Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 18, 2020 15:10:38 GMT 12
SIX DAYS AFLOAT
NEW ZEALAND AIRMAN
RESCUED IN THE CHANNEL
(By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright.) Rec. 2 p.m. LONDON, May 4.
After drifting in a single-seater dinghy in the Channel for six days, during which he captured a seagull and drank its blood in an attempt to sustain his strength, a New Zealander, Group Captain Peter Donkin, D.S.O., of Invercargill, commander of a reconnaissance wing of the Second Tactical Air Force, was rescued by the Navy, says the Air Ministry news service. He is now in hospital recovering from effects of exposure.
Group Captain Donkin was on a low level reconnaissance flight over the Belgian coast when his plane was hit by flak, and he bailed out close to the enemy-occupied coast. Planes from his wing stayed in the air during daylight for two days joining in the search for him; It was reported that the weather conditions made search fruitless, but a naval boat sighted and rescued him on the sixth day.
Group Captain Donkin said that not the least of his trials while he was drifting was the habit of Marauders in testing their guns while going out on sorties. "Bullets often peppered around, too near to be healthy," he said. "Sometimes planes passed so close that they stirred my hair, but they never saw me."
EVENING POST, 5 MAY 1944
NEW ZEALAND AIRMAN
RESCUED IN THE CHANNEL
(By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright.) Rec. 2 p.m. LONDON, May 4.
After drifting in a single-seater dinghy in the Channel for six days, during which he captured a seagull and drank its blood in an attempt to sustain his strength, a New Zealander, Group Captain Peter Donkin, D.S.O., of Invercargill, commander of a reconnaissance wing of the Second Tactical Air Force, was rescued by the Navy, says the Air Ministry news service. He is now in hospital recovering from effects of exposure.
Group Captain Donkin was on a low level reconnaissance flight over the Belgian coast when his plane was hit by flak, and he bailed out close to the enemy-occupied coast. Planes from his wing stayed in the air during daylight for two days joining in the search for him; It was reported that the weather conditions made search fruitless, but a naval boat sighted and rescued him on the sixth day.
Group Captain Donkin said that not the least of his trials while he was drifting was the habit of Marauders in testing their guns while going out on sorties. "Bullets often peppered around, too near to be healthy," he said. "Sometimes planes passed so close that they stirred my hair, but they never saw me."
EVENING POST, 5 MAY 1944
