CRASHING AIRCRAFT

Taranaki Daily News, 24 September 1940, Page 8

CRASHING AIRCRAFT

AS DANGEROUS AS BOMBS? FIGURES QUITE CORRECT "We have not yet made up our minds which is the more dangerous — the bombs dropped by German raiders or the machines that come crashing down out of the sky, shot to pieces by our gallant Royal Air Force and anti-aircraft gunners." Thus does Corporal Howard Frost, of the second echelon in the south of England, describe an unconsidered aspect of the aerial battle of Britain in a letter just received by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. V. H. Frost, Eltham. The letter was written about a month ago. "The countryside appears to be absolutely littered in places with bullet-riddled Nazi planes," continues Corporal Frost, "and it is wonderful how our boys are shooting them down. "There is no need for me to tell you what a terrific price Hitler is paying in both men and machines in his attempts to bomb this country," continues the letter, "as you are kept fully informed hour by hour of what is happening over here, Although some of the figures given out may sound ridiculous, such as the proportion of German losses to ours, I can assure you that they are a little on the conservative side if anything. Because our fighters are definitely far superior to the Nazi machines the Germans lose about five planes to one of ours; before long they will be losing 10 to our one. Daventry Figures Correct.

"I can definitely assure you that the Daventry news is the absolute truth and is correct. Do not worry about any fantastic Nazi claims. You can absolutely rely on anything you hear from Daventry, as I have actually seen some of the results of air raids on this country, when three of our planes have shot down 10 Nazis in a dogfight. "Just to give you an idea of the attitude that people take to air raids over here: I was at London on Saturday night with two other corporals, Pat Neild, New Plymouth,. and Bruce Skeen, Hawkes Bay. We went to a variety show at the Holborn Theatre, showing Will Hay and Florence Desmond. It was a good show and the theatre was packed, we having only standing room at the back. Halfway through it was announced that an air raid warning had been given, and anyone who wished could go out to the shelters outside. We immediate thought that this was a chance for us to get a good seat if some of the audience went out. "Well, do you know that not one person went out," commented Corporal Frost. "They evidently decided that they had paid their ls 6d and nobody was going to shift them. Fortunately, the raiders could not get through the ring of defences around London, so nothing happened. But that is what the people are like over here. We had to stand for the rest of the performance."