EASING PRESSURE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20259, 29 May 1940, Page 8

EASING PRESSURE

ALLIED ARMIES FIGHTERS & BOMBERS GERMANS' BLACK DAY 79 PLANES SENT DOWN MESSERSCHMITT LOSSES (Eloc, T<»l. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (British Official Wireless.) Deed. 2 p.m. RUGBY, May 28. The Air Ministry announces that the Royal Air Force fighters, bombers and reconnaissance aircraft have been doing their utmost to relieve the enemy pressure on the Allied armies in the grim struggle now taking place in north-eastern France. Yesterday waves ol' Royal Air Force medium bombers repeatedly attacked road and rail communications in the areas immediately between the German armies. On the nights of Monday and Tuesday heavy bombers attacked military objectives at Dusseldorf, Duisburg, Dortmund, Hamburg, Bremen and Cologne. All the British aircraft returned, one shooting down an enemy scout over Holland. Royal Air Force fighters carried ouc continuous patrols over north-east France to-day under adverse weather conditions. Best Day Since Invasion During the course of the bombing of Stavanger aerodrome the aircraft on the aerodrome were subjected to heavy machine-gun fire. Further details of Royal Air Force activities when 7!) German raiders were cither destroyed or seriously damaged are given in the Air Ministry bulletin. "Royal Air Force fighters had their best day since the invasion of the Bow Countries,” says the bulletin. "Some of, the pilots reported missing m Hurricane and Spitfires are believed to be safe. For 1C hours fighter pilots patrolled the sky over the battlefields and the French and Belgian ports. The first, a Messerschmitt 100 was destroyed bv Spitfires before 0 a.m. The last, a Dornier 215 bomber, was shot down bv Hurricanes just before !) p.m. Messerschmitts Destroyed "It was a bad day for German Messerschmitt fighters. Twenty-two were destroyed and another ninb put cut of action. An attempt was made by Messerschmitt 109’s. to surprise a Spitfire squadron in the morning. The Messerschmitts were escorting Dornier 17 bombers when they were sighted by the Spitfires. They hid among the cumulus clouds ana made surprise dives. Four Messerschmitts dived on one Spitfire pilot who shot down two of them. The rest of the squadron destroyed five more Messerschmitts as well as one Dornier.

"In the afternoon the Spitfire squadron added four Dornier 17’s to its bag. 11l rep bursting into flames. “The new Royal Air • Force Defiant fighters in two short fights accounted for two Messerschmitt 109's and five Heinkel Ill’s. One fighter pilot tells the story of a combat with a Heinkel 111 in four sentences. ‘We followed the ITeinkel through several layers of cloud. I could see the pilot and navigator duck at each burst. Then the Heinkcl’s engine caught fire and stopped. The aircraft burst into flames on landing,’ ”