BLACK ARMADA.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 222, 18 September 1940, Page 5

BLACK ARMADA.

THE NAZI BOMBERS. i I NOT ALL REACH LONDON. i ' (By Air.) LONDON, August 28. " It was just like what you read in the 1 papers. We were having tea on the r porch, facing the drowsy lawn, the wide 1 savannah of fields that stretch away to 1 the creek, the estuary and the sea. Not ' a sound beneath the heat of the after- - noon. Someone said, "You wouldn't think " there was a war on," when out of the . sky came the drilling drone of aero--1 planes. At first we could not locate them, then someone said, "Good Lord, ; look!" writes Neil Macintyre in the "News-Chronicle." Almost overhead, at a height of a few 'thousand feet, three V-shaped formations of 'planes were advancing steadily like fish moving against the stream. "They must be British, flying as low as that . . ." "They're bombers .... going towards London . . . they're German . . .!" "Can't be—they wouldn't allow them to get so far inland." , We counted them—ll . . . .50. "What's that? Look!" _ "The Dancing Gnats." Out of the clouds two gnat-like things came tumbling, straightened out and streaked after the tail of the ugly black fish. "Pop, pop, pop„pop." ( "Oh, they're Jerries, all right. The 1 Spitfires are after them." "What? Those two boys attacking that formation?" Then the air was suddenly alive with dancing gnats. "Pop, pnp, pop, pop." "Come in under the verandah. You'll be hit by one of the bullets." Then, "just like what you read in the papers" (and, maybe, doubt), the great black armada turned tail, wheeled like scared birds, and now they were thundering back home, directly overhead. "Heavens! Tf xthey drop something £or«Ditej." !

But they didn't. And now the lane was alive with people who had come out of their dug-outs. "Hurrah!" "Hi! Hi! There's one coming down in flames. The black machine came tumbling down, turning and twisting, red flame streaming from its wounded side. It flattened out, disappeared behind the tree-tops of Wendell's farm, and, a moment later, a great column of black smoke curled up to the sky. "The poor boys inside," said a woman, "even if they are Jerries!" ; "Hi, there's a parachute!" '■ High above the retreating armada, ! the swarm of harrying gnats still on its * tail, a thing like a white jelly-fish was ; drifting downwards. Somebody had field glasses. Through them you could see the tiny figure of a : man, swaying, kicking. He was drifting ! towards the creek. A black object came floating down towards us. It fell outside the gate. ' We rushed to inspect it. It was a piece of fabric, cheap, ersatz rubber, part of the floor covering of the burning 'plane. We divided it in sections as souvenirs. It was warm and sticky. "It'll make a mat for the frying pan," said Mrs. Budford. In the excitement we had lost sight of the parachutist. But Mr. Warden, who works at Mayell's farm, appeared at the top of the lane shouting, "He's coming down at the creek. They machinegunned me!" Young Wardell rushed out of the house in shirt and trousers, carrying his rabbit gun. Old Mrs. Wardell appeared with the dinner knives in her hand. "You run down the lane and tell the Guards," she said to one of the lads. Thumbs Up Sign. Young Wardell and Mr. Warden were already legging across the field towards the creekBather courageous of old Warden, we thought, unarmed. The Home Guards were running up the lane, hiking their equipment over th«*ir shoulders. Young Tom Evans, the! builder's man, was first. "You forgot the earvinjr knife, ma,'* he called out to Mrs. Wardell as he ran past. They went scouting over the field. We watched them, tiny figures on the i river wall. ~ ' ] When they came back they reported • that the parachutist had landed in theji greek. "He got out on the other fide," 1

We were disappointed. We'd hoped 1m would suddenly emerge from our buehea. We'd have asked him in to tea. Going home on the train we saw the crashed Messerschmitt in a field beside the line. It was a buret of charred frag* nients. Soldiers guarding it gave the train the "thumbs-up 9 sign. "It's just like what you read in the papers," said the man in the corner. "If I hadn't seen it I wouldn't have believed it."