WAR ITEMS

Grey River Argus, 18 July 1941, Page 6

WAR ITEMS

LONDON, July 16. The Under-Secretary Qf State tor Air (Captain Harold Balfour), who ' has arrived in Ottawa from EnglaiTci, said: “The Royal An- Force has succeeded where the Germans have failed. It has gained control .of the air in occupied countries and is also smashing Germany with bombs.” He predicted that air parity with Germany would soon be attainable, and he declared that the British bombing would cause the Germans to reca’i their aeroplanes from the Russian front or the German people would complain of betrayal bv. their leaders. A wing commander who shot down a Messerschmitt and damaged several others, described the British fighters’ work over France as “one of the best parties ever.” He con-' tinned: “We were over the target , when we saw 18 Messerschmitt 109 F’s flying to one side of a Messer- | schmitt in lin P astern. I detailed two other Spitfires to follow me around to attack them head on. They quickly broke up into pairs, but I managed to "et in quick bursts at three of them. Soon there wa.B a party for everybody. On-> Messerschmitt that I hit went down in a vortical dive with black and white smoke pouring from behind. I at- ,

lacked another which also began to go straight down and I jumped on him and chased him down vertically, firing with my machine-guns most: ui the time. He burst into flames. This party happened over a wood which, from the sky, looks like a tig map of England, and it gave us a kick at seeing the Huns gp scrambling down.”