GERMAN PLANE SHOT DOWN

Southland Times, Issue 24868, 7 October 1942, Page 5

GERMAN PLANE SHOT DOWN

INVERCARGILL PILOT’S SUCCESS (Special Correspondent, N.Z.P.A.) LONDON, October 5. Pilot Officer Desmond Perrin, of Invercargill, recently added another German plane to over 230 shot down by his squadron, which is Britain’s top-scoring day fighter squadron. Pilot Officer Perrin and another pilot sighted two enemy aircraft off the coast. They turned inland and started to climb. One jettisoned his bombs. Then the enemy machines split up. Pilot Officer Perrin chased one and his companion chased the other. “I fired two cannon bursts from 250 yards, and pieces flew from the raider,” said Pilot Officer Perrin. “My third burst set fire to his rudder. The enemy turned on his back and dived vertically. I dived after him, but ‘blacked out’ about 20,000 feet. I regained consciousness about 3000 feet and searched the sea for traces of the enemy. I saw none.” t Pilot Officer Perrin’s companion also shot down his quarry, which crashed in flames. Pilot Officer Ferrin, who is the only son of Mr and Mrs A. C. Perrin, Thomson street, Invercargill, joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1940 and went overseas early the following year., He was one of the first of the New Zealand pilots to gain their wings in Canada. He then went to England where he was attached to a fighter squadron flying Hurricanes. He has taken part in many operational flights, including intruder raids and is now the longest-service pilot in this squadron.