NO MORE FLYING BOMBS

Grey River Argus, 21 September 1944, Page 3

NO MORE FLYING BOMBS

N.Z.’ers BACK ON PATROL (Official News Service). LONDON, September 15. From its emergency call to the defence of London and Southern England against German' flying bombs, the New Zealand Tempest Fighter Squadron, which shot down 239 of these missiles, has returned to the more orthodox task of sweeps and long range patrols over Europe. The war moved so ouickly while it was chasing flying bombs, that the term “Occupied Europe” is becoming more restricted to the neighbourhood of Germany itself as far as this squadion is concerned and its recent sorties have taken its pilots to Western Holland and the Ruhr area.

New Zealand pilots look back on their bomb chasing interlude as an experience extremely novel at first, and then strenuous and tiring, and finally, as the rate of launching dwindled away when sites were overrun or bombed out, somewhat boring. With a total of 239 their average score was high. Every man had some success. The Squadron’s topscorer, O. Eagleson, a red-headed Warrant Officer from Auckland, was bettered in his total by a New Zealand pilot in another squadron in the same wing, Flight Lieutenant A. F. Umbers of Dunedin, who shot down 28. One of the most successful ways of hunting reported by any pilot was that in which Flight Lieutenant J. H. McCaw of Central Otago brought down four bombs in a single patrol, lasting less than two hours.

Discussing their experiences and the development of technique of intercepting and destroying bombs, pilots say it was .a matter of trial and error;until they found the best way was an approach from astern at an acute angle, and try to shoot off the jet or wings of- each missile. Sometimes the bomb would explode with a blinding flash; sometimes it would spin earthwards. One unusual method they tried with considerable success was to fly alongside tire bomb and flip it to the earth with a wing-tip of the aircraft. It was found that the fighter’s wing and the bomb’s wing did not actually touch, but a pad of air formed between them that was enough to throw it out of control. Pilots pay a high tribute to ground crews who sometimes worked as long as eighteen hours at a stretch to repair minor damage caused by fragments of exploding" bombs, and to keep the airclaft at constant readiness. There was not much rest for anybody. Their aerodrome itself was in a flying-bomb alley, and close to a part of the anti-aircraft defences, and, therefore, exposed ,to falling bombs. One landed a few hundred yards from the runways. FLYING BOMBS CONTINUE. (Rec. 11.10). LONDON, Sept. 20. Flying Bombs were over Southern Counties, including the London area, shortly after midnight, causing casualties and damage.