AUSTRALIAN FLIERS.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XLI, Issue 11417, 21 December 1917, Page 7

AUSTRALIAN FLIERS.

FINE WORK IN PALESTINE. LONG AND VALUABLE RECONNAISSANCES. Colonel Reynolds (staff officer of the A.I.F. Aviation Corps) says that it is doubtful if any unit was merer greatly responsible for the sneqesses in Palestine and the capture of Jerusalem than the Australian fliers (writes the special representative of the “Sydney Sun”). They were entrusted 'with the principal long reconnaissances, bombing and photographing, and were frequently selected for the most dangerous t <sks across unknown country, sometimes tfyiug 250 miles a day. They unfailingly achieved their objectives. Colonel Reynolds has returned from with the wonderful reputation which the Australians earned. “If I told you all that Allenby and Chauvel and other generals have said of the boys stou5 t ou would think I was exaggerating. It is impossible for words to convey the idea of the appreciation in which by common consent the Australians are held. They are the linest squadron in the campaign. Many have been there for eighteen months practically without a rest. They are sometimes aloft eight hours a day. It is a great mental auH physical strain, yet they are never missing when a dangerous job is about.”

WONDERFULLY KEEN PILOTS. “The men are drawn from the Light Horse, which supplied some of the finest material, the work requiring coolness and judgment. Long flights across the lines often involve facing superior forces and faster machines. The Australi ans’ higher skill enables them to evade the Germans, with the result that casmlities are comparatively low. I have watched sever.-: 1 machines return freely speckled with bullets, and the officers unwounded. , The work of the present push is jnteres-

ting, bombing aerodromes, railwaystations, ami bridges, pursuing and relentlessly machine-gunning Turks and not allowing them a breathing space, thus contributing greatly to their defeat. The pilots are extraordinarily keen, carrying on day and night. The squadron commander is perhaps the keenest of all. I saw him fly out alone on two nights after a hard day’s work. HIS PAL’S BAG. “The Germans show a sporting spirit, reporting our'casualties and the condition of Recently a German airman reported that a missing pilot was captured,and safe. A pal collected his baggage and flew to the Turkish line, where he descended to within 70ft. of the ground He was heavily fired on, but saw the prisoner outside the aerodrome, and dropped his bag at his feet. “The capture of the aerodrome at Boersheba revealed the destructive effect of the earlier bombing. A young Melbourneite had an unsurpassed reputation for daring. He flew eighty miles and searched the desert for two missing Australian Engineers, whom he found at an oasis murdered. The squadron has won a V. G., a D. S. M., and six Military crosses brilliantly. Its supremacy to acknowledged and paid tribute by the R.F. G. ’’ THE BEST OALF FOOD IS THE , CHEAPEST/ Initial cost is of secondary consideration when buying Calf Food—or anything else for that matter. Take “GEREMILK” as a case in point. “GEREMILK’’ costs a little —a very little more than other foods, but the results are so profitable that the first cost is considerably discounted. One large user, Mr J. Ross, Maharahara, writes: — “GEREMILK’’ is e-.sy to use, the calves quickly thrive upou it, and I think that the price will more than favourably compare with any other calf food on the market.’’ At all Stores and Factories. Local Distributors; A. J. Thomson and Co. ’s, Marton