STRANDED FLIERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23231, 28 December 1938, Page 12

STRANDED FLIERS

WESTEBN AUSTRALIA OIL PIPE BURSTS FORCED TO AWAIT RESCUERS [fhom our own correspondent] SYDNEY, Dec. 22 Camel teams, one of the world's oldest forms of transport, were requisitioned to rescue the crew of one of the record-breaking AY ellesley bombers which was forced down in wild country on the wild north-west coast of Australia. The four men who were with the stranded machine were in no danger, as food and water were dropped to them by the crows of Avro-Anson escorting machines. All they could do was to stand by and await the land party. The machine, the personnel of which was: —Flight-Lieutenant Hogan, WingCommander Gayford, Flying-Officer Mussou and Flight-Sergeant Dixon, was one of the threo Vickers-Wellesle.v monoplanes of the Koyal Air Force which niado the long-distance record from Egypt to Darwin. Only one of the three machines is now in commission. One was severely damaged in an accident at AN indsor, New South Wales, recently. The remaining two bombers were flying from Port Hedland to Darwin, preparatory to leaving for England, when the mishap to the second aeroplane occurred. Missionaries to the Rescue Accompanied by Avro-Ansons, of the Koval Australian Air Force, the machines left Port Hedland and when 50 miles south of Collier .Bay and 130 miles from Derby, and 300 miles from Wyndham, an oil pipo burst and the machine landed on a salt pan, the only clear piece of country for miles around, and only 40 miles south of where the late Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and his companions landed with the Southern Cross in 1020. The bomber's companion aeroplanes circled round the damaged machine and then their crews searched for the nearest habitation. This was the Munja aboriginal station. While the crew of the stranded bomber waited beside their machine, a rescue party from the mission fought its way inland from the coast to bring the fliers back to safety. The party consisted mostly of missionaries and trackers from the mission. Trek Over Forbidding Country The rescuers had to force their way over 54 miles of rugged mountains and along the banks of the flooded Calder River to the marooned aeroplane. The party faced a trek over country which has been traversed before by only a few white men. The country has little or no natural food, and is one of the most forbidding parts of Australia now that seasonal rains have made the rivers swirling torrents. The mission is situated at one of the most remote points on the Western Australian coast, and in country where it is impossible for a rescue aeroplane to land. The crew will have to wait until the mission lugger can take them to the nearest town or a launch can sail from Derby to take them off. It is almost certain that the airmen will be taken back to Derby, where the last of the three Welltsleys and the Anson escort &wait them. Hope of salvaging the stranded aeroplane is believed to be forlorn, for even if it is not severely damaged, Western Australian Airways pilots, who cross the district almost daily, say it would be an impossible task to transport it back to the coast. Pack-horses or camels might be able to carry tho fittings, but the air-frame seems doomed to stay where the aeroplane crashed.

A cablegram from Melbourne on December 21 stated that the stranded fliers had started to walk to the mission station. FOUR DAYS' ORDEAL MAN AND WIFE CASTAWAY GULLS' EGGS AS FOOD COLOURED BOY BRINGS HELP [from OUR own correspondenx"l SYDNEY, Dec. 22 Richard Davis and his wife were rescued from Sudbury Cay?, a small sandbank off the Queensland coast near Cairns, after having lived for four days on seagull eggs. They had only a small bottle of water between them and suffered excessively from thirst, but were otherwise all right when taken back to Cairns. A 19-years-old coloured boy, Johnnv Jose, was the means of Davis and his wife's plight becoming known. Ho arrived at Cairns police station and said ho was aboard a launch when it left Cairns on December 15 with Davis and his wife. The party landed on a low sandbank near Fitzroy Island, leaving the launch at anchor a quarter of a mile away. The dinghy by which they had landed floated away and neither Davis nor his wife could swim. Jose swam out to the launch, but was not able to start the engine. That night he swam ashore again with a bottle of water, and after a consultation .with the castaways returned to the launch and-tried to sail her nearer to the island. Contrary winds blew liim 30 miles northward, and finally he landed.on a sandy beach near Double Island. Leaving tlio launch on the beach, he went inland to a highway, where he was picked up by a truck and carried to Cairns. Eack in port. Davis and liis wife told of their privations on Sudbury Cay. and how they waited throughout Friday and Saturday, while .Tose, who was inexperienced with engines, vainly tried to start the launch. They lighted driftwood fires to keep themselves warm at night.

INJURIES AT GOLF CLAIMS AGAINST CLUBS A "FOOL-PROOF" POLICY [from our own correspondent] ! LONDON, Dec. 8' In view of recent High Court actions for damages for personal injuries sustained by golfers and others on golf courses, the English Golf Union has issued *a memorandum reminding clubs of the necessity of effecting adequate third-party insurance. Major Whitley Lavarack, secretary of the union, stated that in one case an award of £ISOO was made against an Irish club. "With the costs added," lie said, "the club's liability will be well over £2OO0 —a milestone to a club not fully protected. "Many policies are practically useless as the cover is limited to £SOO. Moreover, it is often found that policies effected bv clubs do not fulfil the essential renuirements 1 and that some are not legally valid. "The union and Lloyd's underwriters have drafted a policy which is nearly fool-proof, and the cover £SOOO. It is vitally important to golfers, any one of whom may meet with a serious accident while playing, and to clubs which may be faced with heavy damages, that existing policies should be reviewed."