SUCCESSFUL BLUFF.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 62, Issue 88, 24 January 1942, Page 5

SUCCESSFUL BLUFF.

PATROL BY UNARMED AIRCRAFT. LONDON, January 22. ‘ In the early days of the war the shortage of aeroplanes was so serious that it was mad© up by bluff,” said Wing Commander G. G. Barrett in an address to the Royal United Services Institution.

He said that unarmed Tiger Hornet Moths patrolled the North Sea. They were christened the “Scarecrow Patrol.’ These light training aircraft operated in incredibly bad weather. They were capable of flying for a maximum of 21 hours, but U-boats sighting these aeroplanes dived without waiting to discover whether they were capable of attack. The “Scarecrow Patrol” undoubtedly saved much shipping.

Wing Commander Barrett disclosed that the Scharnhorst was probably torpedoed during a daring dawn raid in which a single Beaufort dashed into Brest and skimmed the water, despite an intensive anti-aircraft fire, hopped over the protective mole and dropped a torpedo. The ship’s guns and shore batteries opened up and the Beaufort faced the heaviest concentration of fire ever directed against a single aeroplane at such short range. It is believed that the torpedo scored a direct hit. The aeroplane, unfortunately, was shot down and the crew of four were all killed.—British Official Wireless.