SHIPS V. PLANES

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 May 1940, Page 5

SHIPS V. PLANES

THREE DESTROYERS SUNK ENEMY ATTACKS ON CONVOYS [britisii official wireless.] RUGBY, May 6. In spite of the official denial of the loss of a battleship off Namsos, the German propaganda machine continues to miake this claim, and even goes so rar as asserting that the “sinking” of a ship of this type by an aerial bomb must be considered “an epoch-making event in military history.” • ' ■■ One Berlin broadcast said, regarding the alleged *inciUent: “On Friday of last week, there perished the belief in the invincibility of battleships to bombs.” Authoritative circles point out that there has been no expression of belief in the “invincibility” of any warships against bombs. There has not yet been sufficient experience for competent critics to express a confident opinion. All that can be said at present is that the heavy bomb which hit the Rodney caused 11 casualties, but resulted in such slight damage to the ship that she was able to keep her station. It can confidently be declared that, other than this, no British battleship has been hit by a bomb, no British battleship has been' damaged by a bomb, and no British battleship has been sunk by a bomb, in any .of the seven seas, in each of which the British Navy is still supreme-. The true figures of the British losses were given by Mr. Chamberlain, in his Commons speech on May 2, and the only addition since then is the Afridi, whose loss was officially announced to-day.

DESTROYER SUNK. ’ LONDON, May 6. The, British destroyer Afridi, when convoying troops from Namsos, was bombed. Two of the attacking bombers were shot down. • The' Admiralty later announced the sinking of-the Afridi. 1 - FURTHER PARTICULARS (Recd. May 7, 9.15 a.m.). LONDON, May 6. . The,- Admiralty announced that fol- *- lowing the, withdrawal of troops from J Namsos, His Majesty’s ships, includ- I ing the Afridi (Captain P. L. Vian, t D. 5.0.), provided defence for the con- < voy against aircraft and submarine at- ’ tack. With the arrival of daylight, re- I peated waves of enemy aeroplanes kept up an incessant attack against the convoy, but the barrage main- t tained by the escorts and the anti- 1 aircraft guns was so effective that the s transports were untouched. It was in < the course of this operation that the Afridi was struck by bombs and siib- t sequently sank. Two enemy planes I were shot down. 1 The Afridi was a destroyer of the Tribal Class, of a displacement of 1,870 tons, and a normal complement of 190. She was the eleventh British destroyer to be lost since, the outbreak of the war, and the fifth since the Norwegian campaign opened. LATER. Captain Vian was not hurt. FRENCH LOSS. (Recd. May 7, 12.30 p.m.) PARIS, May 6. The Admiralty states that German aircraft attacked a troop convoy in the North Sea. No ships convoyed were hit, but an escorting destroyer, the Bison, was sunk,. Many of the crew were saved. RUGBY, May 6. There is some speculation whether the sinking of the French destroyer Bison does not form the basis for the reiterated but untrue Nazi claim to ’’have sunk a British battleship,” which according to German reports, was accompanying a transport, off Namsos on May 3. POLISH BOAT SUNK. RUGBY, May 6. The Polish naval staff in London announced to-night: “The Polish destroyer Grom, which, together with other units of the Polish Navy, had been actively co-operating with the British Fleet since the beginning of the war, has been sunk by a bomb. The Grom was engaged in operations off the Norwegian coast. One officer and 65 ratings are missing, and must be presumed to have been lost. “The British Government’s offer to replace this destroyer by one now building in a British shipyard has been gratefully accepted.” THREE TRAWLERS LOST (Reed. May 7, 1.15 p.m.). LONDON, May 6. Three Grimsby trawlers, the Pen, Hercules, and Leonora, each with a crew of nine, are overdue, and are presumed to be lost. GERMAN CLAIMS. (Received May 7, 10.15 a.m.) ’ BERLIN, May 6. A communique states: The Allies continue to bring up artillery reinforcements from the north, to Narvik. German fighters hit a battleship with a bomb, exploded a munition depot, and shot down two Blenheim bombers near Tejschelling. Seaplanes captured a British submarine, found damaged by a mine in the Kattegat. The Official News Agency states: German patrol vessels approached the submarine before it could scuttle itself. A German officer took over command, and towed .the submarine out of the minefield in which it had been drifting. The British crew said that a mine put out of action the diving apparatus, and damaged the engines. A Swedish fishing boat was earlier blown up in the same minefield. . ’ BRITISH DENIAL. (Recd. May 7, 1.15 p.m.) LONDON, May 6. The Air Ministry, denying that two Blenheims were shot down at Tersch- ■ elling, said that two Sunderlands were . damaged by gunfire off the Norwegian coast. A’ German 4000-ton steamer and a Swedish trawler were sunk in the Kattegat by mines. DORAN FAILS TO RETURN. I RAID ENDS BRILLIANT CAREER. RUGBY, May 6. It is. now revealed that the engagement from which Acting Squadron

