BOMBERS & FIGHTERS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 June 1943, Page 4

BOMBERS & FIGHTERS

OPERATIONS OVER FRANCE & BELGIUM airfields and other targets attacked. ENEMY SUFFERS HEAVIER LOSS OF PLANES. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.35 a.m.) RUGBY, June 24. In the course of offensive operations over France and Belgium today. Venturas, Bostons and Typhoons attacked enemy airfields, as well as industrial and railway objectives. Squadrons of Spitfires, which escorted the bombers and supported their operations, destroyed ten enemy fighters. One bomber and four fighters are missing. Early this evening, formations oi bombers, flying at a great height, crossed to Northern France, going in the direction of Boulogne.

SCORES MOUNTING NEW ZEALAND FIGHTER PILOTS. AMERICAN AIR FORCES ADMIRED. (Received This Day, 11.10 a.m.) LONDON, June 4. Some idea of the vastness of the United States Air Force’s attack against the Huns was given .by Commander Deere, who said: Oui wing was part of the hundreds of fires escorting a large formation of Flying Fortresses, which flew in formation twenty miles inland. They took fifteen minutes to cross one point. It was an amazing sight, and when you realise that the Fortresses carry at least ten of a crew, it is a small army in the air. “That formation,” the Wing Commander continued, “was three times the size of the largest bomber formation ever sent by the Luftwaffe over England during the Battle of Britain. I have a great respect for the Americans, which is growing daily. Their bombing is excellent, and they have fine pilots. Wing Commander Deere is now the ninth highest scoring fighter pilot in the R.A.F. Squadron Leader Colin Gray, with 22i, is the eighth. It is very interesting the way in which these topscoring New Zealanders keep pace with one another. Squadron Leader Gray joined Wing Commander Deere’s flight in the 54th Squadron late in 1539. He did not shoot down any Germans during the Dunkirk battles; in fact, he was nearly shot down himself, returning with a hole in his fuesaleg a foot wide. During the battle of Britain Squadron Leader Gray started scoring slowly, but by September 15, 1940, he had shot down 16J Germans. He later commanded a flight, and was in the first offensive sweeps of 1941, shooting down another German. He commanded the first squadron to be equipped with the latest Spitfire Mark 9. Later he went to North Africa.

The following is a fuller list of topscoring New Zealand fighters:—Gray, 221; Deere, 211; Squadron Leader J. A. Gibson, D.F.C., Auckland, 13; Pilot Officer R. B. Hesselyn, D.F.M. and Bar, Invercargill, 121; Squadron Leader V/. G. Clouston, Wellington, 12; Squadron Leader W. V. C. Compton, Auckland, 111; Pilot Officer W. H. Hodgson, D.F.C., Dunedin, and E. P. Wells 11; Wing Commander M. V. Blake, D. 5.0., D.F.C., Christchurch, and Pilot Officer Gray Stenberg, Auckland, 10; Jameson and Squadron Leader J. N. MacKenzie, D.F.C., Clydevale. 9; Wing Commander R. M. Trousdale, D.F.C. and Bar, Auckland, and Squadron Leader R. J. C. Grant, D.F.C. and Bar, D.F.M., 8. An English Wing Commander, D.S.O. and Bar, who fought in France with a squadron adjacent to Cobber Kain’s, recently stated that he believed' Kain’s score was twelve, which was confirmed.