"TERRIFIC FLAK"

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 116, 18 May 1944, Page 6

"TERRIFIC FLAK"

DEFENCES OF RABAUIi

n.z. boiwblr lost (R.N.Z.A.F. Official News Service. , ■.:-'■ ' BOUGAINVILLE, May-i.7; v New.. Zealand tofft|do-££tad'kdlye-bombers ran into the heaviest;flafc?tKey: had so far experienced- ■when, they raided Lakunai airfield, Rabaul, a few days ago. It was a smaller raiding force than usual, and in clear weather, with an unlimited ceiling and visibility over the target, the Japs were able to concentrate on them from the beginning of their high-speed approach. Light and. heavy anti-aircraft guns put up an intensive and accurate pattern of fire as the Dauntlesses swept down on the gun positions, and* the Avengers made their bombing runs on the airstrip. Lakunai is the.nearest airfield to Rabaul, and the most heavily defended. It has two strips, one coral and the other concrete, and the Japs try to keep the former serviceable by repairing the bomb craters. The Allied aircraft scored many bomb hits on the runway and silenced some of the guns. "The ack-ack was just terrific," said a gunner of a New' Zealand Dauntless which led the attack. "It was definitely the worst we have encountered. There was terrific cross-fire right across the harbour as we were pulling out—you could almost get out and walk on it." EVASIVE ACTION. Just off Matupi Island, at the entrance to Simpson Harbour, 50 heavy shells were fired at one aircraft, which took violent evasive action and came through without a scratch. One American flyer came back with a 50----calibre slug through the water bottle on his hip. When pulling away from the target, Flying Officer D. J. Fyfe, of Christchurch, pilot of the last Avenger to leave, was informed by his turret gunner, Pilot Officer W. J. Shannahan, of Auckland, that another New Zealand aircraft behind them was losing height and speed and its under-carriage was coming down. This machine was seen to go into the water. Flying Officer

Fyfe turned back through a deadly curtain of flak to try and survivors in the water so that he could drop ■ the rubber dinghy. He circled the area twice, but enemy guns had him bracketed, and so hot was their barrage that he was compelled to retire. Flying Officer Fyfe recently put up a notable performance by' bringing back his aircraft from Rabaul with most of its tail shot away, and making, a,successful emergency landing at the' base. . '