“RAINING SOLDIERS”

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3822, 16 October 1936, Page 9

“RAINING SOLDIERS”

RUSSIAN ARMY MANOEUVRES. At the« recent Red Army manoeuvres, ’planes flew over a chosen spot and the sky “rained soldiers.” Men, fieldgun parts and machine - guns fluttered 'to earth by parachute, ostensibly in the rear of an enemy. W'ithin a few minutes, the troops thus delivered wore, ready for action. Other armies have not given such displays. Other countries have not yet adopted the Russian view of th,e parachute. Rightly or wrongly, they still look upon it as chiefly a lifesaving apparatus. To the Russian it is a life-saver; but it is also a war-weapon, plaything and charac-ter-builder. The cult of the parachute is becoming a Sovie ( t obsession. Behind the trained parachutists of the Red Army are civilians—their number is legion—who have mastered the art of parachute-jumping as members of the Osoaviakhim or related bodies. The Osoaviakhim is a voluntary association for training in aerial and chemical defence, and the chief of its central committee has declared: “Parachuting develops in the individual, as does no other sport, the qualities of courage boldness, coolness and the spirit of decision

...” Parachute “circles” with ten members at least and thirty at most are formed all over the country. The members receive theoretical instruction on standard lines. From towers (the kindergartens of the parachutists) they make their first practice leaps. Every actio club is required to have its parachute station. “The functions of the station will consist,” says an official order, “of teaching pupils from the parachute circles the actual leap from an aeroplane in flight.” Not every aspirant is allowed to jump. Medical examination determines fitness. Pupils who have made their leaps receive the parachutist’s emblem and a diploma. The full course at a “station” totals 18 hours’ Study and practice. Aptitudes for parachuting vary (apart from the health question). Only the best performers in the Army will be, eligible for enrolment in the aerial troops destined to be dropped behind the enemy or on the enemy’s flank. (Such troops when landed would be fed and munitioned from the air). “In time of war,” the believers say, “the fate of an army may depend on 5000 parachutists.

Will other countries catch ths parachute craze? The answer depends probably, on how much respect the theory of the parachute’s usefulness in war is capable of commanding outside Russia. Some months ago, France opened a single parachutq school at Avignon to train instructors. There have been no reports (so far as one can discover) of an overwhelming rush of pupils.