DEADLY GUNFIRE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 121, 24 May 1941, Page 9

DEADLY GUNFIRE

PILOTS* REPORTS Weapons Of The R.A.F. Fighter Planes British Official Wireless. Rec. noon. RUGBY, May 23. The tremendous power of the British fighter aeroplanes' guns is described from pilots' reports by the Air Ministry news service. Years of experimenting, months of graining and perhaps weeks of waiting have been spent in preparation for the moment when the pilot presses the button on the control column which nres the multiple guns or cannon mounted in his aircraft. Often when it comes even the pilot himself is astonished at the results which follow. Here are a few of the things that did happen when a pilot pressed his button. These descriptions are from reports of combats which took place in the last two or three weeks. "I was dazzled by the effects of my fire. My spinner leading edges of the fuselage and the windscreen were soused with oil. Great pieces of the blazing Heinkel 111 filled the air and it dived vertically through the cloud. "The starboard wing broke off near the engine and threw back, narrowly missing my aircraft. 1 followed what was left of the enemy till he crashed into the sea. "He dived down in a shower of sparks, which turned into a streak of flame. "The enemy immediately caught fire and a piece flew off and hit us. The enemy aircraft flew straight into the ground."