"SOMETHING ABOVE HUMAN NATURE"
Snt,—The following has never, as far as I know, appeared in the British Press. You may care to publish it as a unique tribute by an Ally to the undying heroism of the British Navy. It is the report of an American airman, Flight-Lieutenant Vigors, who arrived on the scene of the dis- aster shortly after the 'Prince of Wales' and 'Repulse' had gone down on December Toth, 1941 :—
" I had the privilege .to be the first aircraft to reach the crews of the Prince,of Wales' and ' Repulse ' after they had been sunk. I say the privilege, for during the next hour, while I flew low over them, I wit- nessed a show of that indomitable spirit for which the Royal Navy is famous. I have seen show of spirit in this war over Dunkirk, during the Battle of Britain, and in the London night raids, but never before have I seen anything comparable to what I saw yesterday. Even to an eye so inexperienced as mine, it was obvious that the destroyers were going to take hours to pick up those hundreds of men clinging to bits of wreckage and swimming around in filthy, oily water. Above all this, the threat of another bombing and machine-gunning attack was imminent. Every one of those men must have realised that. Yet, as I flew around, every man waved and put his thumbs up as I flew over him. After an hour, lack of petrol forced me to leave, but during that hour I had seen many men in dire danger waving, cheering and joking as if they were holiday-makers at Brighton and joking at a low-flying aircraft. It shook me, for here was something above human nature. I take off my hat to them, for in them I saw the spirit which wins wars."
H. G. RAWLINSON.
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