More balings-out
THE STORY of the photographer who fell out of the air force Harvard off Durban in 1950, and parachuted to safety, continues to elicit other accounts.
Rodney Kenyon (himself a former SAAF pilot) remembers the incident well.
"I'm not surprised your readers won't let go of the parachuting photographer and the Harvard story," he says. "It was quite an event at the time.
"I was seven years old, standing with my sister on the verandah of the family home at the top of Athlone Hill on Northway, watching the SAAF at work, when we saw a parachute drift down to the sea. At the time my sister assured me it was a stunt. I instinctively knew Biggles had a hand in it.
"Interestingly, the parachuting cameraman was not only eligible for the Caterpillar Club (which has the rather theatrical motto: "Life Depends on a SilkenThread"), but also the Goldfish Club, which is reserved for airmen rescued from the sea, either after baling out or ditching. Richard Branson is one of 500-plus living members of the club, who keep in touch through a newsletter. He qualified when he escaped from his trans-Atlantic balloon.
"At the end of World War II the club had 9 000 members from all branches of the allied forces. Reunions at that time traditionally included greetings from Mae West (accompanied, for some unaccountable reason, by loud roars of approval), who made it clear she was proud that the RAF had adopted her name for their life-jacket.
"So for standing up in the rear cockpit of a Harvard, photographer Stan Gee became eligible for the Caterpillar Club, the Goldfish Club, and a dunce's hat."
Caterpillars emerge
MEANWHILE, local Caterpillars emerge. Last week reader Allan Goodman (aged 88) wondered if there are any other members of the Caterpillar Club left in Durban. He gained his membership after being shot down and baling out over Italy during World War II.
Now Jack Spencer (89) says he's a double Caterpillar. He baled out twice. On Christmas Day 1943 he had to bale from only 900 feet above the Adriatic when his Spitfire developed a coolant leak. He was near the coast and some South African engineers who were on the beach swam out to assist him. They also called a rescue boat.
Then later he was on a strafing attack over Italy when he was hit by anti-aircraft fire at 8 000 feet. He had to bale and landed right among German troops. "They treated me very well though."
He was taken POW and spent the rest of the war at Stalagluft III, the prison camp where the Great Escape had happened earlier. Jack says he's sure there are other Caterpillars in Durban.
We have some pretty amazing old gents in our midst.
Certified escape
THE BALE-OUT story to top them all though is the RAF tail-gunner who jumped without a parachute from his burning Lancaster at 18 000 feet during World War II, choosing that as a better death than being incinerated in mid-air.
Nicholas Alkemade's parachute was already on fire in the plane when he made the desperate decision. As he plummetted, he struck a firz tree, crashing through all its branches before ending up in a snowdrift with nothing more than a sprained ankle.
German troops who found him were highly suspicious of his story – they thought he was a spy – until they found the crashed Lancaster. In it was his charred parachute, his name and service number still legible.
Alkemade was taken POW – but the Germans also gave him a certificate confirming what had happened.
Dickens house
THE CLIFFTOP house at Broadstairs, in Kent, where Charles Dickens spent his summers looking out over the English Channel and writing several novels, is up for sale.
It is expected to fetch £2 million. The estate agents say they have great expectations .
Tailpiece
OVERHEARD in a Wall Street bar: "This financial slide is worse than a divorce. I've lost half my net worth and I've still got a wife."
Last word
In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew before. But in poetry, it's the exact opposite.
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