Bad Day For Heinkels, Three Lost

Northern Advocate, 3 April 1941, Page 5

Bad Day For Heinkels, Three Lost

(Rec. noon). RUGBY, April 2. An enemy bomber was shot down into .the English Channel by a fighter this morning. The raider tried to escape by making for a cloud bank, but was immediately sighted by the British pilot. The Hurricane could not be .shaken off, states the Air Ministry New Service, and the pilot followed his opponent into the clouds, closing to such short range that he was forced to cease firing and pull up over the top of the enemy aircraft to avoid a collision. As he emerged from the clouds, the raider, a Heinkel 111, appeared a short distance away, losing height rapidly, and streaming with white smoke. As the British pilot watched, the Heinkel suddenly burst into flames. The German turned over in a desperate effort to reach land, but he was falling too fast. The blazing plane crashed into the sea two miles off the Devon coast. Three Raiders Destroyed. Three of five enemy raiders destroyed by British fighters yesterday were shot down within an hour, states me Air Ministry News Service. The first Heinkel 111 was engaged off the Welsh coast shortly after 6 p.m. by a Hurricane pilot, who closed to within 60 yards of the raider in the face of heavy fire from the enemy rear-gunner. With smoke pouring from it, and both wheels hanging down, the Heinkel dived into a cloud, and a few minutes later was seen by the keeper of a lighthouse to crash into the sea. Poles Score a Win. While this combat was in progress, two pilots of the Polish fighter squadron on patrol some miles away along the same coast had sighted another Heinkel 111. Attacking in turns, the Poles saw their fire repeatedly hitting the raider, which caught fire and crashed. The Poles then resumed their interrupted patrols. The third victim was a D.O. . 215 caught off the Cornish coast. After receiving a burst of fire delivered from 50 yards range, the Dornier did a half-roll, shed large pieces of its fuselage, and then, catching fire, dived steeply to crash in flames.