AXIS SUPPLY SHIPS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 83, 4 October 1941, Page 9

AXIS SUPPLY SHIPS

MORE R.A.F. VICTIMS

INTENSE FIRE DEFIED

RUGBY, October 2. A single squadron of the Coastal Command which bombed two German supply ships on Tuesday night, either sinking or severely damaging them, attacked another two ships last night, states the Air Ministry news service. The latest attacks were made by the piltfts of two Hudsons, each finding! the enemy convoy steaming close in- ; shore to the Dutch coast well protected | by A.A. ships. . ~ The first pilot bombed his ship with delayed action bombs from a height of 30 feet. He scored a direct hit and left the ship with a large column ol smoke rising from her. The second pilot picked out a tanker which was flying protective balloons. His gunner saw a flash on the tankers bows and splashes a few yards to either side of her. . Both aircraft flew through intense AA. fire to reach their targets and their- gunners returned the fire. This squadron, which has become a menace to all German shipping along the Dutch coast, was recently formed and is manned largely by Canadian air crews. FIGHTER PILOTS' SCORE. For the second,successive month, the Australian Fighter Squadron tops the list for the largest number of enemy planes brought down. Last month the squadron brought down 18 planes, 12 of which were accounted for in two days. _ The New Zealand Squadron, m the same wing, brought down six planes in September. A Beaufort aircraft of the Coastal Command set out this afternoon on a tour of the Norwegian coast. When it returned it had bombed two merchant ships, machine-gunned a third tied up to a quay, and blown up a factory, says the Air Ministry. . In a sweep over enemy-occupied territory today the American Eagle squadron destroyed four Messerschmitt 109's without loss to itself. One. pilot destroyed two. Another shot a wing off one and his cannon shells made great holes in the cockpit as the machine dived to earth. The fourth victim was shared by two pilots. The rest of the Messerschmitts fled. —8.0. W.