GERMAN BOMBER DESTROYED

Southland Times, Issue 24648, 21 January 1942, Page 5

GERMAN BOMBER DESTROYED

HITS BALLOON BARRAGE CABLE (8.0.W.) RUGBY, January 19. When a German bomber crashed into a balloon barrage cable at a north-east town a few nights ago large parts of the wing were ripped off and fell into the next balloon site, says the Air Ministry news service. It had been carried by the wind after having been clearly severed from the raider, The bomber itself, a Dornier, came down just over a mile away after hitting the cable. When a Royal Air Force officer reached the blazing aircraft he found the bodies of three of the crew, the others being buried in the wreckage.

Members of the crew of the balloon site first heard the bomber coming in very fast and low. As it passed the next site the ground staff heard the crash of the aircraft against the balloon cable. Barrage balloons have given German pilots a healthy respect for height when approaching industrial areas and towns in Britain. They force raiders up above the barrage where they can be most effectively dealt with by anti-aircraft guns or by British fighters. One of our fighters on Monday afternoon destroyed an enemy bomber off the north-east coast of England states the Air Ministry communique which adds that otherwise there was nothing to report during daylight on Monday. An' official communique states that shortly after dark on Monday a single enemy aircraft dropped bombs at two points on the coast of East Anglia. Some damage was done principally to houses. There was a small number of casualties, including some fatal.