"Eastland" v. England

"Eastland" v. England

Any conceivable air attack on Britain would come from the East, so when the air games were held by His Majesty's Royal Air Force last week the hypothetical enemy was significantly described as "Eastland." Britain sent requests to her eastern neighbors to keep their airliners out of the "war area" over the North Sea. The German air services meekly obeyed. But the proud Royal Dutch Airlines responded with a bristling reply to the British Air Ministry: THE NORTH SEA BELONGS TO NO NATION AND NOBODY IS EMPOWERED TO CLOSE IT TO INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC. IF ANY BRITISH FIGHTERS INTERCEPT OUR LINERS . . . THERE WILL BE SERIOUS COMPLAINTS. There were no interceptions.

Britain's Air Secretary, Sir Kingsley Wood, dapper, chubby and dynamic, witnessed some 900 bombers and fighters in the games. After three days of "war," Britishers were more skeptical than ever of their defenses. Aided by typical English fog and mist, "Eastland's" bombers jabbed through coastal defenses and rained white rockets, indicating hits, on interior manufacturing centres, including Norfolk, Suffolk and North London. Territorials, firing anti-aircraft rockets, were unable to prevent "Eastland" squads from roaring over London. As a crowning gesture, one "Eastland" squadron located the defenders' GHQ at Hornchurch, Essex, gleefully swooped down to the attack just as the Air Secretary and his official party were making their inspection. A touch of grim realism was added to the mock war as seven planes crashed, six fliers were killed.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.