DARING PILOTS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20623, 26 November 1941, Page 8

DARING PILOTS

PROTECTING CONVOYS SHIPS' FIGHTER PLANES “They never fail to down the attacking bombers,’’ said a master mariner in Auckland when describing the work of - high-speed interceptor aeroplanes which are now being catapulted from British merchantmen to defend Atlantic convoys from bombing attacks. In recent voyages in the Atlantic he had seen the fighter aeroplanes destroy the slower German bombers every time they went up. The attackers were usually fourengined Focke-Wuif Kuriers, Germany's biggest bombers. Several merchantmen in each convoy were now carrying fighter machines. If the fighter pilots could reach land after destroying the attacking bombers they would do so, but usually they had to sacrifice their machines to save the convoy. They baled out with parachutes near the convoy and a small rescue boat, which accompanied every convoy, pickeij them up from the sea. The rescue boats were covered with netting to enable the pilots to climb aboard. •’The loss of an aeroplane is little compared with the. loss of one or more ships. 1 ’ said, the master manner.