SPIRITED COMBAT

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 122, 26 May 1942, Page 5

SPIRITED COMBAT

PILOT'S LUCKY LEAP

N-Z. Airman Tells Of Parachute Dive Into The Channel

Special Correspondent. united Press Association.—Copyright. LONDON, May 25. Pilot-Officer J. M. Checked r>f Emrlkh'rh 1 ' Wl }° baled out ov er the •t,nghsh Channel recently, parachuted nr'ff feet and hit the water at almost the same time as his Spit- £ from which the starboard wing ha £-,heen almost blown off. He said-Flight-Lieutenant R. Baker, of Dunedin, was leading our section followed by Pilot-Officer M. Hume' of Wellington. I was next, then came Flight-Sergeant D. M. Russell, of Auckland. We were flying 3t 20,000 feet over Boulogne when the Huns bounced' us. ~"i ?a w a Hun attack Sergeant I. P. Maskill, of Invercargill, who was in another section. Then a Hun attacked Russell. He and I turned to meet the Hun, who overshot, putting me in a nice position to squirt the Hun attacking MaskilL

After this I turned to rejoin Baker, but before I could reach him four Focke-Wulf's 'bounced' me from above. I tried to climb and fight them, but the next thing I heard was a dull boom and I saw most of my starboard wing gone. In addition the radio telephone and airspeed indicator were out of action.

' I rolled on my back and spun down to escape the Huns. Then I decided to get as near England as possible before baling out. I glided toward England from 23.000 feet, partly assisted by the motor. "Then, after a second spin I baled out. It was a marvellous sensation before I pulled the cord. I hit the water soon after the parachute opened. It flopped all over me, preventing me from getting in the dinghy. Meanwhile I was swallowing buckets of seawater, but eventually I managed to cut the shrouds and get in the dinghy. "After that I paddled for an hour before a naval boat arrived. I was glad to see it, for I was bitterly cold with my teeth chattering madlv. They gave me a welcome whisky. ~I did not even catch a cold."

Pilot-Officer Checketts was flvinc again with the New Zealand Spitfire Squadron after 48 hours.