Malta’s N.Z. Air Chief In Dog-Fight

Northern Advocate, 11 February 1943, Page 4

Malta’s N.Z. Air Chief In Dog-Fight

(Special, 2 p.m.) LONDON, Feb. 10. The “Daily Express” Malta correspondent states that the 50-year-old Air ViceMarshal Sir Keith Park (Dunedin), A.O.C. Mediterranean, has been in a dogfight. It ended >yith Air Vice-Marshal Park flying back 140 miles over the Mediterranean with one engine of his Beaufighter burned out. Air Vice-Marshal Park was on nis way to Cairo as second pilot when he saw five four-engined Focke-Wulfs. I-ie ordered the pilot to attack the smaller formation.

Air Vice-Marshal Park said: “We pumped lots of lead into them, but, with a burst of a 20-millimetre cannon, they fired our port engine just as they were turning away. We were unable to attack head-on because the Germans do not like head-on attacks. Luckily they did not see what they had done, otherwise we would have been cold meat. I was only a back-seat driver, but I told the pilot to climb before the engines burned out. We reached 3000 feet, which was altitude enough for us to return to Malta.”

On the return journey Air Vice-Marshal Park and the two men with him held sweepstakes as to whether they would get home and, if not, how far 'awav they would drop. Spitfires as Bombers

The correspondent also states that Air Vice-Marshal Park had Spitfires fitted with bombs when the Germans refused to send fighters to meet Spitfires over Malta. Metal was salvaged from crashed German bombers and turned into racks for Spitfires. Then they bombed ships, airfields, factories and trains so accurately that they have recently been used for night bombing.