FLYING IN PALESTINE

Waikato Times, Volume 89, Issue 13816, 22 July 1918, Page 7

FLYING IN PALESTINE

TASMANIAN AVIATOR'S STORY. SCENES AND INCIDENTS. Captain S. Addison lias forwarded to his brother in Holiart a graphic account ot I lie work of tlic Australian Aviation S(|iiadron in Palestine. In the davs of peace- Captain Addison was a 1 asinaiiwiii jouinaliM . lie is now a Hi'dil-coiiiiiiaiider, and there are six more I a.--aiaiiian aviators with him in Palestine. lie writes:— "I am pleased to say our progress continues, and was marked hy still another notable achievement a few • s ago—th« capture of the ancient town of .(erici »» the hills to the north of the Dead Sea, dominating Uie Jordan \ alley. On tin- morning ol the attack 1 kit the aerodrome at dawn ami did a of the area, and had the pleasure of seeing the lurk making his retreat across to the eastern bank of the River Jordan with all the expedition that circumstances would permit, while l>eing rather badly harassed by the Australian 1 Juclit who were already in hot pursuit. At this point there is only one bridge across the river, and we found traffic considerably congested there. It afforded a glorious target, into which I and my observer put 300 rounds from our machine guns, thereby causing no small amount of confusion below. Unless one has actually witnessed a spectacle of this kind, it is difficult to form anything like a true conception of what it means. First, we passed over clusters of our 'supports' at rest with their mounts on the reverse slopes of the. hills; others could be seen winding their way along sheltered tracks or the beds of sinuous 'waddies' in country so rugged and broken that one marvelled at the fact that horses could negotiate it at all. They were moving up to the attack. Next we saw those actually in contact with the enemy. Then came what in this case was the enemy rearguard, striving in their vain effort to retard our advance, and finally the ain body they wer# covering, beating a hasty retreat across the ancient waterway of the Jordan. Our right flank rested on the edge of the Dead Sea, our left disappeared in the folds of the historic Jordan Hills, on the top of which Jerusalem and Bethlehem stood out conspicuously ifl the rear; while in the foreground was the River Jordan, winding its course up the picturesque valley which bears its name Such was the panorama that we looked down upon. "For some days past we have had

with us the official photographer of the A.I.F. Ho obtained a very fine collection of pictures, including a considerable amunt of kinema films, showing our machines taking; off, landing, and in the air. We had his kinema camera mounted on a machine in which one of our pilots took him over Jerusalem, Jericho, Jaffa, and along the I Jordan Valley, and he took a bioscope i view of each of these historic places while in flight. On another occasion he went up and tried to get a film of ,my machine looping and negotiating ■ various other aerial gymnastics; but, » unfortunately, he found it impractif cable to keep me within the camera sight. This was regrettable, as it should have made an interesting picture. He and his camera accompanied us on one of our bomb raids, when hp obtained some fine views of the machines flying in formation, and actually engaged in bombing their target. I understand these films are to be presented in Australia at an early date, and they should be well worth seeing. Captain Hurley, who took all these pic. tares has already won a yood deal of fame in this department of art, as the official photographer who accompanied both the -Mav.son and Shackleton Expeditions to the Antarctic. As a reresult of the fearlessness he has display ed at all times in th« pursuance of his work here, we might expect to fitul that many of he pictures he has obobtained will rival, in point of interest the best of his illustrations of the Bouthern regons.

THE SUPREME ARGUMENT. "A short time ago we had quite a little war to ourselves at our aerodrome. A number of railway trucks on to which a squadron that was 'on the move' had loaded about 9000 gal-. lons of petrol, 500 gallons of oil, and 9000 bombs, were standing in the siding, about 200 or 300 yards from our quarters. At about 7.30 p.m. the alarm was given that the petrol had ignited, and before anything could be done the whole locality was brightly illumined by flames shooting 20 to 30 feet in the air. There was a difference of opinion as to whether the bombs, which had not been detonated, and were in a separate truck would be exploded by the heat. The question was ploded by the heat. The question was being keenly debated in the officers' mess, and those who argued against this possibility advanced various theoretical reasons in support of their contention and seemed to l>e making out a rather good case, when they were suddenly and rudely interrupted by a terrific report, that literally 'blew' the bottom out of their argument. It nauraly caused no small amount of naturally caused no small amount of amusement. "Before very long it was clearly evident that the mess quarters were a rather unhealthy spot. Bombs continued to explode in rapid succession, and shrapnel rained down round most of the tents, several of which were pierced. In one case one of the men found a niece of ironwork of the railway truck, which came through his tent and fell at the foot of his bunk. Fortunately he was not at home at the time; indeed few of us were. We 1 found it a good deal more healthy in the centre of the aerodrome, being content , to watch from there this pyrotechnic display kindly arranged for us by our neighlwuring squadron. It continued for some hours, and was quite an impressive spectacle while it lasted. "A rather amusing incident happened in connection with the affair. An engint was hurried along from an adjacent station with the intention of drawing the burning {>ctrol trucks away from those containing the lwmbs and other material. This engine put into the siding, and was approaching the burning mass when the first bomb exploded. The driver promptly reversed his engine, and put up excellent time for the first ha.lf-milo.' As a matter of fact it was the most sensible thing to do, as the trucks were very soon mutilated by the explosions that followed."