PILOT'S ACCOUNT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23993, 17 June 1941, Page 8

PILOT'S ACCOUNT

ATTACK ON BATTLESHIP LAUNCHING TORPEDO MANOEUVRE IN CLOUDS EXCITING MOMENTS By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright LONDON, June 16 The account of the pilot of the Beaufort aircraft which scored a direct hit with a torpedo on a German pocket battleship off the coast of Norway gives a vivid picture of night operations which are a routine of the Coastal Command The pilot said: "Near midnight we had orders to push off with other aircraft from a squadron, carrying our torpedo slung beneath us. When we started off there was a hit of a moon, hut it was partly obscured and shone through the haze only occasionally "In some patches of cloud you could boo nothing, but it was fairly .light in the clear spaces. Wo were well over the North Sea when midnight came and were flying pretty high as •we approached the coast of southern Norway, and found several gaps in the clouds where the moon was breaking through. Telltale Wakes "As we came into one of these clearings wo suddenly spotted a formation of enemy warships away down under the starboard wing. Ihe white wakes trailing behind them caught our eyes first, then we saw the ships, small, black and slim shapes. They were arranged in formation, with the pocket battleship in the middle- and five escorting destroyers around her. One destroyer was right ahead, and there were two more destroyers on each 6ide. making a pretty effective screen. We dived to a few hundred feet above the sea and flew at right angles across the sterns of two destroyers, bringing ■up at the rear. That put us on the port side of the formation "We made a right-about turn to etarboard and came straight back on its beam. There was not much time to think about tactics. One destroyer was right in our wav. and 1 had to skip round its stern to get a suitable ancle to drop. Tho next second 1 put the nose of the aircraft round and saw the battleship in my bomb-sights. 1 pressed the button on the throttle which released the torpedo. I nlade a sharp turn to port and opened my engines flat out. ' "You've Hit It" "1 was expecting a barrage ot "flak' at any moment. As we flew clear from the ship the rear-gunner and the wireless operator shouted together: '\ou ve hit it. There's a great column of water going up and dirtv white smoke.' "I flew round in a circle to see tor myself, and sure enough there was plenty,of smoke and a patch of foam on the ship's track. W hen we were satisfied with the result of our attack we made a signal reporting it. When we got home we heard that other aircraft found the German ship after we had attacked it. The ships had stopped bv then and were trying to hide themselves behind a smoke-screen made by the destroyers. Still later we learned that the formation had turned back to tlui Skagerrak and were limping home at reduced speed." j TORPEDO ATTACK GERMAN SUPPLY SHIP BRITISH PILOT'S SUCCESS [(Reed. 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, June 15 A thick column ot black smoke about 100 feet high rising from a 6000-ton German supply ship off the Dutch coast on Sunday afternoon told tlu pilot of an attacking Beaufort aircraft that his attack with a torpedo had probably 'been successful, says a British official ■wireless message. Patrolling between the coast near Den Helder and a convoy of several supply ships escorted by anti-aircraft vessels, the pilot came in to attack. "I think this so surprised the Germans." the pilot said, "that by the time they started to fire at us 1 had dropped my torpedo at one of the largest ships in the convoy. She was a vessel of about 6000 tons, well laden and well down in the water. "I had to take violent evading action because the fire was getting rather hot, so I did not actually see the torpedo strike, but when I had pulled round astern of the convoy the ship was listing badly and a good thick column of black smoke about 100 feet high was rising from her amidships. 1 think she must inevitably have sunk within a few minutes." LOSSES IN THE AIR FIGURES FOR A WEEK RATIO FAVOURS BRITAIN LONDON, June 10 Ihe ratio of Axis air Josses to during the week which ended j at dusk on June 14 was nearly two to j one, The week's operations included many massive British raids on Germany, particularly in the Ruhr and German-occupied territory, while German raids on Britain were relatively light. The German losses over Britain were 14 (ten by night four by day) Tho lioyal Air Force lost only one aeroplane over Britain German losses over Germany and German-occupied territory were eight, and the Royal Air Force 27. In the Middle East, the Axis losses were 34 in the air and 20 on the ground. The Royal Air Force losses wore 18. In addition, British warships destroyed two German aeroplanes and probably another. The destruction of ! four enemy aircraft by naval aircraft during the withdrawal from Crete was | also announced. Interesting figures of air victories j gained by the Auxiliary Air Force are revealed. Pilots of lighter squadrons of I the Auxiliary Air Force have now de- | etroyed over 900 aircraft—a quarter of j jtho total shot down by tho Fighter j Command in defence of this country. In [the Battle of Britain last year auxiliary I squadrons accounted for some 700 of j the 2375 enemy machines known to have ' been destroyed. Pilots and ground crews ot these squadrons, which were first formed in ,1925, received their training at wecktends and during their holidays. Later more squadrons came into being with improved flying facilities. To-day four of these squadrons each have over 100 t>nerny aircraft, to their credit.