TWENTIETH HUN

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 107, 7 May 1943, Page 3

TWENTIETH HUN

ALAN DEERE'S "BAG" N.Z. Pilots In Antwerp And Dortmund Raids N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent Rec. 1 p.m. LONDON, May 6. Wing-Commander Alan Deere, D.F.C. and Bar, of Wanganui, raised his wing's score to 995 and his own to 20 when he shot down a FockeWulf 190 while accompanying a Flying Fortress on the big daylight raid on Antwerp on Tuesday. He sighted the Focke-Wulf just as the bombers had bombed and were leaving the target. He saw it go down in flames, the pilot baling out. That night the wing's score board changed from 994 to 995, leaving only five for the 1000. No Flying Fortresses were lost on the Antwerp raid. The Americans later sent a message to Fighter Command thanking them for their fighter support and adding that it was the best they had ever had —a fact reflecting great credit on WingCommander Deere, who ordered his wing to stick closely to the bombers. It was an exceptionally long distance for fighters who had to protect bombers en route and then be prepared to fight over the target on the way out, with the risk of running short of petrol. Four 40001b Bombs a Minute Pilot-Officer Terence McKinley, of Wellington, was in one of the first aircraft to bomb Dortmund in the big raid last Tuesday, when four 40001b bombs were dropped every minute. He said: "We could see Dortmund's searchlights shooting into the sky when we were still many miles from the town. As we approached we found the target ringed by a circle of searchlights, with shells bursting all over the sky just above them. "Only a small part of the force had bombed then, but many fires were already burning in the target area. Searchlights were waving about as though the crews were bewildered .by so many aircraft. it was a bumpy flight, because our aircraft were frequently caught in the slipstreams of other planes. "My Canadian navigator broke the point of his pencil four times while trying to enter details m his log" added Pilot-Officer McKinley. Other New Zealanders who participated included Flying-Officers J. B. Smith (Wellington), A. A. McFarlane (Rotherham), Pilot-Officer T. Brown (Timaru), Flight-Sergeant G. Stevens (Rata), and Sergeants D. Davidson (Timaru), A. Whitelaw (Otaki), J. Parkes (Hamilton), J. B. Smith and G. R. Hawlett (Wellington).

New Zealand's leading ace is SquadronLeader Colin Gray, D.F.C. and bar, of Gisborne who shot down his 21st enemy plane in the Tunis area on April 23. The only New Zealander ever to exceed these figures was the late Flying-Officer "Cobber" Kain, who was unofficially credited with up to 40 planes. Owing to the destruction of records in the Battle of France, no official estimate has been made of "Cobber" Kain's victories.