AIRMAN'S PRANK

New Zealand Herald, Volume 79, Issue 24244, 9 April 1942, Page 8

AIRMAN'S PRANK

GIFT OE CHOCOLATE DELIVERY BY PLANE COURT-MARTIAL A- SEQUEL (Reed. 1.15 a.m.) LONDON, April 8 A New Zealander, Flight-Lieu-tenant James Samuel Humphries, has been court-martialled on a charge of conduct prejudicial to good order and Air Force discipline. The prosecution alleged Humphries ordered the pilot of a plane of which he was captain to fly down to 500 feet, from which height Humphries dropped three bars of chocolate attached to a home-made parachute over the home of a clergyman's daughter, A window fell from the aeroplane simultaneously. The parachute, produced in Court, was made from a handkerchief and string. With the package was a note: "Dear Cobbles: I have just managed to buy this. Thy need is greater than mine so I thought I'd deliver it." Humphries said the route to his base passed directly over the clergyman's home. "I got the idea of dropping the chocolate by parachute. "I asked the pilot to descend gradually, so that I could throw the parachute through the window. As I threw the package, my hand struck the window, which fell out." Witnesses said the plane did not fly unusually low. The court stated it had no findings to announce on either charge. Humphries went to Britain in 1938. He was engaged on operational flights over France in 1940 and led a fighter section in the Battle oT Britain, when he was badly wounded and obliged to bale out.

500 DESTROYED POLISH FLIERS' RECORD COMPLETED 1955 RAIDS LONDON, April 7 Polish fighter pilots have just scored their 500 th success against the enemy since their arrival in Britain. They have probably dostroyed or damaged many more German aircraft. The latest victim was shot down during attacks by Polish fighters on enemy shipping in the Channel, when German fighters intervened and three wore destroyed. To date Royal Air Force bombers, manned by Polish crews, have made 1955 raids on enemy objectives. WEATHER INTERFERES ATTACK ON GERMANY LONDON, April 7 Royal Air Force bombers last night attacked objectives in the Ruhr and Rhineland. Owing to very bad weather the scale of the attack was reduced and the results difficult to observe. Nearly 100 R.A.F. personnel of all ranks are mentioned in the latest list of R.A.F. awards for gallantry and devotion to duty in the < execution of air operations. The list includes two D.S.O.'s and four bars to the D.F.C.

SLIGHT DAMAGE ENEMY OVER BRITAIN LONDON, April 8 An enemy raider was shot down over Britain last night, when a small number of aircraft dropped bombs on the east const. They caused only slight damage. Residents on the south-east coast of England heard a large force of British fighters crossing the coast early this morning. It is believed that a large sweep was carried out across the Channel.

MORE MUNITIONS IRON RAILINGS OF LONDON LONDON, April 7 Sixty-nine boroughs in the London Civil defence region produced 66,680 tons of iron in salvaged railings up to the end of March. Much of this has already been transformed into weapons and shipped abroad for war action. It is understood that the salvage of all iron railings in Britain for conversion to munitions may take another year.

CLERGY IN REVOLT RESIGNATIONS IN NORWAY STOCKHOLM, April 7 All clergymen in Norway have handed in their resignations to the Quisling Church Department. The Swedish newspaper Tidningen reports that a letter was read in the churches throughout Norway on Easter Sunday giving reasons for the mass resignations. It states that the step was taken with heavy hearts for the sake of the Christian life of the congregations. The clergy announced that they will continue' to fulfil their calling as far as possible for Christians, without official dignity. . . . . The resignations, it is reported, staggered the ~ Quisling Government. Feyling, an official of the Ministry for Church Education, in a statement said: "This act of revolt is a sort of declaration of war. Those responsible must be aware that measures will be taken in the matter, primarily against the leaders who were responsible for it."