ENEMY BOMBERS

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 139, 8 March 1941, Page 11

ENEMY BOMBERS

Routed In Battle With Sunderland (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, March 6. An Air Ministry communique states: “In the course of routine operations yesterday, a flying-boat of the Coastal Command, while on patrol in the Atlantic, encountered two enemy bombers. One of the enemy aircraft was shot down into the sea and the other was severely damaged before it made off.” The Air Ministry news service says that a Sunderland flying-boat which was manned by Australians, sighted two Junkers 88’s on a parallel course about a mile anfl a half to port. They were 500 feet above the sea. The Sunderland kept a close watch, but about an hour later the Junkers unexpectedly reappeared out of cloud, diving together toward the Sunderland and blazing away with their guns. Thev closed to 250 yards, firing continuously. The Sunderland held its fire till it came down to 100 feet above the water. The bursts which it then fired were too much for the Junkerjs machines. When 200 yards away they turned aside and began to climb. Thirty seconds later one of them plunged downwards with smoke pouring from it and crashed into the sea. The second Junkers made another attempt to challenge the Sunderland and closed to 200 yards before it broke away again from the Sunderland’s accurate firing. This bomber was so severely punished that there is little likelihood that it regained its base.

I;i another air battig over -the Atlantic yesterday two other aircraft of the Coastal Command drove off two Heinkel Ill’s from the south coast of Ireland. Both engagements justify the confidence expressed by the Comman-der-in-Chief of the Home Fleet, who recently said that Britain would find a way to counter the enemy threat f r> her shipping. He also said that. Britain’s great new battleship King George V had come up to expectations in every way and the 50 destroyers acquired from America were proving of immense value.