R.A.F. IN RUSSIA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 September 1941, Page 6

R.A.F. IN RUSSIA

■ AIR MINISTRY REPORT NEW ZEALANDER IN COMMAND OF WING. GNE BRITISH MACHINE LOST. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) LONDON, September 24. A British Air Ministry communique dealing with operations in Russia, says: A number of patrols haye operated in bad weather, and there have been successful encounters against the enemy. In. the first of these three enemy Messerschmitt 109 s were shot down for the loss of one R.A.F. machine, the pilot being killed. The same squadron later destroyed four enemy machines without loss to itself. The wing is commanded by Wing Commander H. M. RamsbottomIsherwood, of New Zealand, and contains officers and men from Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. PROUD PARENTS RESIDENTS OF BLENHEIM. WING COMMANDER. ISHERWOOD’S CAREER. BLENHEIM, This Day. Wing Commander Gynes Ramsbottom Isherwood, A.F.C., who is mentioned as commanding the R.A.F. wing in Russia, is a son of Mi’ and Mrs H. L. Ramsbotton Isherwood, Blenheim. Needless to say, they are intensely proud that their son has been selected for what is apparently an onerous task. Their last news of him indicated that he was stationed in Scotland until recently. Wing Commander Isherwood, who received the Air Force Cross last year, was educated in Blenheim. He gave up a commercial position in 1930 to proceed to England to join the R.A.F. After serving in India, Egypt and the Sudan, he was in England at the outbreak of war. He was promoted to wing commander last March. He is a married man with one young daughter.