesty joined them at supper sitting at the head of the table where the VV.A.A.F. ’s waited on him. It was a normal three-course meal with no sign of the heaps of carrots which many believe the night pilots eat. However, one or two pilots dipped into ft bottle of small red pills which contain vitamins helpful for seeing in the dark. The commanding officer told his Majesty that some of the pilots can literally see in the dark but that was due almost entirely to normal fitness and perfect training. llis Majesty also met the sergeantpilots of the squadron and spent a long time in the operations room before he entered the aerodrome for a talk with the airmen standing at the ready. His Majesty climbed the wings into the cockpits of several planes and was shown some of the secret devices contributing to the night-fighters’ successes.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MT19410509.2.58
Bibliographic details
Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 109, 9 May 1941, Page 7
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217King’s Unannounced And informal Visit Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 109, 9 May 1941, Page 7
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