DESERT mischief

摘要

As anyone who has served in the air force will tell you, tongue in cheek, there are 'gremlins' out there that have a particular fondness for aircraft. The work of these mischievous creatures is legendary, with air and groundcrew often holding them responsible for damaging or dismantling machinery in the most unlikely of circumstances. 'Gremlins' undoubtedly hampered many Allied air arms fighting across the globe during World War Two and the South African Air Force (SAAF) was no exception. By January 1943, its Hawker Hurricane-equipped 40 Squadron was flying in the tactical reconnaissance role, supporting the advance of the victorious Eighth Army after the battle of El Alamein. Its sorties took it deep into Tripolitania (then part of Libya), finding the retreating elements of the German Afrika Korps and its Italian allies - but there were regular minor incidents involving the Hurricanes as they flew from desert strips. Inevitably many of these were attributed to 'gremlins'. When an RAF pilot from a nearby squadron suggested that a gremlin was a goblin that had wriggled out of an empty Fremlin's bottle - the Kentish beer being a favourite in the desert -SAAF flyers replied that no creature that drank beer could possibly stoop to the fiendish tricks attributed to their gremlins!