Evening star., 1943-05-31

They're not only unsung, they're
unwhispered. But what beating
around they take as they backseat
drive over the roads of the sky -
that are paved with fax and pa
trolled by Goering's crack pursuit
flyers. They must just sit there,
beside the pilot with no work to
do unless he is hit and they have
to assume control of the ship.
Theirs is a free admission ticket
for a free-for all fight, but they
can't throw any punches. ="
. Once enemy territory IS reached
the gunners are shooting, the navl-~
gator is working on his charts or
shooting too, the bombardier's mind
is absorbed in preparing for the
run over the target, and the pilot
is concentrating on getting the ship
over the target and getting 1t home
again. But, 10, the poor co-pilot!
Hands in lap, heart in mouth, he
must sit quietly by and watch
everything break loose around him.
Relief by Candid Camera.
Various and sundry are the
means co-pilots employ to relieve
this tremendous strain of idleness7
in time Of battle. Many Of them
haIe become candid camera fiends
arM sit there taking pictures of
Focke- Wulfs and MesserschmittS as
they dive at them and of the anti
aircraft bursts which rattle shrap-'
mel off the fuselage and wings like
| hail on a roof
It's amazing. some Of the shots Z
these boys manage to get-German
fighters just wing tip away, enemy
and friendly planes going down in
flames. To any one who knows any
thing about photography, it is plain
that these boys sit there carefully
adjusting their camera shutters and
thinking about lights and shadows
while death was flying all about
them.
All co-pilOtS make a practice of
counting the tracers in a stream of
bullets-a cannon and machine
gun-that are shot at them any they
can come close to telling you how
many rounds were fired at them.
The back-seat driving, as one CO.
pilot told me, IS the worst torture
of all. Being pilots themselves, they
often see the pilots make a move
that they wouldn't have made had
they been at the controls. This
doesn't mean the pilot wasn't right.
but 1t does mean that the co-pilot
Is human enough to want to use his
own judgment every once in a while
when the going gets real tough.
Rank Unseats Pilots.
Pilots will tell you they suffer
from the same thing when rank
comes along and makes them act as
co-pilots A major may come along
and make a captain fly as his CO.
pilot. And eventually a major may
have to fly as a co-pilot because a
/ |b4pllti HnIlI'> " ~ az VIC NOllbi oISs
Many Co-pilots take magazines
along to read and to help take their
minds off the activity during the
fray. One pilot told me an incident
that occurred over St. Nazaire one
day when, just as he made the run
for the target through heavy flax
and fighter opposition, he glanced
up and saw his co-pilot reading "Tha
Readers Digest"
And do you know what he was
reading?" the pilot said. "A oouS
densation of Seversky's 'Victof1
Through Air Power" -
Another pilot swears his co-p1ot
took nap while going over VIII
helmshafen. Il didn't bother to wake
him up because it was only ques-
ton of time before one of those 20
nm. shells from a Focke-Wulf did
Or put him to sleep permanently.
But We were back over the sea be-
fore he woke up
! (Distrihuted hv McNaucht Syndicate Inc }