350 SORTIES AND RAIDS

Southland Times, Issue 24885, 27 October 1942, Page 4

350 SORTIES AND RAIDS

Record Of New Zealand

Airman

Now in New Zealand on a special tour of duty, Wing-Commander E. P. Wells, D. 5.0., D.F.C. and bar, of Cambridge, completed no fewer than 350 sorties and raids against the enemy before leaving Britain. He came through all of them completely unscathed. He is credited with having destroyed 11 enemy aircraft, shared in the destruction of four bombers, secured five probables and damaged eight other machines. He is the only New Zealander to have received the particular group of decorations he holds.

Wing-Commander Wells was looking fit when he was interviewed at his parents’ home during a short period of leave and he has changed little since he left New Zealand shortly after the outbreak of war. Tall and slenderly built, he was the picture of health and there was no evidence of fatigue in his eyes, which showed all the keenness which brought for him remarkable skill as a rifle and gun shot before the war and which earned for him the sobriquet of “Hawk-eye” as a fighter pilot in Britain. Known to his relatives and friends as Bill, Wing-Commander Wells is modest and unassuming and speaks rapidly, giving a graphic description of his experiences and of conditions in Britain.

Since he has returned to New Zealand, Wing-Commander Wells has received numerous inquiries from relatives about members of the R.A.F. He has had to explain that fighter pilots and members of bomber crews rarely come into contact with each other unless they meet in London or away from their stations.