1 Raider Brought Down 2 Hit

Northern Advocate, 12 February 1940, Page 5

1 Raider Brought Down 2 Hit

Mime Bestr®&es*§

More Ships Attacked

LONDON, February 10. A tally of the results of the German air raids off the East Coast of England on Friday reveals that *one German aeroplane was shot down, and two so seriously damaged that they are unlikely to have reached home. Two Naval trawlers—the H. Robert Bowen and the Fort Royal—were sunk with the loss of four* officers and 18 ratings, and the unarmed merchant vessels Cliftonia (of 3106 tons) and Boston Trader (of 381 tons), and the dredger Foremost and several trawlers were damaged, but all reached port. Aerial Torpedoes The Germans used aerial torpedoes in addition to bombs and machine guns. Trawlers arriving in port brought stories of the typical courage with which the men manning Britain’s little ships faced repeated attacks from aeroplanes diving from the shelter of low clouds. A. German aeroplane scored a direct hit with a bomb on the dredger Foremost. killing two men. The Germans machine-gunned vessels which went to the Foremost's assistance. Four Air Fights There were four combats between British fighters and German bombers. Hurricane Fighters chased into the clouds a Junkers aeroplane, which attempted to attack' a tanker on the North Coast of Scotland. Another squadron pursued thre i Hcinkels off Arbroath. A British warship surprised two aeroplanes attacking the Aberdeen trawler Barnsness (173 tons), off the North Coast. One aeroplane flew toward the warship when the latter appeared, and dropped an aerial torpedo. This missed, and the warship opened fire. The aeroplanes immediately made off. An enemy plane dropped between 12 and 16 bombs near the Boston Trader, t'iey also flew round the ship, machinegunning the crew, two of whom were 'slightly injured.