LONG DOGFIGHT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20623, 26 November 1941, Page 9

LONG DOGFIGHT

AXIS MEN RETIRE PLANES PUT DOWN TOLL BY TOMAHAWKS (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (British Official Wireless.) Reed. 3 p.m. RUGBY, Nov. 24. The longest air battle between fighters in the history of the Western Desert took place south of Tobruk at dusk on Saturday. For over an hour Tomahawk fighters of an Empire squadron, composed of English, South Africans, Canadians, New Zealanders and Australians, fought an equal number of Messerschmitts and the battle ended only when the Germans broke off as darkness closed around the rival squadrons. It was known that only one Tomahawk had crashed and the enemy had lost at least three Messerschmitts 109 and at least six others were seriously damaged.

A despatch from an agency correspondent on the Libyan front says: I have heard from one pilot what happened. “We were heading north when we saw them coming out of the sun towards us,” said the pilot. “They climbed above us and started diving, five of them at a time, trying to get us one by one. They would not come very near and one of us would come out of formation, give a couple of bursts and beat off the attack.

"In order to prevent their diving we came down lower and by that time the land troops had opened fire on us. We had the Messerschmitts above us and attack below. One of our chaps stopped back foij a while, breaking off from the formation and machinegunning the troops, but the enemy kept up the fight till it was almost dark.”

“During the morning the same squadron escorted Blenheims who went out to bomb a retreating Italian mechanised force. The Tomahawks were flying in formation giving close support Jo the Blenheims. Enemy fighters which went to attack the bombers were all put to flight.