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Wanganui Chronicle, 27 November 1948, Page 5

FROM ST. PAUL’S. LONDON, TO LES INVALIDES, PARIS, IN UNDER AN HOUR.—From a bombed site near St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, one of the new “Bristol” Type 171 helicopters took off on the first stage of a journey to establish a record air link between the centres of London and Paris. The pilot, Mr. E. A. Swiss, carried a message from London’s Lord Mayor, Sir Frederick Wells, to M. Pierre de Gaulle, President of the Municipality of Paris. At a Kent aerodrome he passed the message over fo Mr. W. A. Waterson, who flew across the English Channel in a Gloster Meteor, at a speed of more than 500 miles an hour, to the French airport at Orly. From there the message was taken on its final stage by a “Westland Sikorsky” Sl5l helicopter, which landed at the Place des Invalides, Paris, where the message was handed to the waiting M. de Gaulle. The journey from the heart of London to the centre of Paris took 47 minutes. The “Bristol” helicopter taking off from close to St. Paul’s Cathedral. London, on the first stage of the London-Paris link-up.