Leader K. C. Doran, tte first airman to be awarded the D.F.C. and, bar, in the present war, failed to return, was a raid on Stavanger, carried out in daylight, ’ and in face of strong opposition from the ground batteries and enemy fighters. Unfavourable flying weather had given Stavanger several days’ respite from air-attacks, when in the afternoon on April.3o Doran led a force of Bristol Blenheim bombers across, the North Sea, on the first of a new series of raids, which were to reduce the air base to temporary impoteneje. 1 Bearing on the objective, shortly after 6 p.m., the British raiders found a cloudless sky. On a order from the Rader, they, broke formation and split up to make individual attacks on the target. It could be seen that much damage caused by the previous raids had been repaired, and the base was, again being used by large numbers of aircraft which were dispersed round the sides, and half concealed in the. adjoining fields. Fire from the ground, was intense, as one after another of the raiding aircraft attacked the base, witlf high explosive and - incendiary, bombs, causing havoc on the aero-, drome and among the stationary air-' craft. Enemy fighters had taken off to engage the British aircraft. | With no cloud in which to take • cover, the R.A.F. settled down to fight their separate ways out. In a series! of running combats which ensued, one Blenheim, simultaneously engaged by j four Messerschmitts, was hit, but the pilot by skilful manoeuvring was able , to get away. When another Blenheim was attacked by a Messerschmitt 109, | the gunner opened fire, and after a short burst saw his opponent fall off on one wing, and, with black smoke streaming from the engine, spun head-. long into the sea. | All but two British aircraft returned safely to the base. It is learned that , the two missing aircraft were not seenj again after the formation was broken up, on approaching the target area, to deliver separate attacks. COMPARATIVE LOSSES. LONDON, May 6. It is authoritatively estimated that Britain lost 48 warplanes in the last four weeks, compared with Germany s 138, in addition to 97 German planes, probably either destroyed or put out of action.

PILOT’S EXPERIENCE. RUGBY, May 6. The story was told in London, today, by the* commander of a Royal Air Force squadron in France, of the ’experience of one of his pilots, who, after bringing down a Nazi fighter in combat, found his own engine in flames when 25,000 feet above the ground. • The young pilot decided to “bail out,” ijnd left his machine, but, having had toi disconnect his oxygen tube, he lost consciousness 1 immediately afterwards. When he regained his senses, he was falling through a cloud. “I thought I was in Heaven,” he said, “but when I reached the other side of the cloud I decided I wasn’t, so I pulled the ripcord of my parachute, to prevent me from going elsewhere. R.A.F. EXPANSION. • RUGBY, May 6. " The large and rapid expansion of the R.A.F. has necessitated the reorganisation of training arrangements, which will now be divided into two commands, one dealing with flying training, and the other with technical training. Hitherto, there- have been two training commands, each of which has undertaken both air and technical instruction. In February, 1939, a separate reserve command was formed, in order to’relieve the regular training command, and concentrated special attention to the R.A.F. volunteer reserve, whose training, being on a parttime basis, had to be dealt with on. different lines from whole-time training of the regular R.A.F. Full-time training was, of course, assumed by the volunteer reserve directly the war broke out, and thereafter training distinction largely disappeared. Moreover, competent authorities point out it is desirable that the intensive training of personnel should remain under one command.

It has, therefore, been decided to create a technical training command, under acting-Air Marshal W. L. Welsh, which will undertake the complete training of the exceedingly large number of highly-skilled men required for the maintenance of aircraft and equipment, and a flying training command, under acting-Air Marshal L. A. Patterson, which will be responsible for the training of pilots and air crews.