R.A.F. TOO GOOD

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 262, 3 October 1940, Page 7

R.A.F. TOO GOOD

NAZI PLANES SHOT DOWN.

ONE BLOWN TO BITS,

(United Press. Association—Copyright.) , (British Official Wireless;) (Rec. 11 a.m.) RUGBY, Oct. 2. A few minutes after it ma-chine-gunned the streets of an Essex town, a German Dornier IT bomber was shot down by Hurricanes of the lighter Command to-day.

The .Hurricane pilots were on their way home from a patrol over the North Sea when they found the Hornier attacking the Essex town. By the time they reached it the enemy aircraft had climbed to 4000 ft. The Gorman pilot tried dodging in and out of the clouds, but several Hurricanes got in bursts of niacliine-gun fire and the Dornier crashed 20 miles away near a searchlight post. One Hurricane pilot who had helped to shoot down the Dornier landed nearby and was congratulated by the surprised searchlight crew, who had taken four of the German airmen prisoners. They were more surprised by his size than his victory, for he is just over 4ft 3 m tall—one of the smallest pilots in the R.A.F. ' , . fi Thames Estuary anti-aircraft guns destroyed one of to-day’s raiders a Messerschmitt 109. Last night the anti-aircraft gunners were responsible for the loudest explosion heard over South-East London since the bombing began. The gunners thought they had . hit a German bomber, but the. noise was so great that they wondered whether they had not perhaps exploded a bomb load as well. This morning they found the answer. They had done both,

Their shells had struck one of the London night raiders and the bomber and bombs exploded together, pieces being found scattered over several miles of ■ south-east London.

NEW ENEMY TACTICS,

To-day’s raids brought a change in the tactics of the German air force. Instead of single bombers or one or two large-scale attacks smaller raids of from 48 enemy bombers and fighters followed each other from 9 o’clock in the morning till 4 o’clock in the afternoon. All crossed the Kentish coast in the same direction and were attacked by Spitfires and Hurricanes as they flew towards London.

Four out of 15 Messerschmitt. 109 fighters were shot down by a Spitfire squadron over the Kent and Surrey border as they flew north-west. The rest of the Messersclimitts turned back.