Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 21, 2023 20:34:18 GMT 12
CRASH IN THE WILDS
R.A.F. MACHINE
WELLINGTON MAN'S STORY
VARIED SERVICE
Neither riches nor social standing are of any use in gaining admittance into the most select club in the world —the Caterpillar Club, which is made up of the comparatively few people, who. have had to leave an aeroplane by parachute to save their life. One of the few New Zealanders belonging to the club is Flying-Officer W. D. Dennehy, of Wellington, who is at present on leave from the Royal Air Force and visiting his people here.
How he gained his rare distinction is a story worthy of any movie thriller. Piloting an Avro Lynx biplane from Ramleh, Palestine, where he is stationed, to Ma'an with another R.A.F. man and mails, he was at 4100 feet over rough wadi country when he noticed an irregularity in the engine note, and within a minute the engine and dashboard commenced to vibrate violently.
Revolutions dropped and the engine seemed to be tearing itself away from the fuselage. Opening the throttle resulted in a loud clattering noise from the engine, but there was no forward thrust and the aeroplane lost height rapidly.
Flying-Officer Dennehy glided down to about 2000 feet, where an inspection of the ridged and hilly country below convinced him that a forced landing would be impossible. He ordered his passenger to leap, and the man went over the port side and reached the earth safely.
By the time the pilot was ready to "abandon ship" he was only about 500 feet above the ground, and his difficulties were increased by the fact that the wings had shaken loose and were sliding backwards along the fuselage. He was able to jump backwards from the starboard lower plane, but, in landing fell heavily on a slope, receiving injuries which later necessitated a two months' stay in the R.A.F. hospital at Sarafand.
At the time, however, he left his companion with the completely-wrecked machine and walked to a police post which he reached about seven hours after the crash. That was on June 18 last.
UNUSUAL CAUSE OF CRASH.
Questioned by a "Post" reporter today, Flying-Officer Dennehy said that the accident arose from a most unusual cause. A connecting rod broke in the Lynx radial engine, and carried away a cylinder from the crankcase. The rod then damaged the next cylinder and the destruction: continued round the circle, until a great many of the cylinders and connecting rods were involved. With the good cylinders running, vibration did the rest.
The distinctive badge of the club, a beautifully fashioned golden caterpillar, with two bright ruby eyes, is worn by Flying-Officer Dennehy as a tiepin. His comrade in the crash, he said, also got one, from the 'Irving Air 'Chute Company of Great Britain, parachute manufacturers, and organisers of the club.
That was the most serious of Flying-Officer Dennehy's adventures, and he is none the worse for it. On another occasion the machine he was piloting was forced down in the desert with a broken oil pipe and he spent three nights with it before a rescue aeroplane located him. His machine was repaired and he took off again from a mudflat.
OLD BOY OF ST. PATRICK'S.
Receiving his early education at the Marist Brothers' School at Newtown, where he was dux, and at St. Patrick s College, where he spent five years, Flying-Officer Dennehy after leaving school was commissioned as lieutenant in the Machine Gun Squadron of the Sixth Mounted Rifles in Wellington for three years.
In 1930 he was nominated for a commission in the Royal Air Force, and on being accepted went into the No 2 Flying Training School at Digby, Lincolnshire. With him there as fellow-pilot-officers were such men as Guy Menzies, Ray Whitehead, Colin Tapley, Jarman, and Bennett. All of them except Menzies were New Zealanders, and they were later to become well-known figures in the R.A.F., at least as far as New Zealand is concerned. At Digby Flying-Officer Dennehy was ensign, or term prefect.
His Rugby skill, which he learnt at St Patrick's College and afterwards in the St. Patrick's Old Boys' teams, stood him in good stead at Digby, as it has done during his whole career in the R.A.F. Besides being in the Rugby team at Digby he represented the station at boxing.
Avros, Atlases, Bristol Fighters, and Vickers-Vimys were types of machines flown by Flying-Officer Dennehy during his period of training, after which he was posted to the No. 9 Night Bomber Squadron at Boscombe Down, Salisbury Plain, having been promoted to the rank of Flying-Officer. There he piloted Vickers Virginias, large twin-engined machines, one of which he flew over London in the night exercises of 1932.
At Boscombe Down he was captain of the cross-country running team, and a member of the station fifteen which was defeated only in the final game for the Air Force Cup.
ARMOURED-CAR WORK.
Volunteering for overseas service, he was posted to the R.A.F. Armoured Car Company in Palestine, his machine-gun experience being a qualification for this work.. He was stationed at Ramleh, about twenty-eight miles west of Jerusalem on the plain of the Philistines, where the R.A.F. maintains sixteen armoured Rolls-Royce cars.
The men of that station played an important part in the Arab-Jew conflicts of 1933, and they frequently take their cars into the desert to outposts where they remain for two or three months. Service there also involves flying, and it was while thus engaged that Flying-Officer Dennehy experienced the parachute adventure related above.
He went to Ramleh in February, 1933, and after a year's service was appointed adjutant. He will return to Ramleh early next month.
Despite his many activities on service and in sport he has had time to visit Germany, where he saw the beginning of the trouble between the: Nazis and the Communists; the United States, where he inspected airports and flew many of the American machines; and Turkey and Cyprus. In addition he has spent some time learning gliding. Now he is awaiting promotion at some future time to the rank of flight-lieutenant, having passed the necessary qualifying examination.
