TAKING COVER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 June 1941, Page 6

TAKING COVER

NAZI FIGHTING PLANES IN FRANCE SOUGHT & MACHINE-GUNNED ON GROUND. EPISODES OF LATEST R.A.F. SWEEPS. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 11.55 a.m.) RUGBY. June 27. The scarcity of enemy aircraft encountered was a feature of the Royal Air Force sweeps over Northern France today. Two Polish fighter squadrons, led by a Canadian, were unable to find enemy fighters in the sky, so went down and machine-gunned them on the ground. Most of the attacks were made from a height of only 50 feet, while some pilots came as low as 20 feet.

Besides aircraft they attacked artillery, machine-gun posts, hangars and a fire tender. The Poles destroyed three Messerschmitt 109 s on the ground and damaged four others, which they machine-gunned. The Canadian who led them shot up a fire tender, which burnt out, and sent a Messerschmitt 109 on the ground over on its wings. Other squadrons attacked an airfield at Guines. The ground staff ran in all directions as the Spitfires swooped down with guns firing. One pilot ma-chine-gunned troops in military camps on his way back to the coast. When one Polish pilot returned to his base, he discovered that his port exhaust pipe had been knocked oft' by anti-aircraft fire.

The only enemy aircraft seen in the sky—a Messerschmitt 109 —bolted at sight of the Spitfires. Two other Spitfire squadrons, which flew 30 to 40 miles inside France, later in the afternoon, failed to see a single enemy fighter. The Canadian pilot who led the Polish squadrons described the operation on his return as follows: —"We went over looking for odd 109 s that might be flying around, but as we couldn't find any we decided to go right down and beat up two aerodromes. I attacked with cannon and went straight along a line of 109 s. Then I shot up the hangar. which burst into flames as soon as my shells hit it. Coming back towards the coast, I saw an anti-aircraft vessel, which was firing pretty near one of our Spitfires, so I shot up the gunners and silenced it. I was so low that a dud anti-aircraft shell richochetted ofl' the water and nearly hit my wing as I went by."