DETECTING SMUGGLERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 151, 29 June 1932, Page 8

DETECTING SMUGGLERS

NEW USE FOR AIRCRAFT WORK ON THE RED SEA EXPEDITION INTO DESERT LONDON, May 20. Thu use uf seagoing aircraft to com but smugglers and gun-runners iu the Red Sea was a possibility studied in. recent, aerial reconnaissance of the Sudan coast. Official details of the flight reveal that the formation of three day-bombiiig biplanes surveyed a number uf anchorages suitable for ilying-boats or float-planes, and that on at least one occasion smugglers’ dhows were sighted from the air and their presence reported to British sloops engaged on coastal patrol In tho vicinity. The dhows were seen hidden iu shallow channels behind reefs, so, placed that they were readily perceptible only from the air. Their crews were hard at work unloading cargo on to camels. The aeroplanes immediattely flashed the news to a warship aud to the Sudan Political Service, which asked in return, that aircraft should assist detection and arrest of the smugglers by reporting any large camel convoy seen moving near by. This one incident provided indisputable evidence of the potentialities of aircraft in checking illicit trading on this long and difficult, coast, and the official report indicates that the subject is likely to receive further study. Operations in the Desert The machines selected for the work were Fairey 3F landplanes of No. 47 Bomber Squadron, which is stationed at Khartoum. First they were flown to Port Sudan, where seaplane floats were substituted for the land undercarriages. Their two main tasks were to test sites already chosen as suitable for seaplane anchorage and to discover others. Action against the illicit trader grew spontaneously out of events that marked the flight. Another picturesque fact in the many-sided work of the Royal Air Force overseas is displayed in the story of a reconnaissance into the little-known Sudanese desert far west of Khartoum, which was undertaken following an attack by armed tribesmen on a camel caravan of peaceful Dongola Arabs. Five 3F day bombers, two large Vickers “Victoria” troop carriers and a motor machinegun battery of the Sudan Defence Force, wore moved out to El Fasher, their officers under instructions to scour the desert for the raidets and to take such steps in the collection of detailed information about the country and the establishment of suitable landing grounds as would render difficult similar attacks in the future. At the same time the reconnaissance was planned in a way to explore thoroughly possibilities of operating aeroplanes in conjunction with motor machine-gun units. Tn 1930 a similar reconnaissance expedition, also employing aircraft and machine-gun batteries, failed to find a suitable route, and this new attempt was made in a different, direction by way of Darfur. Three Fairey aeroplanes were detailed to work from an advanced landing ground on the Wadi Shau. and to reconnoitre ahead of the machine-gun unit. The two remaining Fairey craft were based at El Fasher to act as spare aircraft and to maintain supplies to the Wadi Shau with the help of the two big troop carriers. The Reconnaissance Fleet When the reconnaissance was convluded after twenty-three days in the field, much, valuable information had been gathered about the region. Three sites suitable for landing grounds were found on the Wadi Shau and at Bir Natrun and Nukheila. This time the aircraft had no difficulty in maintaining contact with the machine-gun battery all through the reconnaissance. No raiders were seen, a reasonable inference being that tho armed parties broke up at the news that aeroplanes were on the way. Powered with a single Napier 530 h.p. motor, the- 3F biplane is one of the most largely-uscd aeroplanes in the Royal Air Force, employed for day bombing, gunnery spotting, aerial photography, high speed communications and other of the multifarious duties allotted to “general purpose” aeroplanes in the British service. Two similar engines enable each “Victoria” troop carrier to bear aloft 22 fully-armed infantiymen and their equipment, or a. similar load iu munitions of war or other urgent, supplies. Much modern British air strategy is based on the use of “heavy transport.’ ’ acroplanes of this kind.