N.Z. AIRMEN

Grey River Argus, 1 March 1945, Page 4

N.Z. AIRMEN

MOSQUITO PILOT BALES OUT OVER FRANCE. [R.N.Z.A.F. Official News Service] (Rec. 11.10.) LONDON, Feb. 26. Because the starboard engine was on fire, and the fuselage splattered with shell splinters, a New Zealand Mosquito pilot, Flying Officer F. L. Henrv (Dunedin), was forced to bale out after a recent attack on Berlin. Henry’s aircraft was one of the first to attack Berlin on this particular night and the attack had just been completed when the aircraft was caught by a severe burst of flak from the centre of the city. The engine was hit and the electrical system was shot away. For twenty minutes the crippled Mosquito flew towards France and lost height steadily. Henry struggled to maintain level flight’, but after dropping from 24,000 feet to 7,000 feet, the aircraft went into a spin. After the navigator, an Australian, had baled out, Henry followed. They landed near the small French village of Marchiennes. Apart from slight abrasions they were uninjured, and some days later they were both back in England.