GERMAN PLANES SHOT DOWN

Southland Times, Issue 24002, 18 December 1939, Page 7

GERMAN PLANES SHOT DOWN

BIG BATTLE OVER NORTH SEA FIVE MESSERSCHMITTS LOST UNITS OF NAZI FLEET LOCATED (British Official Wireless) (Received December 17,' 6.30 pan.) RUGBY, December 16. . It is now known that at least five Messerschmitts were shot down in the air battle over the North Sea late on Thursday afternoon. One of these was seen to dive vertically into the water after being engaged by the guns of several British aircraft. Another suddenly appeared about 50 feet above and slightly behind the leading British bomber. As it dashed past the tail of the bomber at a terrific speed the British gunner trained the gun on it. The crew saw it fall away in a mass of flames. It looked like a big torch as it fell towards the sea somewhere near the four other victims. The enemy were not content to use only anti-aircraft guns, but brought into action every gun aboard - their ships. The crews of the British aircraft, who all belonged to the Bomber Command, were strongly representative of the Dominions. Included among them were three Canadians. South Africa had two representatives. Further particulars of the air battle are now available. The engagement was the biggest which has so far taken place. When the enemy warships were located, consisting of one battleship, a cruiser, a submarine and several small vessels, the enemy seemed to be taken by surprise. The battle was described by the pilot of the leading British aircraft as a “running fight among the German islands.” From these the enemy sent up wave after wave of Messerschmitt 'fighters. Four of these were seen by the pilot to crash in flames into the sea, where they burned for some time, looking, he said, “like beacons and illuminating the sky and the sea.”

INCREASING ACTIVITY Thursday was a day of almost unceasing activity over the North Sea by aircraft of the Royal Air Force. Considerable forces made wide searches for enemy surface craft and submarines. Besides these operations, there was a close reconnaissance of the estuaries and fortified islands of north-west Germany. One of the sweeps—as reconnaissance flights over the sea are called—extended over Heligoland Bight and during this operation a formation of aircraft engaged strong enemy fighting forces, at the same time encountering anti-aircraft fire from German warships. „ This formation left its base for the purpose of carrying out a North Sea reconnaissance. Visibility was poor. For about two and a-half hours the British aircraft flew over the North Sea. Then in the distance they saw what appeared to be warships. Closer inspection revealed a battleship and cruiser making towards the south. Some destroyers and a submarine were also observed. The submarine opened fire and then dived for safety. Within a few moments of the warships being sighted, our aircraft were engaged by German fighters and then ensued a desperate fight. The contest was not only with the enemy in the air, for the anti-aircraft guns of the ships opened fire. When the gun-fire ceased another wave of fighters attacked our aircraft. Six times this happened, with guns from the ships firing during short intervals between the fighters’ attacks. The fight lasted nearly half an hour. For the first 15 minutes it looked as though the Germans were going to escape any real punishment, but then a twin-engined Messerschmitt German fighter fell in flames into the sea. A few minutes later another German fighter met the same fate and these two were followed by a third and a fourth. In the engagement one of our aircraft was shot down and two others are missing. All our other formations of aircraft returned to their base after dark, barely half an hour overdue. During a close reconnaissance of the fortified islands on the north-west coast of Germany, the British aircraft, in order to obtain the information required, were at times flying just below the cloud base and at less than 100 feet above the island fortifications. UNSUCCESSFUL FIRE Though the sudden appearance of low-flying aircraft took the anti-air-craft defences largely by surprise, sev-

eral batteries opened belated fire, but without success.

Enemy fighters also came up to engage one British aeroplane, but the British pilot took cover in the prevailing low clouds and, having eluded the fighter, emerged to continue his interrupted reconnaisance. After circling the islands the aircraft completed their task and returned safely to their bases, after a successful reconnaissance of nearly five hours’ duration. The disclosure that Royal Air Force aeroplanes discovered a section of the German Fleet in the North Sea throws a new light on the Heligoland air battle. The British aeroplanes were not security patrols and were on North Sea reconnaissance. They saw the warships and a few minutes later the Messerschmitt fighters engaged them. The warships fired during intervals in the air fighting. It is revealed that a former Australian draughtsman piloted one. of the British aeroplanes in the Heligoland battle. Others included four New Zealanders, one of whom was a former engineer, three Canadians and two South Africans.