SAVED LIBERATOR

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 225, 22 September 1943, Page 4

SAVED LIBERATOR

N.Z. FIGHTER PILOTS PRAISED FOR PROMPT ACTION (N.Z.E.F. Official News Service) . GUADALCANAR, Sept. 21. American appreciation has been expressed at the prompt action ■ of two New Zealand fighter pilots who are considered to have saved a Liberator rjomber of the United States Army Air Corps from almost certain destruction by a pack of Zeros, while returning from a strike against Kahili. Both pilots, FlyingOfficer M. T. Vanderpump, of Wellington, and Flight-Sergeant J. E. Miller, of Waihi, are members of a New Zealand Warhawk Squadron.

' With one motor out of commission, following an intense action, one of a group of Liberators returning from Kahili, gradually fell behind the formation and was promptly singled out by six or seven Japanese fighters for concentrated attack. The New Zealanders were among the escorting fighters, and, in response to a call for assistance from the Liberator's crew, Flying-Officer Vanderpump and Flight-Sergeant Miller pulled out of the formation. Two miles behind the rest of the Allied aircraft, the solitary Liberator was being harried by Japanese fighters. The Zeros were attacking from all angles without fighter opposition, and the bomber's plight was real. The arrival of the two New Zealand Warhawks, however, and a couple of bursts from their guns, kept the Zeros at a respectful distance, and the Japanese, after one or two feints, gave up the chase. With the two Warhawks as a special escort, the Liberator reached her base safely and without further damage.