Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 20, 2022 0:00:58 GMT 12
Airmen Relax After Cross-Country Trek
Mrs Myra Carver's half-pint tankards were well filled yesterday afternoon for about 20 stubble-chinned young airmen who crowded the bar of her Springfield hotel. After spending 48 hours on the hills during the first part of a survival course, they were celebrating their return to civilisation.
On Wednesday. they were dropped off in pairs between Darfield and Windwhistle, by the Rakaia gorge, with orders to find their own way across country to the Kowai bridge on the Main West road beyond Springfield - about 20 miles away over the foothills.
Each pair shared a parachute, or part of one, as a shelter, and carried an all-purpose pocket knife, fishing line and hooks, rabbit snare, compass and flight map —with a scale of eight miles to an inch.
As they straggled in to base yesterday the men, who are on an aircrew training course at the Royal New Zealand Air Force station, Wigram, were wearing rough tramping clothes and boots, but otherwise they were provided only with the gear they would take with them from a crashed aircraft.
The only food issued was a concentrated glucose-type sweet — enough to last 10 days. They also carried water-purifying tablets.
Preliminary
As this first test was only to break them in for a stiffer escape and evasion exercise next week, the airmen were able to ask for and accept assistance.
On Thursday night, three of them. Squadron Leader G. Amor, R.A.F., Flying Officer T. Lambert, and Pilot Officer W. Gardner, were treated to pork pie and potatoes at the Dalethorpe station, and left with an egg each for their breakfast. Some of the others told similar tales of the help they were given along the way.
But Flying Officers L. McLeod and G. Derby had a sad story to tell. On Thursday afternoon, they stopped for a while to boil the billy at a school between Whitecliffs and Springfield. Just as they finished, some young women drove up to unload boxes and hampers of food. “And while we sat there,” said Flying Officer McLeod yesterday, “they went back and forth, carrying these huge, bulging baskets of lovely, lovely food. More drove up every minute. There must have been some sort of fete held there last night. And those cakes. . ."
Slept on Snow-line
Flight Lieutenant J. Buckmaster and Flying Officer A. Haszard brought some powdered soup with them, to add to their meagre supplies. On Wednesday night, they camped on a saddle below a 3000 ft peak up behind Windwhistle, crossed the Selwyn river, climbed over to the Hawkins river, and camped on Thursday night up the side of the valley.
“This morning,” said Flying Officer Haszard yesterday, “we woke to find ourselves 10 feet below the snow-line. Man, was it cold.”
Squadron Leader Amor was pattering around the bar in his stockinged feet yesterday after raising some big blisters on his trek, but otherwise no casualties were reported. After camping out through a heavy rainstorm with only their parachutes as shelter, and waking to sharp early-winter frosts, the men are looking forward to next week’s exercise with decidedly mixed feelings. Next week, they will be on their own. All Canterbury will be "hostile country.”
PRESS, 11 MAY 1957
Mrs Myra Carver's half-pint tankards were well filled yesterday afternoon for about 20 stubble-chinned young airmen who crowded the bar of her Springfield hotel. After spending 48 hours on the hills during the first part of a survival course, they were celebrating their return to civilisation.
On Wednesday. they were dropped off in pairs between Darfield and Windwhistle, by the Rakaia gorge, with orders to find their own way across country to the Kowai bridge on the Main West road beyond Springfield - about 20 miles away over the foothills.
Each pair shared a parachute, or part of one, as a shelter, and carried an all-purpose pocket knife, fishing line and hooks, rabbit snare, compass and flight map —with a scale of eight miles to an inch.
As they straggled in to base yesterday the men, who are on an aircrew training course at the Royal New Zealand Air Force station, Wigram, were wearing rough tramping clothes and boots, but otherwise they were provided only with the gear they would take with them from a crashed aircraft.
The only food issued was a concentrated glucose-type sweet — enough to last 10 days. They also carried water-purifying tablets.
Preliminary
As this first test was only to break them in for a stiffer escape and evasion exercise next week, the airmen were able to ask for and accept assistance.
On Thursday night, three of them. Squadron Leader G. Amor, R.A.F., Flying Officer T. Lambert, and Pilot Officer W. Gardner, were treated to pork pie and potatoes at the Dalethorpe station, and left with an egg each for their breakfast. Some of the others told similar tales of the help they were given along the way.
But Flying Officers L. McLeod and G. Derby had a sad story to tell. On Thursday afternoon, they stopped for a while to boil the billy at a school between Whitecliffs and Springfield. Just as they finished, some young women drove up to unload boxes and hampers of food. “And while we sat there,” said Flying Officer McLeod yesterday, “they went back and forth, carrying these huge, bulging baskets of lovely, lovely food. More drove up every minute. There must have been some sort of fete held there last night. And those cakes. . ."
Slept on Snow-line
Flight Lieutenant J. Buckmaster and Flying Officer A. Haszard brought some powdered soup with them, to add to their meagre supplies. On Wednesday night, they camped on a saddle below a 3000 ft peak up behind Windwhistle, crossed the Selwyn river, climbed over to the Hawkins river, and camped on Thursday night up the side of the valley.
“This morning,” said Flying Officer Haszard yesterday, “we woke to find ourselves 10 feet below the snow-line. Man, was it cold.”
Squadron Leader Amor was pattering around the bar in his stockinged feet yesterday after raising some big blisters on his trek, but otherwise no casualties were reported. After camping out through a heavy rainstorm with only their parachutes as shelter, and waking to sharp early-winter frosts, the men are looking forward to next week’s exercise with decidedly mixed feelings. Next week, they will be on their own. All Canterbury will be "hostile country.”
PRESS, 11 MAY 1957
