DARING PILOTS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 141, 15 May 1940, Page 7

DARING PILOTS

ENEMY HARASSED. 13Y LAND AND AIR. NAZIS GIYEN BATTLE. (United Press Association—By Electric Telegrapn—Copyright.) (British Official Wireless.) Received May 15, 11.20 a.m. RtJGBY, May 14. The Air Ministry to-day announced that the object of our operations in the battle now developing- in the Low Countries has been two-fold-—to harass the enemy’s deployment and communications, and to secure a thrust by the advance Allied troops. To this end throughout yesterday and last night our bomber aircraft continued to attack the enemy’s road and rail approaches to the Dutch and Belgian battlefields. In spite of poor visibility and bad flying conditions, considerable damage was done to the enemy’s lines of communication in this area. Vigorous attacks were made on enemy columns along the roads in the Province of Brabant, which were successfully blocked. The Whitley and Hampton bombers carrying out these operations used parachute flares to assist in identifying the targets. They encountered heavy anti-aircraft fire. Further north, on the Dutch battlefield, important railway bridges were attacked, and a firo was seen to break out following a direct hit from 4000 ft. All our aircraft returned safely. GAME ENCOUNTER. Fighter aircraft have been constantly on patrol over the battlefield and its approaches. In almost evei-'y engagement they have unhesitatingly attacked formations far larger than their own. In one encounter three Hurricanes attacked thirty enemy bombers and fighter escorts near Bouzieres. One Messerschniitt 110 and one ITeinkol 111 were shot down. In this fight a Hurricane pilot forced another Heinkel 111 to crash. He landed beside the enemy aircraft, and took the crew prisoner. In the grim battle now in progress, the utmost gallantry and audacity arc being shown by the crews of our aircraft. In their day’s work our fighter pilots have inflicted on the enemy at least four times the losses they have suffered themselves. BRILLIANT WORK. The London Times correspondent with the advanced air striking force emphasises the brilliant work of the R.A.F. in combating the German aerial trightfulness. The R.A.F. drove back four raiders which dropped a number of high-explosive and incendiary bombs on a small Marne village, killing several patients in a maternity hospital and setting fire to tliree houses. Our bombers are most active in the Sedan region, bombing and machine-gunning troops and motorised columns. One squadron dropped four tons of bombs on troop concentrations and destroyed seventeen enemy ’planes. A young South Australian lias been phenomenally successful. Beiore last week lie brought down five Germans and in the last four days has increased lii§ bag to fourteen, states a Press Association message.

GALLANT AIRMEN. FIGHTS AGAINST ODDS. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, May 13. Three Blenheim bombers of the Royal Air Force Coastal Command, when searching for targets on the Dutch coast to-day, encountered six Messerschmitt 110’s and four Junkers BS’s. The half-dozen Messerschmitts alone should have been able to deal with the slower and not so manoeuvrable Blenheims. Tbe British pilots nevertheless engaged the enemy force of 10 and a mixed battle followed. The British aircraft maintained close formation and received every attack by the Messerschmitts and Junkers with concentrated fire. Several times the enemy aircraft were thrown into disorder by t-his reception. Thus the British formation could alter its course to punish individual machines cut off from their fellows. In one manoeuvre a Messerschmitt received a long burst at only 100 yards’ range and crashed into the sea. Most of the other Nazi aircraft were damaged by. the Blenheim’s guns, which gave the Germans nearly 7000 rounds before the combat ended in a cloud. PILOT’S MISTAKE. A pilot-officer of the 11. A.F. Fighter Command had ail anxious few minutes near Rotterdam early this morning when, after shooting down a Junkers 87 bomber in flames and attacking three more Junkers, he found lie had joined formation by mistake with two Messerschmitt 109 fighters.* He had used up all his ammunition in the lour attacks he had made and no method of defence was open to liim but flight. “On realising my mistake,” he reported afterwards, “I just climbed into a cloud and returned to my base.” He also reported that several Jlinkers Si’a had tried to make head-on attacks on his’ Spitfire, but without success. In all, six Spitfire pilots took part in the action, and among them they shot down two Junkers 87’s for certain and probably a third as well as a Messerschmitt' 109 from the escorting flight of German fighters. A Junkers 88 was also attacked. The Spitfire pilots fought in two sections of three each. One section encountered a formation of 12 Junkers to the east of Rotterdam, some of which were already starting dive bombing attacks. The escorting Messerschmitt at once tried to engage the Spitfires. “I engaged the Messerschmitt 109,” the section-leader stated, “and just as I ran out of ammunition lie broke off and went into a dive.” JUNKERS PURSUED.^ The second section of the Spitfires attacked another formation of Junkers near Rotterdam. A ' sergeantpilot. told on his return how he followed a Junkers as it turned and twisted only just above the ground-level and after a fourth attack saiv it crash. Later lie was able to engage two more Junkers. The escorting German fighters again tried to intervene but without success. Five out of the six Spitfires returned to their bases. The sixth pilot landed in Holland and is unhurt. A successful game of “hide and Seek” was played to-day by a pilot of a Coastal Command bomber. While on patrol over enemy waters he was attacked with bombs and machine-gun fire by a group of mine-sweepers and patrol vessels which sent out calls for help. In answer, a number of Messer-

schmitt fighters arrived on the scene and attacked the solitary British ’plane. The pilot slipped into a cloud and the German fighters followed. When he thought all his opponents must have entered the cloud screen the British pilot dived out and again machine-gunned the enemy vessels and flying hack into the clouds, set his course for home.