BATTLES IN CLOUDS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 July 1940, Page 5

BATTLES IN CLOUDS

ENEMY PLANES SEEK COVER KEEN PURSUIT BY BRITISH FIGHTERS. SEVERAL RAIDERS BROUGHT DOWN. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day. 9.50 a.m.) LONDON, July 28. There was a series of air battles ever south-east England this afternoon. After raiders had crossed the coast at a high altitude, observers heard machine-gun fire and cannon fire above the clouds, also planes diving at tremendous speed. R.A.F. fighters, flying at 10,GOO to 20,600 feet, hunted the raiders, who hid in the clouds. The battle covered miles of sky over the countryside, and it is estimated that 70 planes participated. A German raider, who emerged from the cover of a cloud, found a British fighter sitting on his tail. After a short chase out to sea, the fighter got in a sharp burst and the enemy crashed in flames in mid-Channel. Two members of the crew escaped by parachute and British torpedo-boats dashed out and picked them up. Two German planes were brought down several miles inland. No bombs were dropped in this series of battles. Ten bombs were dropped in Wales, mostly in the fields, and there were no casualties.