TAKEN SAFELY HOME

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 April 1943, Page 2

TAKEN SAFELY HOME

BOMBER BADLY DAMAGED IN COLLISION OVER GERMAN COAST, NEW ZEALAND PILOT’S FEAT. (Special P.A. Correspondent.) LONDON, April 22. A Stirling bomber of the New Zealand (No. 75) Squadron collided with a Lancaster while returning from the latest raid against Rostock. The Stirling was piloted by a New Zealander, Sergeant Jim Dallzell, who for three and a half hours flew the bomber toward its base, though it was impossible to steer except .by the use of the engines. It had a pronounced list to port. “It was a remarkable feat,” said Flying Officer R. R. Rayner, Dannevirke, who was the navigator. “Jim landed it safely and nobody was hurt. It was a bright moonlight night and we had an uneventful trip to Rostock. It was so bright that we could read a map on our way, seeing the countryside in detail. We bombed fairly early in the raid and saw one of our aircraft being shot up—we saw three going down altogether on the trip. “On the return flight, we saw the raid in progress over.. Stettin. We could see bags of aircraft in the moonlight. We were flying almost at deck level near the German coast when the rear gunner and the wireless operator reported a Lancaster on our port. Jim turned abruptly, and suddenly there was a terrific bump, and the Lancaster collided with us. It did not crash and Jim righted the Stirling, but the tail plane was bent over and unserviceable. There was a heavy list to port and Jim had to hold the controls hard over to starboard, steering by his engines. He hung on for three hours and a half while we were crossing the North Sea at a low level.

“Our wireless was out of action and if we crashed into the sea, which often seemed likely, we would have been unable to send out an S.O.S. They were long hours, those, but we arrived bang on the destination. Jim landed beautifully, but because he could not control the rudder, she spun round. Yet no harm was done. It certainly was a marvellous bit of flying.” Several other aircraft from the New Zealand squadron participated in the raid.- This was the second eventful trip for Dallzell. He recently had a miraculous escape when a piece of flak with a razor-like edge cut clean through his flying kit and would have killed him. if it had not struck a tobacco tin in his breast pocket.