LOSS OF SPITFIRES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 109, 10 May 1943, Page 3

LOSS OF SPITFIRES

Australia's Ace Fighter Speaks Of Darwin Battle N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent Rec. 2.30 p.m. SYDNEY, this day. Australian Spitfire pilots in Darwin area are amassing big -scores of Japanese planes shot down. The leading fighter ace of the R.A.A.F., Wing - Commander Clive Caldwell, brought his total of kills to 241 when he shot down two Zeros on Sunday of last week. He has now shot down four Zeros following his earlier successes as a fighter pilot in Britain and the Middle East. "The Japanese can bleat as much as they like, but it was not their planes or skill which caused us to lose so many Spitfires in the big battle." said Wing-Commander Caldwell. "The Japanese had a lot of luck. In the combat we had an eminently successful day. The storm got the better of us after the battle was over." He added that there was no fighter to touch the Spitfire. "In speed and climbing power the Spitfire is superior to the Zero. We can run past the Zeros and outfly them. But Spitfires can be shot down. The Japanese know how to use the guns on their planes." Pilot's Miraculous Escape Another successful Australian Spitfire pilot is Flying-Officer A. P. Goldsmith, aged 22, who shot down his 15th enemy plane in the battle over Darwin on Sunday week. He had a fortunate escape during the battle. Temporarily blinded, he fell out of his badly-damaged Spitfire when i* was travelling at 400 miles an h0...r. Machine-gun bullets and cannon shells from Allied and Japanese fighters passed near him as he fell, groping for the ripcord of his •(parachute. He managed to open his parachute and landed in the sea 40 miles from land. He was rescued from his collapsible boat by a naval craft 24 hours later.