ENEMY AIRCRAFT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23974, 24 November 1939, Page 7

ENEMY AIRCRAFT

ALLIES TAKE HEAVY TOLL NINE DESTROYED ON TUESDAY "SWEPT FROM THE SKIES" (United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraphs-Copyright) LONDON, Nov. 22. The special correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain on the v/estern front says Allied fighters swept German raiders from the skies to-day, shooting down seven, while anti-aircraft guns destroyed two, making a total of nine. The French lost two fighters. One pilot escaped by parachute. The other was killed when his parachute did not open. Excellent visibility marked the resumption of intense aerial activity. The first enemy plane, a Dornier, was shot down at Nancy. The pilot escaped by parachute and was taken prisoner on landing. Later a French patrol engaged Messerschmitts at Strasbourg and disabled three German machines. All the pilots parachuted behind the French lines and were taken prisoner. A British Hurricane fighter to the northward brought down a Heinkel bomber after a sharp engagement. The German pilot endeavoured to escape across into Belgium. The machine started to break up, and the pilot made his descent by parachute. The plane, which was riddled with bullets, crashed.in Belgium. Three bullet-riddled bodies were found in the wreckage. British and French fighters also shot down two more Messerschmitts further south. RAIDER OVER THE THAMES HUNTED BY CHASERS LONDON. Nov. 22. British chasers went up in pursuit of a German plane over the Thames Estuary. Villagers saw the raider flying so low that it appeared to skim the rooftops. The anti-aircraft

fire was tremendous. As the plane narrowly missed an orchard and rose over the trees pursuit planes were on its tail. * Onlookers said it would be a miracle if the raider reached home safely. Reports from different parts of the south coast indicated the presence of several enemy planes to-day. An official description of last night's raid on the east coast says the British coastal defences fought a machine-gun duel with a German seaplane which dived low and machine-gunned the defenders. There were brisk exchanges for a few seconds, after which the seaplane disappeared in the fog and clouds. RAIDS IN SHETLAND AREA DRIVEN OFF BY GUNFIRE LONDON, Nov. 22. Enemy aircraft unsuccessfully attacked shipping in the Shetland area this morning, and were driven off by anti-aircraft gunfire. They then attacked and set fire, by means of a bomb, to a Royal Air Force seaplane lying at its moorings. There were no casualties. BOMBS DROPPED SIX PLANES PARTICIPATE LONDON, Nov. 22. The Nazi bombers were over the Shetlands for 15 minutes. Bombs were dropped. Anti-aircraft fire drove off the attackers, which swooped low. It is believed that six Nazi planes participated in the raid. NAZI VERSION OF RAIDS EXTRAVAGANT CLAIMS (British Official Wireless) RUGBY, Nov. 22. (Received Nov. 23, at 6.30 p.m.) The Hamburg wireless news in English on Tuesday and the Deutschlandsender on Wednesday claimed that German reconnaissance flights over England continue without opposition, and specifically stated that the British planes which took off were unable to intercept. The facts are that British fighters recently brought down the following raiders:—On Monday a German Heinkel 111 was chased out to sea and next day the crew of this machine was picked up from a rubber boat off Orford Ness. Their names are: Lieutenant Wilhelm Meyer, suffering from scalo injury received in the crash; Ober-seld-webel Gardhardt Ricketsen, suffering from a machine-gun wound; and Unter-offizier Theodor Stexrer, who was slightly hurt in the crash. In a crash on Tuesday Dornier 17, a twin-engine reconnaissance aircraft, was engaged by British fighters over Deal and brought down in the sea 10 miles off Nez. The wreckage was salvaged, but there were no survivors. At almost the same time another Heinkel 111 was brought down off Boulogne by a British fighter stationed in France. The Hamburg wireless states that Allied reconnaissance aircraft displayed no great activity on Monday, but, in fact, British aircraft flew over Bremen and Hamburg that day and over Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, and Frankfurt on Tuesday. All the British aircaft returned safely from these flights.