BOMBER HITS SEA

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23494, 24 November 1941, Page 3

BOMBER HITS SEA

—♦ — STRUGGLE HOME TO ENGLAND SAFE LANDING NEAR MINES (8.0. W.) RUGBY, November 22. With one wing partially shot away while returning from a raid over Germany, and with the starboard engine out of action, a Whitley bomber struggled home and brought the crew safely back. For more than 200 miles the second pilot kept the aircraft from finally slipping into the sea. It hit the water several times. “We couldn’t maintain height,” said the captain, “and not far from the Dutch coast we actually hit the sea. The tail struck the water, but the second pilot brought it up again, and we climbed to 200 feet. That’s the way it went all the way, first going up to 200 feet, then down to about 50 feet, and sometimes touching the waves. We threw everything loose overboard, except the guns. “At last we saw the English coastline. The second pilot shut off the petrol, and with the undercarriage up and the flaps useless, he had to glide on to the beach malce a safe landing. He had an idea that there were mines about, so he told the crew to stay put while we fired the guns and a Very light to attract attention. “I got out and waded through the water. Then I saw soldiers coming with Tommy guns. Their captain wouldn’t believe I was English at first, because I was wearing a new suit, and had no wings on it. He took me back to the Whitley. Then he told us we had escaped landmines by a few feet.