DARING ATTACKS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 175, 27 July 1942, Page 3

DARING ATTACKS

N.Z. PILOT'S SUCCESS

Member Of Famous Fighter

Squadron In Egypt

N.Z.E.F. Official War Correspondent

CAIRO, July 26.

Two daring attacks on enemy reconnaissance aircraft over the Alexandria area were carried out yesterday by a New Zealand pilot. Flight Lieutenant Bruce Ingram. He probably destroyed one Junkers 88 and damaged another so badly that it may not have reached its base.

Flight Lieutenant Ingram is a member of a famous fighter squadron and is a veteran of the Battle of Britain and the defence of Malta. This squadron is now fighting in the Western Desert.

Within 18 hours the squadron caught three enemy reconnaissance planes which appeared over the Alexandria area. Two were damaged and the other was probably destroyed. Flight Lieutenant Ingram was the pilot responsible for two of these attacks. He was on patrol yesterday afternoon when he saw and pursued the first of the Junkers 88. He swooped on the enemy plane, got in a burst and set the starboard engine of the enemy bomber on fire. The Junkers dived away steeply. It was unlikely to have reached its base, but as it was not actually seen to crash the New Zealander claimed only a probable.

Later in the day Flight Lieutenant Ingrem, with a Cornish squadron leader, was on patrol in the Alexandria area when he sighted a Junkers 88. Both fighters turned on it and the Junkers went into a long dive right across the battle area. The New Zealand pilot chased the enemy far away to the south, and near the Qattara Depression he managed to get in a burst. The plane turned up a wadi and disappeared.

Some troops reported that the Junkers came near them flying very low. It just cleared the brow of an escarpment and a few seconds later there was a loud explosion on the other side of the hill.