LOCKED IN DEATH

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21400, 10 May 1944, Page 3

LOCKED IN DEATH

NAZI FIGHTERS U.S.-BOMBERS RAMMED AIR DRAMA OVER BERLIN (10 a.m. ) RUGBY, May 9. The dramatic story of fighters and , bombers /‘colliding all over the sky" was told by officers who took part in the raid on Berlin and Brunswick. One navigator said: “About 12 fighters slammed into us. A lew minutes later about 35 Messerschmitt 109's and Focke-Wulf 190's hit us again in head-on attacks. I saw seven of them go through one part of the formation. Only three came out- I saw one Messerschmitt crash into a Fortress and both ships blew up. Small pieces of metal rained down through the sky. We are reporting seven Nazis shot down.” A pilot said: “There were fighters and Fortresses colliding all over the sky. My ship flew through the wreckage of a couple. One FockeWulf cams in so close to us that I thought he was out of control and was going to ram us. I nosed down and he did, too. Then he nosed up at the same time as I did. I don’t know how we missed each other.” A bomb-aimer navigator said: “About 20 Messerschmittt 109’s made three passes at us, coming right through our squadron head-on. I had one smoking when my guns jammed.” Another pilot reported seeing more enemy fighters than he had ever seen before and another said that he saw more dogfights to-day than in any of his other 21 missions.

One group of Mustangs, which engaged in a furious battle over miles of sky against an estimated force of 150 enemy interceptors, claimed the destruction of 27 and declared that he could have knocked down more, but they ran out of ammunition. Members of another Mustang group destroyed seven when 75 enemy fighters attacked their bombers. Lightnings elsewhere knocked down six of a group of 40 and Thunderbolts destroyed an additional number. 119 German Craft Down One hundred and nineteen German aircraft were shot down by American heavy bombers and their fighter escort in the attack on Berlin and Brunswick. Above a thick layer of cloud stretching across Germany, more than 1500 American heavy bombers and long - range fighters battled through the German fighter packs to strike at Berlin and Brunswick. It was the second day in succession that the bomber division continued what the communique calls the “air invasion of the German capital.” In contrast to yesterday, there were many air battles, ‘the fiercest of them in the Brunswick area. The American losses were 30 bombers and 13 fighters. The results of the bombing are not yet known. There was also considerable activity over France during the day. One bomber was lost. Nazis’ Suicidal Attacks

The Luftwaffe in force challenged the United States bombers in the raid on Berlin and Brunswick to-day. The British United Press correspondent at a United States’ bomber case ih Britain said that some raiders over Brunswick reported that over 100 Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulf’s rose through the solid cloud to engage the raiders over the target area. Crews engaged in the raid on Berlin said that the air battles were some of the most ferocious in which they had engaged. Some of the German fighters made suicidal attempts to ram the bombers. At least one succeeded. The top-turret gunner of one American bomber said he shot down three Focke-Wulfs.

Captain R. S. Johnson, a Thunderbolt pilot, who is officially credited with the destruction of 25 planes, claimed two more to-day. A United States communique, reporting many air battles over Berlin and Brunswick, says: “Our fighter pilots claim 59 German fighters destroyed. Our bomber crews claim the destruction of 60 enemy planes.” The Paris radio stated that the cathedral at Arras was damaged to-day» The region of Rouen and a locality north-west of the 'Seine-et-Oise Department was also raided. Over 100 persons were killed in the heavy raid on Rennes last night.