SAFE IN SWEDEN

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 25053, 17 November 1944, Page 5

SAFE IN SWEDEN

TIRPITZ EAID BOMBER NEW ZEALAND PILOT (Reed. 6.35 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 15 The crew of the only Lancaster missing after the attack on the Tirpitz last Sunday was comprised of three New Zealanders, two Englishmen and one Welshman, says Reuter's Stockholm correspondent. The New Zealand pilot landed perfectly on soft, difficult ground in Northern Sweden. The pilot said: "Flak hit our Lancaster before we made our bombing run and put the starboard motor out of action. The plane did not catch fire, so we pressed home the attack, but we do not know whether our 12,0001b bomb hit the target. "We soon found we could not hope to reach base, so turned toward Sweden. Low cloud forced us down in desolate country. Civilians arrived and cared for us until military officials arrived." All the airmen are in high spirits and unscratched, adds the correspondent. Minister's Congratulations The British Air Minister, Sir Archibald Sinclair, has congratulated the Royal Air Force bomber crews and ground staff whose combined work sank the Tirpitz. "You have kicked away the strongest single prop of the German military position in Norway and Northern Europe," he said. "You have sunk one of the toughest ships in the world. People of this country will take pride in the fact that the Tirpitz was sunk by British aircraft flown by British crews using a British bombsight and with British bombs that no other air force has so far carried." Sir Archibald then referred to the versatility of the R.A.F. bomber crows. "You havo bombed targets of every sort in France, Germany, Norway, Italy and the Low Countries," he said. "There was your magnificent bombing of the Dortmund-Ems Canal and the destruction of the dams in the Ruhr. You have bombed sometimes from great heights and sometimes from 70ft." Earlier Attack Recalled A previous attempt to sink the Tirpitz by aerial attack was made two and a-half years ago. .This was carried out by Halifax bombers which used armourpiercing bullets, mines and depth charges. The attacking aircraft were led by Air Vice-Marshal D. C. T. Bennett, of Queensland, who is now chief of the Bomber Command Pathfinder Force. Air Vice-Marshal Bennett (who was a wingcommander at this period) had to bail out over Norway after the attack, but escaped back to Britain. USE OF "MOON ROCKETS" SCIENTIST'S PREDICTION ASTRONOMICAL PHOTOGRAPHY (Reed. 5.35 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 15 Rocket flights to the moon are predicted by the famous British scientist, Professor J. B. S. Haldane. Writine in the Daily Worker, Professor Haldane says that if the human race so desires giant rockets can serve other ends than destruction. He estimates that "moon rockets" would be practicable in order to- photograph the other side of the moon's face. He points out that the German V2 rockets aimed at Britain rise to 70 miles when fired on an oblique course. A rocket fired vertically, therefore, could rise to 200 miles, or more. "At this height it would be above almost all air," he explains, "and if it released a camera attached to a parachute it could take photographs in short-waved ultra-violet light. This would give new information about the sun and other heavenly bodies."

ROBOT MAIL DELIVERY AMERICAN POST-WAR PLAN (Reed. 5.35 p.in.) NEW YORK, Nov. 15 Predicting that rockets would deliver mail after the war, taking only three minutes from New York to Chicago, Professor F. K. Teichmann, of the New York University's Guggenheim Aeronautical Institute, said that American technical planning for the use of rockets and robot rocket planes was well advanced. The first items to bo roboted across the country would be paints, cosmetics, millinery, mail, packaged foodstuffs clothing and other luxury items because the costs of transport would be four to ten times as great as plane freight. One to 15-ton loads would be transported in V2 type robots, ranging from 20 to 100 ft long, with eight metal fins placed at 45-degreo angles on the tails to guide them. The post-war robot, he added, would be equipped with folding wings which would spread as it reached the landing base, transforming it into a glider. Robots would also be equipped with automatic pilots, radio beam control and other devices so that they would not, for instance, land in San Francisco when aimed at Los Angeles. PLANE OF THE FUTURE HUGE "STRATO-CRUISER" CHICAGO, Nov. 15 The Booing Aircraft Co. lias displayed models of a new luxury transport plane. It is a double-decked "strato-cruiser" based on a SuperFortress, but is 12ft longer. The company says the plane could be used, firstly, as a low-fare transport carrying 100 passengers at an operating cost of one cent a passenger a mile; secondly, as a luxury sleeper plane with 36 berths; thirdly, as an all-cargo plane with a payload of over 15 tons. Company officials give the _ plane a range of 3500 miles and a cruising speed of 340 miles an hour. The pressurised cabin is designed to provide comfortable atmospheric conditions regardless of altitude. CANADIAN VICTORY LOAN (Reed. 5.35 p.m.) OTTAWA, Nov. 15 Canada's 1,300,000.000 dollar seventh Victory Loan was over-subscribed by 108,000,000 dollars, with more returnß iSfcill-jto-comain, . , '