BOMBER STRUGGLES HOME

Southland Times, Issue 24600, 24 November 1941, Page 5

BOMBER STRUGGLES HOME

(8.0.W.) RUGBY, November 22. With one wing partially shot away while returning from a raid over Germany and with the starboard engine out of action, a Whitley bomber struggled home and brought its crew safely back. For more than 200 miles the second pilot kept the aircraft from finally slipping into the sea. It hit the water several times.

“We couldn’t maintain height,” the captain said, “and not far from the Dutch coast we actually hit the sea. The tail struck the water, but the second pilot brought it up again and we climbed to 200 feet. That’s the way it went all the way—first going up to 200 feet, then down to about 50 feet and sometimes touching the waves. COASTLINE SIGHTED “We threw everything loose overboard, except guns. At last we saw the English coastline. The second pilot shut off the petrol and with the undercarriage up and the flaps useless he had to glide on to the beach to make a safe landing. He had an idea there were mines about so he told the crew to stay put while we fired the guns and Verey light to attract attention. I got out and waded through the water and then saw soldiers coming with tommyguns. Their captain wouldn’t believe I was English at first because I was wearing a new suit and no wings on it. He took me back to the Whitley. Then he told us we had escaped the landmines by a few feet.”