SHARE IN RECENT RAIDS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 102, 2 May 1944, Page 5

SHARE IN RECENT RAIDS

N.Z. LANCASTER SQUADRON

(Special ,P.Ai Correspondent)

LONDON, May 1. A Lancaster squadron in which ■many New Zealanders are operating the latest type of this aircraft has been fully engaged in . the recent operations. It has carried but no fewer than five atttacks in seven days, bombing Cologne, Dusseldorf, Karlsruhe, Essen, and Friedrichshafen, and in the previous week it bombed Rouen. Only one aircraft was lost in all these operations. From the viewpoint of the air crews the raids have been "uneventful," that is to say, they were not worried overmuch by flak and were not attacked by"" fighters, though they saw several combats in progress and some aircraft going down in flames. For them it was a case of finding the

target, bombing it, and returning. The ! longest trip Was to Ffiedrichshafen. The Laricasters took Off at dusk and flew 1500 miles, returning 74 hburs latef just As dawn Was breaking. The squadron is led by. Wing Commander R. D. Max, D.F.C., of Nelson. Other New Zealanders in the Friedrichshafen raid included. Squadron Leader K. Climie,. D.F.d (Lower Hutt) and Pilot Officer T. J. Nation and Flight/ Sergeant F. G. Stewart, both of Wellington. • Wing Commander Max was on his twenty-first operation, and Squadron Leader Climie, who is a flight commander, was on his fiftieth. " A hazard which the squadron has had to contend with occasionally is attention from German intruders, which attempt to attack the aircraft while they are landing after returning from the raids. The squadron, in which there are many Englishmen, Canadians, and Australians, has welcomed these bombing operations as a change from mine-laying, which until recently was one of the main preoccupations. A group of New Zealanders who nave recently, completed a"1 tour with 30 operations and have done no fewer than 12 "mining trips,'1 includes Flight Lieutenant J. D. Grubb (Wellington), Flying .Officers L. B. Sitchbury (Wellington), and J. A. Martin (son of Mr. Lee Martin), Blenheim, and Pilot Officer A. G. Chatfield (Wellington).