PERILS OF IRAQ AIRMEN

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 810, 2 November 1929, Page 11

PERILS OF IRAQ AIRMEN

FORCED LANDINGS MEAN FEARFUL DOOM NEW ZEALANDER RETURNS United P.A.—By Telegraph—Copyright Reed. 9.5 a.m. SYDNEY, Today. The perils of aviators of the Royal Air Force doing duty in Iraq, near the Turkish and Persian frontiers, were told by Flying-Officer L. B. McGovern, who has arrived at Sydney on his way to New Zealand with his wife. He says that most of his service in Iraq consisted of watching savage bands of marauders who left the rugged hills to raid British subjects in the villages and plains. British airdromes were scattered round the key positions, and airplanes were able to pick out Arab raiders’ caravans, or discover their hidden camps and scatter them with bombs or machinegun fire from great heights. Many flying men had paid the price for their daring with shattered bodies, together with the wreckage of their machines, which often were never discovered. Forced landings usually meant that these daring fellows would be ruthlessly murdered by their avengers, who were adepts with German and Turkish rifles. When firing they would always allow for the speed of the airplanes. Flying-Officer McGovern paid a tribute to the men who administered in the lonely parts in Iraq. They were completely isolated, and had to act on their own initiative.

Flying-Officer L. B. McGovern is a New Zealander. Born in Dunedin, he was educated at the Otago Boys’ High School.