ATTACK ON CONVOY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 July 1940, Page 6

ATTACK ON CONVOY

AIR BATTLE OVER CHANNEL WATCHED BY MANY PEOPLE ON SHORE. ENEMY PLANES SHOT DOWN. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day. 11.40 a.m.) LONDON. July 8. An enemy plane fell into the sea after the pilot had escaped in a parachute, and two others are believed to have been shot down, I when the R.A.F. and ground defences engaged a large force of raiders 'which swooped on a convoy in the Channel during the afternoon. The raiders dropped many bombs which fell wide, but the explosions of bombs threw up great cascades of water which shook the foreshore, heightening the excitement of watchers, who saw a spectacular battle when R.A.F. fighters seemed to fill the sky with the fury of their attack. Anti-aircraft guns put up a lively barrage, while Spitfires assailed the Messerschmitts escorting the bombers. The R.A.F. planes mostly prevented the Germans crossing the coastline, but low-flying Messerschmitts are reported to have- fired on people in the fields. Many machine-gun bullets fell in the streets of a nearby town, causing pedestrians to run for shelter.