SKILFUL AIRMEN

New Zealand Herald, Volume 80, Issue 24535, 18 March 1943, Page 4

SKILFUL AIRMEN

NEW ZEALAND PILOTS EXPERIENCES DURING RAIDS (Special Correspondent) LONDON, March lfi An engine of a Halifax bomber fell out of its nacelle when Flight-Ser-geant Maurice Marment, of Kil birnie, Wellington, landed after an encounter with a night fighter. Flight-Sergeant Marment is one of many New Zealanders who have shown grit and determination in recent raids over Germany. Another is Squadron-Leader Keith F. Thiele, D.F.C., of Christchurch, who carried on and bombed Nuremberg although one engine of his aeroplane caught fire shortly after the take off. Flying With One Engine Flight-Sergeant Marment had bombed Stuttgart and was returning home when an enemy night fighter attacked him, hitting the propellers of two of his lour engines. Flight-Sergeant Marment skilfully dodged the night fighter, but one engine stopped immediately. He carried on with his homeward flight and during the next half hour all seemed well, when suddenly the starboard outer engine petered out and a few minutes later the port outer engine began to run badly. It was difficult to maintain height with only ''half an engine" out of four engines which should have been running. The wireless operator sent out an SUb call and the crew jettisoned everything movable and prepared to bale out over the English Channel, but Flight-Ser-geant Marment flew on unruffled. He was helped by the skill of the flightengineer in distributing the petrol. Timely Landing The Halifax ran into bad weather over England and Flight-Sergeant Marment had to land on a strange airheld. Just as lie touched down the engine which had been running badly fell out of the nacelle, but Flight-Sergeant Marment brought the skidding Halifax to a stop without injury to any of the crew. . . r Squadron-Leader Thiele is captain or a Lancaster. He was 15 minutes on his way to Nuremberg when his port inner engine caught fire. He stopped the engine and the air current blew out the flames. Squadron-Leader Thiele rapidly calculated what petrol was available for the three remaining engines, for he would have to increase their speed to maintain height. He decided that if he was to reach Nuremberg it would be wise to jettison some part of his bomb | load. He kept a 4000-pounder and some incendiaries, and with the lighter load maintained height. He arrived over the target on time, returned to his base according to schedule and reported that his bombs burst on the target. THEFT OF SHOES AMERICAN PROPERTY GAOL FOR AIR FORCE MEN Three members of the Royal New Zealand Air Force each admitted the theft of shoes when they appeared before Mr. J. Morling, S.M., yesterday. They were Sydney Arthur John Smith, aged 27, Lawrence Emmett Jamieson, aged 29, and George Douglas Weavers, aged 33. Two were each charged with stealing two pairs of shoes, but Jamieson, who had taken odd shoes, was charged with stealing four shoes. Mr. Lovegrove appeared for the three men. ' Senior-Detective Walsh said the men 1 were truck drivers in the Air Force and were stationed at Queen's Wharf. When ; off duty they obtained employment as ; shed workers for the American Trans-! port Service, and while working at night they noticed a crate which was not secure and stole the shoes from it. The men, who were married, had not been before the Court before. They received £l9 3s 4d a month in wages and were paid more than £2 a shift by the Americans. In asking that the men be fined and not sent to gaol, Mr. Lovegrove said they would probably also be courtmartialled. There was nothing more tragic than the circumstances in which the men now found themselves. They were not wharf labourers, but men of His Majesty's forces. Stating that it was a difficult and sad case, the magistrate said that a conviction would bear hardly on their families. He thought, however, that no distinction should be made between these men and the humblest hardworking man on the wharf. The Court could not make a distinction and the accused would each be sentenced to two weeks' imprisonment. SECRETARY'S CLAIM COURT AWARDS £228 A claim for salary by a company secretary who alleged that he had held office for 18 months without receiving any payment was heard by Mr. Justice Callan. yesterday. The claim was brought by -Dennis Brassil Mulvihill, a lieutenant in the Royal New Zealand Navy, formerly a public accountant and company secretary (Mr. Finlay) against Sylvia Mines Consolidated, Limited (Mr. A. K. Turner). The basis of the claim was that Mulvihill had been appointed secretary to the defendant company as from August 22, 1940, at £3 a week. He had been dismissed on February 9, 1942, without notice, having received no payment. He claimed £228 salary. The defendant claimed that Mulvihill had ceased to serve the company from October 30, 1940, because there were no services for a secretary to perform. While denying liability, the company paid £75 into Court in satisfaction of plaintiff's claim. In giving judgment for the plaintiff, His Honor said this was not a case for the application of the doctrine of frustration of contract. The law was clear that plaintiff had a right to £3 a weok and judgment would be for £228 and costs. "1 am left with the impression that Mr. Mulvihill is a very reasonable man," added His Honor. "If I should happen to hear that he is disposed to exact the full amount of the judgment I would have to change my opinion." "There will be no reason to do that," said Mr. Finlay.

CENTENNIAL PARK CRITICISM OF POLICY Criticism of the manner in which the purchase of land for the Waitakere Centennial Park had been made was expressed by Mr. E. E. Vaile at a meeting of the council of the Auckland Institute and Museum yesterday He said that owners had been allowed to reserve timber rights and provision for fencing had been neglected. The result was that the land acquired had lost its park-like character with the removal of the forest. After tracing the history of the park, Mr. Vaile said the outbreak of war had prevented a proper appeal being made to augment the meagre sum of £15.000 allowed when the project was first undertaken. The committee appointed to supervise the spending of the amount had purchased land from one estate at, lie was informed, 25s an acre, after the owner had bought it for 14s 6d. In addition the owner had removed all the timber and retained the right to cut any that remained down to a diameter of lOin. That meant that not a stick of timber would remain. A sub-committee was appointed to go into the question, and it was decided to approach the Auckland Citv Council.

Hand-painted Novelty Brooches in J.C.L.'s Jewellery Section; pastel colourings; 4s lid, 5s 6d, 6s 6d; also new plastic Brooches in all wanted shades. 9s 6d each.—John Court, Ltd., Queen St. —Advt.