Brentwood College School - Brentonian Yearbook (Mill Bay, British Columbia Canada)

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Brentwood College Magazine =A Q iiit to tL R. . J. R. AlNSCOUGH ON A DAY towards the end of the Easter term, about twenty boys from the Corps were shown over the Royal Air Force station at Patricia Bay. At the flying field we were introduced to two smart young officers who were to conduct us around. They divided us into two parties, each of them taking one group. Come along, boys, said our guide, follow me. We followed. Our first stop was the Link Trainer room, the birthplace of the aviator. It was a spacious low-ceilinged room panelled with plywood. With its desks, files, maps and beam-charts, its busy officers and jangling telephones, the room had an efficient and businesslike atmosphere. Dominating the room were two trim and compact Link Trainers. After a bit of instruction we were each given a chance to try our hand at them; no cinch for a novice, as we were soon to find out. From the floor they looked easy to operate — a slight movement of the wheel in either direction resulted in a bank or climb and that surely couldn ' t be difficult. But once in the seat nothing was easy; there was too much for one person to do — the artificial horizon dial and air speed indicator to watch while controlling movement in three directions. With the tenseness of the beginner you sit hunched over the controls, eager but stiff and unrelaxed. With eyes glued to the gyroscope you feel the trainer slip over in a right bank and you move the stick awkwardly to the left; but now the nose goes down and franti- cally you jerk back on the stick and give it too much rudder; up goes the nose too far and you are banked dangerously in the other direction . . . and so on in a vicious circle. Leaving the Link Trainers we were taken to the line to see some of the aircraft. Most of them were off on duty, but two powerful Beaufort torpedo- bombers were sitting on the tarmac, one with its engines ticking over. Inside they seemed a veritable maze of instruments; the crew seemed to be hemmed in by dials, buttons, wheels, cranks, levers and indicators. In fact it seemed that the primary purpose of the war-plane is to be a carrier of as many instruments as can be crowded into the smallest possible space. Some of the more important of these, such as the bomb releases and jettison levers, were explained to us. A little further down the line mechanics were warming up a flight of pursuit planes. Their pilots came out of a bunk-house to show us the planes and each pilot took charge of two boys. [Page Ten]

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Brentwood College Magazine THE SALVAGE CORPS Salvage was begun in the school during the Lent term, as the result of an address by Mr. L. E. Taylor, the head of the Saanich salvage unit. Mr. Taylor pointed out to the school the need for salvage and the use to which each item could be put. It was interesting to note that in England last year enough paper had been salvaged to free many ships for carrying other necessary cargo. After this a few boys gave up a good deal of their time to voluntary salvage work, and by the end of the term a large collection of lead, rubber, paper and rags was turned over to the proper authorities. To show what a little directed effort can accomplish in this line a partial list of the collected items is given. Pounds Copper 341 Copper (shells) 40 Rubber 92 Bottle Tops 80 Lead 1 1 2 Cork 22 Rags 135 Pounds Bottles 950 Iron 830 Paper 1,670 Tooth-paste Tubes 6 Wool 100 Clothes 44 i i 1 THE OVERSEAS LEAGUE TOBACCO FUND During the Michaelmas term a Tobacco Club was started in the school with the aim of collecting money to buy cigarettes for the men in His Majesty ' s Forces and Mercantile Marine overseas. The small sum of twenty-five cents enabled one hundred cigarettes to be sent, while $25 would pay for an entire case of 10,000. Meetings were held on Saturday nights to stir up enthusiasm, with the result that the club had fifty members. One of the highlights was the coming of Mr. N. Yarrow to show slides in colour of Vancouver Island. Some of the boys collected so much money during the holidays that Brent- wood leads all other schools in Canada in raising money for the fund. The club was visited by Mr. Bennett, the Chairman for Canada, who expressed his appreciation of its efforts. In view of its fine work, a spare case of 10,000 cigarettes was sent in the name of the College Chapter. Mr. Adolphe Menjou, the noted film star, has been made an honourary member. The total collections for the year were $280.00, which enabled the club to send 11 cases, or 4,480 packages, cr 1 1 1,000 cigarettes. [Page Nine]

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Brentwood College Magazine Our pilot took us to his P-40, a sleek low-wing job that sat in the hangar like a falcon eager for the chase. Get in, he said. I lowered myself into the cockpit and felt around with my feet for the rudder pedals. You ' d better adjust them, son, said my instructor, kick over that lug. I looked down in the direction of my feet, but it seemed to me that there were thousands of lugs. Anyway, I kicked. Nope, try again sonny, said my instructor. I tried, and this time I was more successful as the pedals slid up to my feet and were more or less adjusted. You ' re still sittin ' a bit too high — crank yourself down with that lever. I pushed the lever down and the seat lowered automatically like a barber ' s chair. Then he showed us the main parts — the gas gauges, flare droppers, gun sights, lift switches and many others. Suddenly he pointed to a little black button about three inches from my right hand. See that? he asked, that ' s the gun trigger. I looked down and beside it a little card said Guns Loaded. Uncon- sciously I moved my hand away. We left the pursuit ships about 4 o ' clock and with the rest of the party joined our original guides. Soon we came to the gunnery range, where we found a turret off a bomber set up in the firing pit. The targets were three small sticks stuck in the further bank. Suddenly there was a deafening chatter of machine-gun fire for about half a second, and the sticks disintegrated before our startled eyes. The gunnery officer stepped out of the turret and pointing to the still-smoking guns said, There goes about twenty dollars worth of bullets. Leaving the shooting-range, we made a tour of the repair shops and made our last surprising discovery — the R.A.F. ' s own modern, well-ventilated theatre. Here we were shown the story of a typical bomber-crew ' s experiences as prisoners of war in Germany. After tea in the Officers ' Mess, we drove off just as a flight of bombers took off over us, climbing steeply and disappearing into the blue. i i i Underbakke puts a mighty shot, Whether he is dressed for it or not; But when pushing on the mower He ' s unquestionably slower And at Chemistry, the slowest of the lot! [Page Eleven]