WORK ENGAGED ON DESCRIBED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 15 October 1941, Page 5

WORK ENGAGED ON DESCRIBED

II'SKT TO IIITWAIM. ORGANISATION IM AM S 1H STKOY OVi lt OWN | Al KODUO.MI S 11 UK by, Ocl. Iff lii a broadcast a s(|iiadron leader who has definitely destroyed four tieraerodromes and has many probable.' j also to his credit described the work j upon which he has been recently en - j igaged. , lie said the success of night fighter j work over enemy aerodromes. for which Havocs are mainly employed. : should not be judged by the number of > enemy aircraft they destroyed, large i • though this was. "1 know jjosilivcly that our mere j j presence over the enemy’s bases has [ caused the loss of German bombers ' v. ithout even a shot being tired at 1 them.” he said. "Moreover, our pres - J enoe upsets the Luflwall’c bomber | organisation. It throws their plans) , out of order in many ways and has ) , a very big effect on the morale of the S bomber crews themselves." j Describing what happens over the • enemy aerodromes at night, the officer said: "On go the flares and the bomber i comes low. making a circuit of the ' binding field with lights on and jour stalling Havoc, we feel our hearts j boat. The throttle is banged open. i the stick thrust forward and the Havoc is tearing down in an irresistible rush. One short burst from j the guns is usually sufficient. The I bomber glides and turns to dive the j last dive it is likely to make. Whether J you get the Hun or miss him. he frequently piles up on the ground through ; making his landing in a fright." j Describing one of his successes, the squadron leader said: "It was the i night of the last big raid on London j and the Huns were streaming back to I their bases in swarms. I got a crack I at a Ju as. with its navigation lights on. it came down to land. The bullets . appeared to enter the starboard on- ! fiine and fuselage of the bomber. My ; ! downward rush carried us over the Ju • j some ten feet above it. and as we , passed my rear gunner poured a long i i stream of bullets into the port engine. • The bomber went into an almost verti--1 eal dive. It was only 800 feet up. and it was practically impossible that the pilot could have pulled out of the dive, apart from the fact that both his engines were damaged. But we only claimed the Ju as a probable. ” - "After this the aerodrome lights ■ were turned off. We climbed away and the lights came on again. So we i bombed the aerodrome and large fires i resulted. The aerodrome lights were i again put out. But there were numer- ; ous bombers still trying to land. We came down to 1000 feet and saw an Me i DO. I opened fire close in and the « bullets entered one engine and the ’ fuselage. After a second burst smoke poured from both engines and it went : into a steep side slipping turn. As we passed beneath it. the gunner put an - other burst into the beast. "Then one night near St. Leger when we had bombed the aerodrome at Douai. we met a huge Focke-Wulf Condor four-engined transport. It had its navigation lights on and was about ! to land. tA only fifty yards range J ; put a good burst into the transport’s i belly. It was all that was necessary. 1 i The Condor gave out an enormous ' flash of light, burst into flames and * blew to bits. Burning debris flew past ■ : my aircraft on all sides.”—B.O.W. i 1