THRILLS AT OLYMPIA

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22434, 2 June 1936, Page 7

THRILLS AT OLYMPIA

IMAGINARY AIR. RAID TOURNAMENT SPECTACLE [from our own correspondent] LONDON, May 13 A note of realism has crept into the Royal Tournament at Olympia this year. That does not mean that the excellent training of the men of the Air Force, Army and Nary, their drilling and the first-class riding by the cavalry and motor-cycle division is not realistic. Far from it. The musical drive in which cavalry and motor-cyclists execute the figure eight is realistic to a point of being thrilling as the roaring machines and sweat-stained horses miss one another by what appears to bo the merest fraction. It is all very real and very much alive. The drill displays by the-men of the various forces are so good that unconsciously one is apt to look for the slightest mistake, so glaringly does it stand out as the exception to the rule. The note of realism comes from the display by the anti-aircraft section. Air raids and rumours of air raids, death, bombs and gas from the sky have been impressed upon the public mind by the train of events in Abyssinia, the general unsettled state of Europe and tho talk of the "next war." The announcer who suggested that his listeners would "no doubt bo interested in the measures taken to combat an enemy attack from the air" was slightly under-stating his case, to say the least. And what is being done? Safe in their seats the spectators watched the repulse of an imaginary attack. In the country districts, farmers, butchers, labourers and clerks kept a' vigil, watching the skies continuously. The approach of the enemy aeroplanes was instantly signalled to the city, where searchlights swept the heavens and sound detectors revealed the one solitary machine that had slipped through the defence line. The antiaircraft guns barked, and the impudent raider moved across the sky—that is to say it was drawn slowly across the roof at Olympia, while the "Archies" snapped at it like dogs. When it reached the end of the arena the aeroplane obligingly caught alight and slid down a rope in flames, as, of course, all good cnomv raiders are expected to do. The "All Clear" signal was given and the guns, drawn by tanks, trundled contentedly away. >lore than one Londoner, however, with memories of the last air raids, must have felt an unconscious relief i>s tho lights wont tip niul the sirons died down. The amount of "interest" aroused in his breast when he hoard the appeal for volunteers to bring the anti-aircraft section up to strength is a matter for conjecture.