AUCKLAND AIR ACE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 146, 21 June 1940, Page 8

AUCKLAND AIR ACE.

FLIGHT-LIEUT. A. C. DEERE, SHOT DOWN BUT ESCAPED. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) WANGANUI, this day. Carrying on the tradition of "Cobber" Kain, the Auckland-born ace. FlightLieutenant A. C. Deere, who was recently awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, was conspicuous in recent fighting in France and Belgium. wheH he accounted for several enemy 'planes. Writing to his parents in Wanganui, Flight-Lieutenant Deere says: "I have now six Germans to my credit. I am the first ace on the station and second in the squadron. I was shot down in Belgium and crashed on a beach, but managed to escape with a cut left eye. After 24 hours without food or water and wet through, I managed to contact a destroyer and reached England safely. The destroyer was bombed all the way across the Channel and was hit once, all the lights being smashed. The whole episode was a nightmare. "As a squadron we have become pretty famous, having shot down 32 (confirmed) and 18 (unconfirmed) enemy 'planes for one week's operations." ' Twenty-three years of age, FlightLieutenant Deere joined the. R.A.F. vt 1937. He is a keen boxer and is middleweight champion of the Army, Navy and Air Force. Last month he engaged in seven combats against the enemy, wac mentioned in dispatches and was promoted to his present rank.