SPITFIRE SQUADRON

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25563, 16 June 1944, Page 3

SPITFIRE SQUADRON

NEW ZEALAND PILOTS DULL TIME SINCE D-DAY (N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent) (Rec. 7 p.m.) LONDON, June 15. If you ask pilots of the New Zealand Spitfire Squadron what they have been doing since D-Day they reply, ‘‘Nothing. It has been extremely dull. We have seen a lot of ‘ deck,’ but that is all.” This is partly because they do noi like “ shooting a line,” and partly because they have not had as much excitement as they probably hoped for. But as for being “ dull,” that of course is a matter of opinion and a degree of comparison. For instance, throughout the night of June 5-6 the squadron kept a practically standing’ intruder patrol over 'the main roads around Caen, Lisieux, and Saint Lo. It was bright moonlight, and the pilots and their navigators could see the roads standing out like white tapes. But what irritated them was that they saw not a single motor vehicle of any kind, with the result that they had to return with their bombs still in the racks and the cannon not fired. Although the squadron did not know it was D-Day, they had their theories and, like the New Zealand Lancaster Squadron, they awaited the radio news that morning with more than usual interest.

That, perhaps, was a dull night for them, but the same thing could not be said cf the night of June 11, when the squadron bombed marshalling yards at Chatellerault. It took off be-' fore dusk, and flew either in cloud or just under cloud via Le Mans, when the planes went down to a low level. When they arrived above the yards they dropped large numbers of 5001 b bombs, which were seen to burst with devastating effect by the crews of the Australian squadron which immediately followed. It is believed that there were petrol wagons in the yards, and when another squadron which arrived some time later reported a fire covering an area of 400 by 500 yards, that seemed to be a reasonable deduction. But still the New Zealanders considered it was a dull raid, as they saw no fighters and encountered only a little light flak. Flying Officer F. Scott, of Inglewood, dropped bombs neatly on a bridge over the Loire, and saw it collapse, while Squadron Leader F. J. Lucas, of Balclutha, who was on his seventy-second operation, attacked railway yards at Mezidon, and Wing Commander I. S. Smith, of Auckland, attacked a tower on what was apparently a military camp. But all these incidents were still classed by the squadron as “ dull.” What the squadron would probably describe as interesting would be a large formation of German tanks protected by a mass of light flak hosed up towards the sky. But with the moon period fading it will probably now have to wait for a week or two. In the meantime the squadron has operated over the invasion area every night except one since D-Day, with 100 per cent, of the aircraft in service, which is a tribute in itself to the hard-working ground crews. Other New Zealanders who have been having a “ dull ” time include Flight Lieutenants S. W. J. Runciman. D.F.M., who previously carried out a tour of 33 operations in Sterlings, W. V. Gasquoine (Nelson), G. D. Thorpe (Wellington), and B. L. Watkin, Flying Officers M. Sparkes (Auckland), K. Bacon (Taranaki), R. C. Beazer (Feilding), W. G. Judson (Inglewood), D R. Fowler (Arrowtown), D. G. Ivey (Oxford), E. C. Heaton (Hastings), S. A. Askew (Christchurch), and J. Redman (Taihape), Warrant Officers J. T. Ayton (Whangarei) and B. Ward (Napier), Flight Sergeants A. R. Watkins (Rangiora), K. G. Mason (Wellington), and T. R. Pocock and L. D. Gilbertson (both of Wanganui).