AIRMAN'S RETURN

New Zealand Herald, Volume 80, Issue 24537, 20 March 1943, Page 4

AIRMAN'S RETURN

SERVICE IN AFRICA SHOT DOWN OVER TOBRUK One of the number of New Zealand airmen who have been brought back from overseas for service with the R.N.Z.A.F. is Flight-Lieutenant W. f. Eiby, son of Mr. and Mrs. H. N. Eiby, of 5 Wood ley Avenue, Remuera. He was .shot down over Tobrtik at the beginning ot last year soon after starting his second tour of operations and for some months afterward was helping ferry aircraft from the west coast of Africa to Egypt. Before going to the Middle East he had been in Britain and for a time was stationed in Northern Ireland and was convoying shipping through the Irish Sea. Flight-Lieutenant Eiby was with a Hurricane' fighter squadron. When he was shot down he was one of a number of fighter pilots trying to break up an enemy bombing raid on Tobruk when they 'were iumped on by the cowering fighter screen overhead. Hq was on the tail of one machine when another dived down behind him and got his engine. He made a forced landing on the desert and says the only injuries ha suffered were a few shrapnel scratches. Ferrying Across Africa As a ferry pilot he made about 16 [lights across Africa. The route goes to Cairo and the flights, he says, average about four days. Losses arc very small, and are only very rarely due to engine failure. The majority are caused by inevitable accidents. In addition to saving the time that would be taken in shipping the aircraft through the Mediterranean or right round the Cape of Good < Hope, the ferrying of the planes avoids the danger of sinkings at sea. The route is beyond enemy bombing range. Convoys are generally of six to eight machines, it having been found that this is the best number to handle, having regard to refuelling arrangements at some of tlie landing points and to such other factors as the navigational difficulties of fighter aircraft in the weather and other conditions prevailing. New Zealanders' Reputation Flight-Lieutenant Eiby spoke of the Xew Zealand Division as being one ol the best, if not the best, of the. Middle East formations. He eaid its reputation was very high with everybody there. Ol the New Zealand airmen, lie said sonv were to be found in every squadron ill the Middle East with the exception of those, such as the Australian ami American units, which were completely national in character. Co-operation between the Army and Air Force, he said, had reached a very high standard. Speaking of Cairo, he mentioned the anomalous feature which has impressed everyone who has spoken of neutral Egypt being a vitally important battleground. This is that Cairo shops, right up to the time he left the Middle East, were still full of luxury goods that were unprocurable in Britain. Such things as silk stockings were easy to obtain, although prices, he says, were invariably high.