FIRE ARROWS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 81, 5 April 1941, Page 7

FIRE ARROWS.

BOWS.

5% siege of keren. Moralising the defence. "mm, censorship regulations prevent the [ use ol his real name. \ (By MICHAEL CLOUD.) ■ SEREX (Eritrea), February 27. J'ntieh "ircraft have concentrated on wmg Keren, the Eritroan keypoint, i?. 9I " ob to ashes and dust with the JHth fl andS ° f b,ack walTiors armed L, ?*. ming arr ows. I have noticed iff frif lghts of B"tish aeroplanes take froeSF ° Ur base heTC in dn-rknesa and #»ck Irl 7 rOared OVCr thc town ' Tight tWi pawled on their .bellies 4w migh . the kalian defence lines. Par . tles clubbpfl a » d geared SSii??? trymen as t]wv went, dear,:Wtf£wi. ? W ° native t,Q °r ,3 heavily 0Ws ' and carrying parties tfc 8 ™ of arrows in huge slings. W«FsL-! l v Ur thry t'O'itiiiucd forward. *>fei? 30 ° - Vards of nii "tary I p.; Dry Roofs Flare Up. in ;S" ei " Padded si!e "tlv back and up hiftot A n the oxtre "'e outskirts of Wii eent a si ?nal back over the '^cLm The British bombers, at 'JfediSw? , took their cue - The ni S ht ' ~t hunder of multi-engines. C»; S T r lentl y discharged their tanetl +u arrows hnnimed like %J, 8 th [ough the air, and with a **mv «T- m the " rais roofs of ihe *t«r id v°" quarters. A few seconds WS lar /> an ' owl,(,ade flared "P. ■ AndUt e?a " to blaze ™ ' < l own wcnt th * 'bombete, at »« th« £ ra L e " from 10,000 ft to 1000 ft, SosL 01 ? , drop P ed off as P Bt noses level again. Bombing be£m •'-■** ?*2t with perfect exactitude

from low levels, on to the lighted military targets. Thi? avoided risk of damaging the native population in the Italian town.

Columns of smoke went up, behind theij tails of the British bombers, hundreds; of feet into the air. Each machine did 1 a right turn, then shallow-dived, etrad- ' dling the town below with a big stick of bom'bs to finish the etout work. ' ' t There were red-hot circles rimmed below where they put their "eggs" down on a supply dump, and great spasmodic bursts of explosions. Incendiaries and explosives caused terrific havoc, preparing the way for troops to storm the town. Fighters Are Different. Meanwhile, Italian interceptor* took off, six dark flying-fish shapes hurrying along beside a cumulus-bank. The British leader turned. No one minded the use of Italian anti-aircraft or heavies, anyhow. Once in a .million vears they get you where the wicked cease from troubling; but the rest of the time they just illuminate the heavens and that'e all. Fighters—ah, that's different ! A big-scale air fight developed, the enemy using crack Fiat 52's and Breda 88's. The British attackers were outnumbered in the air, but our machines were much faster, more heavily armed, land move manoeuvrable. Besides, they laro used to team fighting, and refuse to withdraw until all objectives are hit. Searchlights stabbed in and out of the battle. But the Italian guns were now silent for fear of hitting their own machines. One of the British machines inade a sharp bank, almost standing on his wing-tip. A power-dive smack through the darkness, and he was on the tail of a Breda monoplane. Two other ! Bredas materialised out of the darkness. Right among the three enemy fighters ■our man sped. They couldn't let go at him for fear of making each other's machines into colanders. Aβ one Breda ' opened out.to get a nearer sight of him, ■ he caught the other broadside on, and • concentrated fire of his eight machine- ! guns on it for three or four seconds. The 1 Breda seemed to stall, check, and then > went spinning downwards with flames licking along its fuselage. \ Coffieion In Mid-Air. One Italian aeroplane wae forced to i land. Another was flaming from end to •end like— •»- -huge- -wdfc. to the

Italian leader tried to ram the British leader in a "hell dive." He missed, and as he'flung past at 400 m.p.h., another! shadow, below, suddenly plunged out of; the darkness straight across his path. With dramatic suddenness he cut the, port wing off one of his own supporters. Both crashed. The defence whs all over. The Italians* turned homewards, those that we lefti very tattered and flying oddly. Our' ships plastered the ground beneath with] explosive. One British fighter was shot down, but the pilot bailed out and landed in the*; British lines. As the British force with-] drew the. fighter rear-guard of the R.A.F. saw a little group of bowmen cut off beside a flaming hut below by Italian i machine-gunners on two sides. The British pilot swung his machine and piiti her into a power-dive with all gunsl blaring. One Italian gun crew was wiped out: others dropped their gnn.s and ran. The!, archers withdrew, doggedly carry ingi, away their wounded, while another! fighter ripped out of formation and , covered their retreat back to the British | lines. —"Auckland Star" and X.A.N. A. I