THRILLING LIFE

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25347, 31 October 1945, Page 9

THRILLING LIFE

[WOMAN IN AIR FORCE nE W ZEALANDER'S SERVICE SINGAPORE AND BURMA The first woman to entor Singapore after the surrender of tho Japanese, Junior-Commander J. M. Cranstone, passed through Auckland this week on her way to Wellington on furlough. Mrs Cranstone, who went to Singapore as a correspondent in November, 1941, was among the last to leave the city when the Japanese invaded it, and so felt it gome compensation to be able to return and report on conditions there after the occupation. Jlrs Cranstone, only daughter of Mr W. J. Poison. M.P., is tho wifo of Squadron Leader J. Cranstone, D.F.C., o ne of the few survivors of the battle for Singapore". Squadron Leader Cranstone, a fighter pilot, commanded the jj 0 5 squadron in Burma and returned to New Zealand recently after five years' service with the R.A.F. His wife j as been in turn war correspondent, photographer and broadcaster, and although they were both serving in the same theatre, Squadron Leader and Mrs Cranstone rarely saw each other during the war years. Escape From Singapore Mrs Cranstone left Singapore before the fad tlie in tl,e transport Wakefield, which evacuated a large number of women and children. The heavy bombardment the ship suffered resulted in many of tho passengers heinn wounded and with commendable sneed Mrs Cranstone organised a nursinii service on board. She. was made assW ant-adjutant and liaison officer and travelled in this capacity to Ceylon. She had left Singapore with the intention of travelling to Java as a correspondent, but when it became evident that Java would also fall to the Japanese, she went on to South Africa.

After some months as a correspondent in South Africa, Mrs Cranstone was sent to India to report on the war situation there as a representative of a Natal newspaper, as well as representing an Australian one. On reaching India, however, Mrs Cranstone joined the R.A.F. as a service observer, the onlv woman to hold this post with the R.A.F. in the South East Asia Command. . Her life in India has been a varied one. The only woman observer in the area, she has reported on army manoeuvres in the Khyber Pass and flown orer the Hump into China. With the R.A.F. she has gone on operations as observer-photographer, taken part in submarine hunts in the Indian ocean, dropped supplies into camps hidden in the heart of Burma, and flown over Rangoon with supplies for the prisoner-of-war camp there after the capitulation Lived in Jungle About a year ago, Junior-Commander Cranstone was seconded to the R.N.Z. A.F. as observer at the request of the R.N.Z.A.F. She has lived in the jungle with the men of the squadrons, worked and flown with them, and her skill at organisation and news sense have stood her in good stead and allowed her to cover one of the widest war fronts. After being the first woman into Rangoon at the Japanese evacuation, Junior-Commander Cranstone returned to Ceylon and from Trincomalee sailed for Singapore in a hospital ship, to be the first woman ashore in Singapore. Here she became a combined liaison ami welfare officer a3 well as being the only public relations representative from New Zealand, and the broadcasts she organised about New Zealand prisoners became well known here. Purine her work in Singapore, Junior-Commander Cranstone also visited Bangkok and other Siam areas and saw the notorious Thailand railway.

PRISON SENTENCE FALSE PRETENCES BY CLERK (0.C.) HAMILTON, Tuesday Sentence of one year's imprisonment, to be followed by one year's reformative detention in respect of each charge, the sentences to be concurrent, was imposed upon Clarence Nelson John Bovey, aged 43, clerk (Mr Robertshaw), when he appeared for sentence before Mr Justice Fair in Hamilton today after having been found guilty on two charges of false pretences. Mr Robertshaw asked the Court to consider placing Bovey on probation. He said that, although tfyp accused had a formidable list of previous conWctions, he had not been in trouble for over five years. His Honor said the Court could not consider probation for Bovey, who had eight previous convictions. He added that the offences had been committed deliberately and the previous punishments inflicted upon him had not served as a deterrent. Whatever hardship was inflicted on accused's wife and fosterchildren was his own responsibility. ACCIDENTAL DEATH (0X3.) WHAKATANE, Tuesday An inquest into the death cf Kingita Patikura, the victim of a recent shooting accident at Tarawera, was concluded before the district coroner, Mr G. b. Armstrong, when it was found that lie died as the result of the accidental discharge of a rifle. A report from the arms bureau of the Police Department at Wellington showed that the cartridge was fired "while the rifle was uncocked by a blow on the extreme rear end of the bolt, m which case the safety catch, which Was applied at the time, would have no effect.