TWELVE DAYS OF DREAD

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 640, 17 April 1929, Page 1

TWELVE DAYS OF DREAD

DEATH BY STARVATION IMMINENT ULM CONTINUES STORY SYUVEY, Tuesday. In a further dispatch from the mudflat near the Glenelg River, Western Australia, where the crew of the Southern Cross and their machine are stranded. Flight-Lieutenant C. T. p. Ulm says: The hour when the Canberra flew over the “Cafe Royal” was one of the most memorable in our lives, for, without exaggeration, we were just on the point of complete starvation and utterly exhausted. The spring tides had covered the mud-flats to the south, completely cutting off our main food supply—mud snails. The few adjacent waterholes in the foothillfe were dried up, and we were far too weak to climb to our best water supply half-way up “Dar-

linghurst Hill.” Even that was fast drying up. We had a supply of bean weeds handy, but the sun was fast drying even them. Our faces, arms at.d legs were lacerated by grass and bramble cuts, and flies were poisoning these sores rapidly. A painful death by starvation and thirst was not more than three or four days away. It can be realised,, in view of the condition we were in, and tho awful 12 days we had been through, that we were literally almost insane with excitement on that memorable Friday morning. Before Les Holden flew away be dropped a note saying he probabiy would return the following day with more food. We then settled down to some steady eating. To me several outstanding features of this experience are left. Firstly, the knowledge of how much abuse the human frame will stand up to without breaking down altogether. And here I pay a tribute to my comrades for their wonderful efforts. None of us is by any means physically perfect. Three of us normally weigh about 10J stone each, yet at the end of the 12 days of almost total starvation, one of us—Litchfield—is still capable of hard physical work under the most trying conditions. But even he could not have lasted more than another two days. Smithy, the smallest in stature and the lightest of all of us, caved in oply on the night of the eleventh day. Prior to that he certainly worked the most strenuously of all. His energy was truly astounding. McWilliam and I are practically on a level. We lasted w-ell up to the ninth day, but after that we were physically incapable of further real hard work. If ever we have to go through such trying times again, Smithy and I could desire no better comrades than Litch. and Mac. They are splendid. Mac is a born humorist. He was always cheerful and kept us amused all the time. Some people say ar" mouth organ is not worthy of the name of musical instrument. Well, they have not heard Mac play one. When things were most black he would strike up a lively tune and brighten us all up greatly. The radio was our greatest boon. Every night, after Mac had got our emergency aerial fixed, we received Sydney Press news about the search for us. It was heartbreaking sometimes to note how far away the searchers were.

If we had the means to turn our generators Mac could have told the searchers on the second night where to find us.