Two Flyers Still Lost

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 639, 16 April 1929, Page 9

Two Flyers Still Lost

ANDERSON AND HITCHCOCK Search May Be Difficult (United P.A.—By Telegraph — Copyright) SYDNEY. Monday. FEKE was still no news this afternoon of Lieutenant Keith Anderson and his mechanic, Mr. Hitchcock, who left Sydney on Sunday, April 7, in the airplane Kookaburra for Western Australia to assist in the search for the Southern Cross.

TT is stated that the two airmen experienced trouble with their compasses on the early part of their journey. Therefore it is conjectured that after they left Alice Springs, Northern Territory, for the Kimberley district, Western Australia, on Wednesday last,, they might have got off their course and landed at some isolated cattle station. On the other hand, the men might have been forced down in the desert. In that case their position would be one calling for urgent rescue efforts, as they would be without food or water. Life c#3uld not long be supported in such a predicament. The two Royal Australian Air Force airplanes, the pilots of which are searching for the missing men, arrived at Oodnadatta to-day, and will proceed to Alice Springs. The search for the Kookaburra may be more difficult than that for the Southern Cross, as the machine may be in a country of vast unexplored distances where communications are scanty in the extreme. A SHAGGY QUARTET SMITH AND COMPANIONS DESCRIBED AN HILARIOUS SCENE SYDNEY, Monday. A message from Derby, Western Australia, contains pen pictures of the crew of the Southern Cross provided by the aviator Captain Heath and Mr. J. Tonkin, journalist, who landed near the stranded monoplane on Saturday. They say: MeWilliam was a regular wild man. He wore shorts and had a heavy beard and hairy limbs. He presented a fearsome aspect, especially when he smiled. It needed a second glance to identify Ulm, who would easily have passed for an Afghan. His dirty shirt hung half-way down his legs,. Smithy was easily recognisable. But he was painfully thin and wan. Litchfield was less unkempt. He looked fairly fit and had a radiant race. Captain Heath handed the aviators a budget of telegrams received at Derby since the news of their discovery. These were opened hurriedly and read aloud amid great hilarity, which culminated in the singing of the “Hallelujah Chorus” and “The Frothblowers’ Anthem.” Captain Heath was chaired in order that he might be photographed with the others. They were very weak men who did the chairing. Smith asked Captain Heath to undertake to transport petrol and further stores, as he knows the ground. Mr. Tonkin says it is marvellous how the Southern Cross landed with-

out damage on sueli a perilous spot. She lay with her engines almost touching the trees. Behind the machine there were vast stretches of reeds covering the black mud flat. Captain Heath had great difficulty in hopping off again in his airplane. Probably he will return to the Southern Cross to-morrow. NO INVESTIGATION FORCED LANDING OF SOUTHERN CROSS PRAISE FOR HOLDEN Reed. 9 a.m. SYDNEY, To-day. The Air Accidents Investigation Committee, which was created by the Federal Government in 1927 to inquire into the reasons of all forced landings, has intimated that it does not intend to hold "any inquiry regarding the Southern Cross, unless it is directed to do so by the Federal Government. A supply of petrol is to be taken to the crew of the Southern Cross by airplane, probably on Friday. It is thought that the four airmen will have regained sufficient strength by the end of this week to clear a runway for their machine. Then they will probably fly to Derby. The Prime Minister, Mr. Bruce, today telegraphed to Captain Holden tendering him his heartiest congratulations on his gallant effort in discovering the crew of the Southern Cross. “You have earned the thanks and admiration of the whole of the people of Australia,” said Mr. Bruce. NEW ZEALAND THANKED RELATIVES OF AIRMEN McWilliams to return Press Association WELLINGTON, Monday. The Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, has received the following cablegram from the Premier of New South Wales, Mr. T. R. Bavin: — “I have conveyed to the relatives of the Southern Cross flyers your kind messages of congratulation. They desire me in reply to express their deep sense of gratitude to you and to the people of New Zealand. Permit me to add the thanks of the Government and people of this State.” Private advice was received in Hunterville to-day from Mr. T. H. MeWilliam, wireless operator of the Southern Cross, that he intends to return to the Dominion for about a week while the monoplane is being refitted in Sydney.