BOMBERS IN ITALY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 7 January 1944, Page 2

BOMBERS IN ITALY

SEVERAL NEW ZEALANDERS INCLUDED (Rec. 12.25 p.m.) London. Jan. 5. A tactical bomber force in Italy has several New Zealanders serving in its squadrons. They include Flying-Offic-er E. F. Edwards (Whangarei), FlightSergeants H. S. McCullum C. Parkin (Dunsandel) who are in th® same squadron flying Mitchells and a former Aucklander, now of Suva, Fly-ing-Officer R. H. Crook who is flying Baltimores. Others who are now resting from operations include N. Dumont, D.F.C. (Gisborne), who has completed 63 operations and Warrant-Officer W. Petrie (Ashburton), who has completed 65. Edwards, who has done 65 raids, was in , the Tunisian campaign. He did 15 operations in Bisleys, attacking aerodromes, also bombing and machinegunning road transport. He transferred to Bostons after the Tunisian fighting and helped to bomb Pantellaria and Lampedusa. In Sicily these medium bombers had the same role as in Tunis —hitting airfields and strafing road transport. His squadron moved from Tunis to Malta, Comiso, Gerbini, and Brindisi, later going further north. Edwards has done several raids in the vicinity of Naples, more recently operating in support of the Eighth Army. McCullum, who spent a short time with a New Zealand Ventura squadron before going to North Africa, has now done 51 raids. He also began operating in Tunis, fighting in Bisleys. He helped to bomb the Kasserine Pass when the Americans were being pushed back. Later he did 23 operations in Bostons, sometimes as many as three “trips” daily, two in the morning and one in the afternoon during the final stages in Tunis. His experiences in Sicily were similar to those of Edwards but he was also in a raid on a railway junction near the ancient city of Pompeii. He once returned with 36 bullet holes in his aircraft. Parkin, who joined the squadron at Gerbini, has- done 12 operations, including a visit to Yugoslavia. Crook, who is in a different squadron, is one of the few members of the R.A.F. wearing a Suva shoulaerflash. He began operations at the Mareth Line and also took part in the Pantellaria, Sicilian and Italian operations. He has now carried out 59 raids. He was trained in Rhodesia and is proud of the fact that he has visited 24 different countries since he joined the R.A.F. Recently while Crook was bombing near Sangro a piece of flak which shattered the perspex hood but fortunately did little more, nearly knocked him out. Some New Zealanders are also at Malta, including Flying-Officers H. J. Burret (Auckland), G. Simmonds (Whangarei), D. Stewart (Hawkes Bay), also G. M. Buchanan. Warrant Officer G. Pallisher, and Flight-Sergeant Osborne. They are flying Spitfires but complain of having little action these days.—P.A. Special Correspondent.