HEROIC AIR GUNNER
SAVED COMRADE'S LIFE
(Rec. 11.30 am.) RUGBY, Sept. 8.
How a South African air-gunner saved his comrade's life is told by the v . Air Ministry news service. Francois | Joubert was one of two members p£ i the crew "of a Maryland bomber which was attacked and set on fire by Nazi fighters. During this attack his fel-low-gunner, was badly wounded.;--Flames spread rapidly through the machine, and eventually the order was given to abandon the aircraft: With [great courage, Joubert went to ;the ! assistance of his helpless, wounded partner. Helping him from the turret to the ; escape hatch, he was in diffi-' culty when the wounded man's parachute harness became tangled in the mechanism of a gun, but he solved this by dropping both gun and wounded man through the hatch. As he did so, his own ripcord caught in the gun and the parachute immediately opened inside the aircraft. Grasping the folds of the parachute in his: arms, Joubert jumped, but it was a long while before the parachute opened out, and even then it was found to have a number of holes burned in it from the fire inside the aircraft. Joubert has been awarded the D.F.M.—8.0.W.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 61, 9 September 1941, Page 7
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201HEROIC AIR GUNNER Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 61, 9 September 1941, Page 7
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