SPITFIRES ATTACK

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 August 1940, Page 5

SPITFIRES ATTACK

FORCE OF NAZI BOMBERS & FIGHTERS

DOGFIGHTS OVER WIDE EXPANSE OF SKY. DAMAGE AND CASUALTIES IN COAST TOWN. I (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, 10.25 a.m.) LONDON, August 28. Spitfires, attacked 21 German bombers, escorted by Messerschmitts, over a south-east town this afternoon. . One bomber crashed into the sea several miles from the land, after heavy anti-aircraft fire, which seemed to give the starting signal for dogfights over a wide expanse of sky. Another bomber was shot clown into the sea a mile from land. The pilot of this plane jettisoned his bombs when fifty feet from the sea. A Spitfire shot down a Messerschmitt on to a cornfield. The German pilot baled out. Bombs considerably damaged a residential area in a south-east coast town this afternoon. Three women were seriously injured. A bomb went through a block of flats, where rescuers are now digging for casualties. Fires were caused in this town when bombs struck gas mains.

A home-made air raid shelter saved the lives of nine persons, including three children, in a south-east coast town, when raiders dropped bombs near where a fire brigade was subduing a fire in a country house. The firemen were repeatedly forced to take cover in a ditch. There were no casualties. Sirens sounded in London half an hour earlier than usual. The streets are quieter tonight.