PILOT'S MISTAKE

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 105, 30 October 1940, Page 6

PILOT'S MISTAKE

♦•PROTECTION" TO SIX MESSERSCHMITT§

I (British Official Wfreless.) I ! RUGBY, October 29. | A Spitfire pilot who during an action j joined up by mistake with six Messerschmitts and "protected" them tells a story- with a 'happy! ending in an' Air' Ministry bulletin. While weaving about with his squadron over' southeastern London he .-was.'sent off to intercept enemy formations; When, -he came back to direct the remaining Spitfires to the attack he joined up by mistake with the Messerschmitts. He did not stay long as their protector.

"When I realised what I was doing," he said, "I got a pretty fair shock. I went in to the attack double quick and a running fight began. One Messerschmitt did a barrel roll to the left. I fired and he dropped back. I was then engaged from astern and lost a bit of ground. By the time we got to Hastings I had caught the rest up and knocked bits off one. Another was half a mile or more below and behind the others as they crossed the coast. He was dropping back rapidly, and I was hoping to finish him off when six more Messerschmitt 109's came down at me from over the Channel in line abreast. They went into line astern and circled round me at about 30----yard intervals, but number six was about a hundred yards behind number five, so I went for him.

"He climbed steeply in a close turn. I had about 300 miles an hour on the clock, so pulled up almost vertically and gave him a burst flat into his feet from beneath. He rolled over and went straight down. By this time number one was on my tail, so I went down behind number six, who was still going straight down in a slow turn at 10,000 feet. But number one was still worrying me, so I went into a steep left-hand turn and blacked out. On recovering there was no more enemy in sight, so I climbed again and went home."'