TWO PLANES DOWN

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20655, 8 September 1941, Page 6

TWO PLANES DOWN

GERMAN FIGHTERS SWEEPS BY R.A.F. Reed. 2 p.m. RUGBY, Sepl. 7 (British Official Wireless.) Tv/o ME 109’s were destroyed by Fighter Command pilots on offensive operations on Sunday, states the Air Ministry news service. One was shot down by a fighter pile' while escorting bombers on a successful raid on enemy shipping off The Hague. It was seen to crash into the sea by a gunner in one of the bombers The second ME 109 was destroyed by an Eagle squadron pilot during a r. offensive sweep by fighters. The pilot said on his return: "Over Bou logne on the way back there was a big scrap with a lot of ME 109’s. One got above me but I managed to climb right up under him and give him everything I had got from 7f yards range. First his wheels drop ped, then he went down into a slow spin with glycol pouring out He crashed near the outskirts of Boulogne.” A pilot from Texas, who hn been in the Eagle squadron, only 10 days and was on his first operational flight, brough his aircraft back to England by a fine piece of flying after tie had been attacked by an ME over the Channel. The enemy aircraft shot a large Hole in the Eagle pilot’s wing, damaging hi: guns. Glycol began to stream from the fighter and the engine failed while the pilot was still over iho Channel. Despite the oil which, covered his windscreen, he glided back and landed in a field. Other lighters shot up a radio station in the French const, silencing enemy machine-guns. A coastguard station v/n, also attacked. An Air Ministry communique states: "Blenheim aircraft of the Bomber Command, escorted by fighters, attacked an enemy supply ship and an escort vessel oil’ the Dutch boast early this afternoon. The escort vessel was hit and blew up. An escort supply ship was set on fire. In these operations we lost two Blenheims and three fighters.”