EVENING POST, 23 JANUARY 1935
R.A.F. MACHINE
WELLINGTON MAN'S STORY
VARIED SERVICE
Neither riches nor social standing are of any use in gaining admittance into the most select club in the world —the Caterpillar Club, which is made up of the comparatively few people, who. have had to leave an aeroplane by parachute to save their life. One of the few New Zealanders belonging to the club is Flying-Officer W. D. Dennehy, of Wellington, who is at present on leave from the Royal Air Force and visiting his people here.
How he gained his rare distinction is a story worthy of any movie thriller. Piloting an Avro Lynx biplane from Ramleh, Palestine, where he is stationed, to Ma'an with another R.A.F. man and mails, he was at 4100 feet over rough wadi country when he noticed an irregularity in the engine note, and within a minute the engine and dashboard commenced to vibrate violently.
Revolutions dropped and the engine seemed to be tearing itself away from the fuselage. Opening the throttle resulted in a loud clattering noise from the engine, but there was no forward thrust and the aeroplane lost height rapidly.
Flying-Officer Dennehy glided down to about 2000 feet, where an inspection of the ridged and hilly country below convinced him that a forced landing would be impossible. He ordered his passenger to leap, and the man went over the port side and reached the earth safely.
By the time the pilot was ready to "abandon ship" he was only about 500 feet above the ground, and his difficulties were increased by the fact that the wings had shaken loose and were sliding backwards along the fuselage. He was able to jump backwards from the starboard lower plane, but, in landing fell heavily on a slope, receiving injuries which later necessitated a two months' stay in the R.A.F. hospital at Sarafand.
At the time, however, he left his companion with the completely-wrecked machine and walked to a police post which he reached about seven hours after the crash. That was on June 18 last.
UNUSUAL CAUSE OF CRASH.
Questioned by a "Post" reporter today, Flying-Officer Dennehy said that the accident arose from a most unusual cause. A connecting rod broke in the Lynx radial engine, and carried away a cylinder from the crankcase. The rod then damaged the next cylinder and the destruction: continued round the circle, until a great many of the cylinders and connecting rods were involved. With the good cylinders running, vibration did the rest.
The distinctive badge of the club, a beautifully fashioned golden caterpillar, with two bright ruby eyes, is worn by Flying-Officer Dennehy as a tiepin. His comrade in the crash, he said, also got one, from the 'Irving Air 'Chute Company of Great Britain, parachute manufacturers, and organisers of the club.
That was the most serious of Flying-Officer Dennehy's adventures, and he is none the worse for it. On another occasion the machine he was piloting was forced down in the desert with a broken oil pipe and he spent three nights with it before a rescue aeroplane located him. His machine was repaired and he took off again from a mudflat.
OLD BOY OF ST. PATRICK'S.
Receiving his early education at the Marist Brothers' School at Newtown, where he was dux, and at St. Patrick s College, where he spent five years, Flying-Officer Dennehy after leaving school was commissioned as lieutenant in the Machine Gun Squadron of the Sixth Mounted Rifles in Wellington for three years.
In 1930 he was nominated for a commission in the Royal Air Force, and on being accepted went into the No 2 Flying Training School at Digby, Lincolnshire. With him there as fellow-pilot-officers were such men as Guy Menzies, Ray Whitehead, Colin Tapley, Jarman, and Bennett. All of them except Menzies were New Zealanders, and they were later to become well-known figures in the R.A.F., at least as far as New Zealand is concerned. At Digby Flying-Officer Dennehy was ensign, or term prefect.
His Rugby skill, which he learnt at St Patrick's College and afterwards in the St. Patrick's Old Boys' teams, stood him in good stead at Digby, as it has done during his whole career in the R.A.F. Besides being in the Rugby team at Digby he represented the station at boxing.
Avros, Atlases, Bristol Fighters, and Vickers-Vimys were types of machines flown by Flying-Officer Dennehy during his period of training, after which he was posted to the No. 9 Night Bomber Squadron at Boscombe Down, Salisbury Plain, having been promoted to the rank of Flying-Officer. There he piloted Vickers Virginias, large twin-engined machines, one of which he flew over London in the night exercises of 1932.
At Boscombe Down he was captain of the cross-country running team, and a member of the station fifteen which was defeated only in the final game for the Air Force Cup.
ARMOURED-CAR WORK.
Volunteering for overseas service, he was posted to the R.A.F. Armoured Car Company in Palestine, his machine-gun experience being a qualification for this work.. He was stationed at Ramleh, about twenty-eight miles west of Jerusalem on the plain of the Philistines, where the R.A.F. maintains sixteen armoured Rolls-Royce cars.
The men of that station played an important part in the Arab-Jew conflicts of 1933, and they frequently take their cars into the desert to outposts where they remain for two or three months. Service there also involves flying, and it was while thus engaged that Flying-Officer Dennehy experienced the parachute adventure related above.
He went to Ramleh in February, 1933, and after a year's service was appointed adjutant. He will return to Ramleh early next month.
Despite his many activities on service and in sport he has had time to visit Germany, where he saw the beginning of the trouble between the: Nazis and the Communists; the United States, where he inspected airports and flew many of the American machines; and Turkey and Cyprus. In addition he has spent some time learning gliding. Now he is awaiting promotion at some future time to the rank of flight-lieutenant, having passed the necessary qualifying examination.
EVENING POST, 23 JANUARY 1935
