Night Fighter Bags Fifth Raider This Month

Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 95, 22 April 1941, Page 5

Night Fighter Bags Fifth Raider This Month

DUEL OVER LONDON (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, April 20. A 32-year-old Hurricane pilot who had already “bagged” two night raiders on two separate nights this month last night destroyed another, says the Air Ministry news service. He destroyed two on one night earlier in the year, and this month’s “doubles” were shot down within three nights off each other. Before the war, he was a civil pilot with many thousands of miles of peacetime flying in his log book. Last night, anti-aircraft gunfire showed him were his enemy was. Near the London area, he saw a shell burst ahead, and soon afterwards he sighted an enemy bomber on the way to the capital. Closing in, he delivered his attack and saw pieces fall from the enemy plane. The raider opened to full throttle in a vain attempt to escape, and the Hurricane pilot gave it another burst. He then recognised it as a Heinkel-111. He said: “I now experienced heavy return gunfire. I avoided this and gave him another burst. We both fired our guns together in this attack, but the German ceased firing at once. One more burst from my guns brought sparks from the enemy. He put his nose down. I gave him another burst, and immediately he prepared for a landing by putting his headlights on. I decided to assist this landing by another short burst, and he crash-landed with his lights off.”