Ken Struthers Writes Home

Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 192, 14 August 1941, Page 4

Ken Struthers Writes Home

PULL QUOTA OP RAIDS Friends of Mr. Kenneth Struthers, formerly a solicitor in Palmerston North and now serving with the R.A.F. in England, will bo interested to learn that he has played a very prominent part in raids * over Germany and northern France. Employed as observer in a bombing of the New Zealand squadron witfi Dave Pritchard, of Dannevirke, as pilot, he had completed seventeen raids over enemy territory by June, including the industrial and naval Cities of Hamburg, Berlin, Boulogne, Kiel and Brest. It will be recalled that Dave Pritchard vas awarded the D.F.G. fairly recently. An extract from one of Observer titruther’s letters brings the following lucky escape to light: —“Allie (hia lucky charm —a tiki) has had quite a ! lot of work to do one way and another and has looked after me exceedingly well. His best performance was during a recent raid on Brest. On our return our rear gunner down a Jerry lighter before he knew what had hit lum, while just olf the English coast we collided with an uuidentilied aircraft. The crash smashed up our port wing and tail-plane, but after an hour s anxious flying we got down safely. It was a damn good show on the part of our Skipper—Dave Pritchard, from Dannevirke.’ ’ By his latest letter Observer Struthers expected to have liuished his immediate quota of thirty raids by mid-July and had had no exciting incidents since the mid-air collision. __________