Evening star., 1943-04-07
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,
Star Staff Correspondent.

AAoNAAS
Star Staff Correspondent.
LONDON (By MaiD When Rudolf
Hess crossed the English coastline In
the late evening of May 10, r241,
England's sleepless eyes and ears, the
unsung 'cranks" of the Royal OBJ
server Corps, not only picked him up
Immediately but knew the exact
type of plane. the course it was fol-
lowing, and when it crashed.
They could almost have guessed
who the passenger was. At least
they knew the plane contained
somebody very unusual on a very
unusual mission. They stuck to
their Judgment, formed without ac-
tually seeing the plane, in the face
OF incredulity and were thoroughly
justified by the outcome.
The story has just been given out
by the Royal Observer Corps for
the first time. They regard it as
one of their outstanding exploits
and are little peeved by the credit
which has gone to others.
Here is the story, as told by the
man who spotted the Hess plane:
Il had arrived at my group center
at about 22:30 hours to check up
on any activity in neighboring
groups. There was not much doing.
We were on the lookout for a stray
Hudson. Elsewhere all was quiet.
'At 22:38 hours the center was
notified by the group that an uni
Identified plane. thought to be hos
tile, was coming to us from the east.
1t was given to us as Dornier 215.
No mention was made of Messer-
schmitt.
Course Plotted by Sound.
'"The plane was plotted accurately
across our table by sound only, as it
was now practically dark. I esti-
mated its speed to be about 400
miles per hour and suggested to the
duty controller that the speed
looked more like a Messerschmitt
ITO. This was not accepted, and we
did not know that another group
had previously made the same sug-
gestion on visual grounds Seeing
that the plane was heading for the
Firth of Clyde at certain point, I
Immediately took the phones and
spoke personally to Y, which was the
nearest post to this place I told
them that the plane might be
Dornier, was not likely to be the
missing Hudson, but that in my
opinion it was Messerschmitt, ow-
Ing to its speed.
Y in about half minute heard
It approaching, plotted it, and sud-
denly got visual" The plane
whizzed past about quarter of a
mile away, at an altitude actually
below the level of the post. The
post only got quick glimpse of it
In the moonlight as it swung around
over the sea. They said it was much
too slim for Hudson, had twin rud-
ders, and might be Dornier, but
that its speed and noise were so
terrific that it was 10 to l it was a
Messerschmitt.
incidentally, the head observer of
Y, who was down in the village, saw
the plane from below, definitely
recognized it as an Me and nearly
burst a blood vessel galloping up to
the post. The H O.. like many of
us. Is not so young, and the post is
very high. By the time he got there
much had happened.
Parachute Jump Reported.
Reminding the center crew that
we had actually had long distance
Me over the group on Friday, March
IA "a date familiar to Clyde people,
proceeded to speak to the z posts,
toward which 1t was now heading.
The z posts picked it up, and II
got another quick glimpse and also
said it was. in their opinion, an Me
ITO, This opinion was still not ac-
cepted.
Suddenly H2 reported zone pilot
has baled out by parachute. plane
has crashed in flames, square OOO0."
We Immediately notified Home
Guard and police in that area, and
set out for the spot.
AS 1t was road which I knew
"SA' oi1d u dlllC lIsIllS COulQ lOI once
be ignored, I arrived on the scene
only a few minutes after the Home
Guard and the police, who had
turned out with very impressive
rapidity.
Check Type of Plane.
They were bit worried that thev
had only grabbed one German. l
mentioned quietly that III had only
reported one man baling out, and
asked them to let me know exactly
where they were taking the prisoner.
as I would like to speak to him. In
the meantime, I was interested in
assuring myself that the aircraft
was an Me. 1t was spread over about
III acres, but the fire was not ex-
tensive. After a quick look at the
rudders, which were not much dam
aged, and the beautifully streamlined