Pilots at Disadvantage Left Sinking Ship When Fighting Allied Aircraft Germany's deficiencies in high-grade aviation fuel will tell against her now that aerial warfare has developed on a large scale. While she is compelled to restrict use of it, the Allies draw freely on American resources to supplement their own.
High-grade fuel, sometimes described in terms of its "octane number," considerably increases the pow-
"plane's performance. craft have been using 87-octane sp: whereas the Allies use 100-octane fuel in large quantities.
Commenting on this fact. the Petroleum Press Bureau recently stated: "Any technical urge in Germany towards a wholesale change-over to 100-octane fuel to exploit or meet the tactical advantages of an air fleet possessing greater speed, greater carrying-capacity, and/or greater effective range, may be tempered by the following considerations:
"In the first place, the rate of production would not suffice for protracted operations by the German air force, if fully committed. Secondly, the maintenance of supplies would hinge dangerously—more so than for other oil products—on relatively few plants, Serious dislocation might therefore result if these were dam-
Capt. Michael O'Neil, master of the British ship Barnhill, 5439 tons, who was wounded when a Nazi plane bombed the vessel in the English Channel a week ago, described recently how he was "overlooked" when the crew left the steamer, and rang the ship's bell with his teeth for help. Four of the crew were killed.
Capt O'Neil is now in a South Coast hospital, suffering from fractured ribs and right arm and an injury to his left shoulder.
"The second bomb from the plane hit us," he said, "and I was blown off the bridge.
"When I came to there was nobody about, so I started to roll my way *o the forecastle head. I wanted to attract, attention, and I thought of the bell' which I'set ringing with my teeth.
"Then I heard shouts from the tug which apparently was standing by. Because of the tipe they could not get alongside, and I was eventually taken off by a lifeboat."
Capt. O'Neil was amused at a report that the master of the Barnhill was "Potato" Jones, the British merchant master who gained fame as a aged by enemy action.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.