"SAW" HIMSELF DROWNING

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24135, 29 November 1941, Page 16

"SAW" HIMSELF DROWNING

ROYAL AIR FORCE pilot who crashed and was unconscious for many days, described when he came to how he saw his wrecked aeroplane and moved about among his rescuers. He saw them place his damaged body on the ground. What distressed him was not the sight of his body, but the anxiety of the onlookers and helpers. He was distressed because he was unable to allay their alarm. This rare experience of a pilot observing himself objectively was related in a broadcast from London by AirCommodore 11. V. Goddard, the official air commentator. "As a rule," he said,

"we only see our misfortunes and struggles subjectively." He related another experience of a pilot returning from an Atlantic patrol in bad weather who knew his fuel would not last out. He crashed into the sea, and was knocked out, trapped, and drowning. I'nconscious, he seemed to watch with calmness and even with pleasure, the efforts of his own body to free itself. Then one of the wings broke away and tore open the cabin roof above him and he struggled out and up to the surface of the sea. "The man. was not complacent about his condition," said Air-Commodore Goddard, "but yet he was not in the least distressed or anxious. His spirit was still within his body, actuating its unconscious exertions."