SEA DRAMA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 June 1942, Page 4

SEA DRAMA

DRIFT ON RUBBER RAFT IN PACIFIC PLIGHT OF THREE AMERICAN AIRMEN. ENDURANCE & HEROISM. a Among all the tales of man’s struggle against nature in general and the sea in particular, it is hard to recall one - revealing greater resource, endurance ; and heroism than that of three Ameri- ” can naval fliers who in January and e February sailed 1000 miles over the r Pacific on an inflated rubber raft in 34 days, sustaining life on birds, fish ■ and rainwater. The men were the crew of a torpedo bomber which on January 16 lost the e carrier from which if had taken off and had to be brought down on the sea when its petrol was exhausted, t They were a petty officer, Harold c Dixon, aged 41, pilot of the plane; g Gene Aldrich, aged 22, radio operator, ‘ and Anthony Pastula, aged 24, guns ner. NO FOOD OR WATER. j In spite of all Dixon’s care, the e bomber sank almost immediately it . struck the water, and the crew only just managed to get clear in their life- □ jackets without salvaging anything I except a revolver which one of them 1 had in his pocket. The mechanism for inflating and releasing the rubber raft, however, worked perfectly and they soon clambered aboard. The little craft measured only about Bft by 4ft, and they had neither food nor water. Next morning a search plane passed within half a mile, but did not see - them. Dixon came to the conclusion , that (heir only hope of reaching safety , was to sail, if possible, south or south- ‘ west to inhabited islands not occupied by Japanese. By throwing rags overboard and alternatively by improvising a log from a length of cord, he was able to estimate the raft’s rate of drift before the wind under different conditions. PRAYER FOR RAIN. When the wind was in the wrong direction Dixon found means to check the drift with a sea anchor made from a life jacket and a rope cut off the circumference of the raft. He had a small air navigator’s celluloid scale, and with this he made a rough chart of their course from day to day on the front of another jacket. The men were in great discomfort in their cramped quarters and suffered greatly from thirst. They prayed in concert for rain, and were rewarded with five minutes’ downpour. On the seventh day Aldrich stabbed. a small fish, which they ate raw. Some hours later an albatross landed on the edge of the raft and Aldrich shot it with the revolver. They ate the liver and heart, but had to throw the rest away. BITTEN BY A SHARK. In a calm they paddled with Dixon’s rubber shoes and caught a 4ft. shark by stabbing it. Next Aldrich had a hand injured by the teeth of another shark. They got another smqll fish on the 14th day, a small tern, and two drifting coconuts. Sharks threatened them and they shot one. Twice they were tipped out in heavy seas, but managed to get back again. The second time they had removed their clothes, which they lost, and the sun blistered their skins. Eventually, on the 4th day, they saw palms ahead and hours later were washed over the reef of a friendly island. The resident commissioner cared for them until they could be removed to the naval hospital at Pearl Harbour. On March 17, on the deck of an aircraft-carrier, Admiral Chester Nimitz, commanding the United States Pacific Fleet, decorated the three men. Dixon received the. Navy Cross for “extraordinary heroism.”