Evening star., 1940-07-16

ans,oer this and other questions
relating to the English flyers.
Here .tollotDs the first of his
stories. Two others wil touo,o.
BY DREW MIDDLETON,
Associated Press War Correspondent.
LONDON-"Better pilots and bet
ter machines" is the reason for the
r. A. F.'s amazing showing against
German air power, say neutral and
British experts.
How else, they ask. could Britain S
air force, estimated at 2,700 first
line planes at the beginning of the
war, have fought on even terms with
the German air fleet, conservatively
estimated at 5000 first-line planes
when the Polish campaign began?
The flying personnel I met In
France were remarkable for their
youth, the feeling of fellowship that
ran through all ranks and for their
technical education.
Discussions of their grim trade
invariably sounded like shop talk"
among engineers. War was thing
of engine revolutions, meticulous
calculation and advanced technical
theories, rather than dull horror.
. Training Period Cut.
1t took 1S months to train a
British pilot before the war. Now
''acts of God and the King S
enemies" as official regulations put
it. have cut the period of training.
Student pilots must have a pre-
1iminary education equal to high
school and two years of college In
the United States. For two months
they march like army rockies,
study signaling, navigation, gunnery.
bombing, engineering, photography,
telephone construction and recon-
naissance. in classrooms.
Then, using the American-built
Harvard trainer, they learn to ny.
Flying preparation is a far cry
from the "six hours of solo and
of to France" Of the first World War.
Two months of flying at all times.
in all weather, follows. Students
get their first taste of actual bomb
ing and machine-gunning. They are
divided into pilots, observers, gun
ners, bombers, photographers.
The few, the very few, who have
the necessary mixture OF daring, cold
calculation. physical stamina and
coordination are assigned to fighter
eouadronS as pilots.
The result is mass OF highly
trained, well-seasoned technicians
ranging in age from 81 to Is.
Individual Training.
German air prisoners have been
very young" in recent weeks. with
bombers and machine-gunners aged
II and pilots of 10 and 20. The
British also believe their training
system Is better in teaching the in
dividual. It never attempts to teach
in the mass as Germans are said
to do.
The R. A. F. takes pride in being
democratic. The tradition of heavy
drinking has disappeared, mainly
because no pilot can fly modern
aircraft at speeds up to more than
400 miles per hour unless he is abso-
lutely fit.
Few heroic figures emerge. Un-
known to the public, since the edict
banning the publicizing of names,
they are the toasts Of the service,
which privately considers the army
and navy a trifle old-fashioned.
Here are flyers who have won the
Distinguished Service Order, next to
the Victoria Cross, which is Britain's s
highest military medal, and the Dis
tinguished Flying Cross. Squadron
Leader John Scatliff Dewar, Squad
ron Leader John William Oliver, Act
ing Squadron Leader Joseph Robert
Kayll, Flight 1t. Walter Myers
Churchill, Flight 1t. ''Dickie L."
A slim, blond, smiling youth of q,
one of Britain's top fighter pilots
his mates call him ''the magazine
cover pilot"-"Dickie L." (real name
censored has won the Distinguished
Service Order and the Distinguished
Flying Cross ribbons.
Son Of World War Ace.
"Dickie's" father was World War
ace, killed in a flying accident in
1919. "Dickie" himself has had ex-
perience that would make a scenario
writer leap to the typewriter.
Once, flying home to Britain or
leave, he intercepted and shot dowr
two Heinkels. Once his plane wa.
shot down behind the German lines
He borrowed clothes from French
peasant, slipped through the Ger.
man guard and made his way home
to his squadron, which was already
mourning him as dead.
A broken leg put him on the side.
lines for six weeks. He celebrated
his return by getting" two Junker!
81 dive-bombers.
There are hundreds of others
They stand in the dawn's cold ligh
while motors warm, chatting abou
cricket. They stumble, reeling with
fatigue, to their hunks after hour!
of flying and fighting.
Wait for the Rest.
The stand in mute, lonely cir
cles on the vast expanse of a flyini
field, waiting for "the rest to coml
m" Sometimes dice come seven,
and the squadron, still complete
walks to quarters, laughing, reminis-
cling. Sometimes half a squadron
ktraggles home.
Some of the best are gone. Two
of the wars three Victoria Crosses
were awarded posthumously to Pilo
D. E. Garland and Observer Thoma!
Grey. They flew out to bomb {
bridge over the Albert Canal wher
the Flanders fighting was at it:
height. They never came back, bu
the bridge was bombed and de-
stroyed.
The air force periodically has pub
lished casualties, although the periot
they cover is never mentioned. Herr
are totals collected by the Associated
Press:
Killed in action, 489; wounded IL