DOWN IN FLAMES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 4, 7 September 1943, Page 2

DOWN IN FLAMES

ENEMY NIGHT RAIDER VICTORY OVER GUADALCANAL (Official Correspondent) Guada'canal. New Zealanders were among thousands of Allied, servicemen who saw the destruction of a Japanese night ra'ider by an American fighter nca~ Guadalcanal recently. The fight lasted only a few minutes, the raide" being shot down in flames near no«r th-western Guada' canal. An open-air picture show at a New Zealand camp was interrupted when the raider approached, and many Dominion airmen and United States soldiers saw the battle from a distance. An Army night-fighter had taken off some time earlier, and disappeared, and the successful interception was not unexpected. With both aircraft invisible from the ground, the first indication that battle had been joined, was the appearance,, high in the sky, of twinkling trails of tracer ammunition. It immediately became apparent that the fighter was chasing the raider, and a few New Zealanders who had gathered near a shortwave radio heard the exultant comments of the young American pilot. "I'm right behind this sucker," he yelled. And in the same instant ths thousands watching saw fresh spurts of tracer. Evidently the shells bullets bit deep, for a second later a glow was seen, a glow that spread and reddened as the raider caught fire. Like a comet the burning enemy hurtled across the sky, with the American following, and pouring in ammunition. Trailing flame, the Japanese bomber dropped headlong, and, while thousands cheered, it appeared to explode in full flight, for a violent flash was followed by utter darkness. And the airmen on Guadalcanal, heads turned skyward, could see only the tropic stars, and hear the happy song of the fighter's motor.