BAD QUARTER HOUR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 May 1942, Page 4

BAD QUARTER HOUR

SUFFERED BY GERMANS IN TROOP-CARRIERS OVER MEDITERRANEAN. AT HANDS OF EMPIRE PILOTS. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 11.0 a.m.) RUGBY, May 14. British, Australian and Canadian pilots had a part in the brilliant action in which 13 Junkers 52 troop-carriers and two Messerschmitt 110 s were destroyed for the loss of one R.A.F. aircraft. R.A.F. fighter aircraft were returning from a sweep on the morning of May 12, when they encountered a large formation of enemy aircraft carrying troops over the Mediterranean. The R.A.F. fighters immediately went in to attack and in a few moments the first Junkers 52 plunged into the waves. “I’ve never seen anything like the next fifteen minutes,” said one pilot. “One after another the Junkers crashed in flames.” The operation was led by an Australian Wing Commander, with D.F.C. and Bar, who shot down one Junkers 52. The rest of the bag was shared by British, Australian and Canadian pilots. As the battle was fought at such a low altitude, it was clearly seen that many troops were being transported. Large numbers of men were observed trying to swim away from the burning wreckage on the oil-covered sea. The squadron engaged in this operation had already a notable victory to its credit. It had shot down twelve Junkers 88s in one afternoon—an Australian on that occasion scoring five.