STRANGE AERIAL VICTORY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 12 June 1945, Page 5

STRANGE AERIAL VICTORY

DERELICT SUPER-FORTRESS SHOT DOWN New York, June 10. A Black Widow fighter plane won a strange aerial victory against a derelict Super-Fortress with a full bombload which threatened Iwo Jima base with disaster, says the Associated Press of America Iwo Jima correspondent. The Super-Fortress received a direct flak hit at Osaka, killing the plane’s commanaer and jamming the bomb bay doors. The co pilot managed to get the badly damaged plane back to Iwo Jima. He warned other aircraft, that it was too damaged to attempt a landing, and he set the automatic pilot so the SuperFortress would head out to sea. Then he and the other members of the crew parachuted. Empty, except for the death-dealing bombload and .the commander’s body, the Super-Fortress began a wild ghost ride, pursued by a Black Widow intent on shooting it down over the water. The Black Widow’s pilot said: “As we cleared Iwo Jima we began shooting with all our eight guns. Oux first bursts hit the left outside engine which began to flame, but the Super-Fortress continued flying and the loss of its engine swung it towards Iwo Jima. We held our fire until it had swung clear of the island again and then gave it everything we had. We poured in 456 rounds of 50 calibre machine-gun and 320 rounds of 20mm cannon, before the plane finally plunged into the sea.”