WANGANUI ACE’S EXPLOITS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 191, 15 August 1940, Page 6

WANGANUI ACE’S EXPLOITS

DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS RESCUE OF SQUADRON COMMANDER [ Per Press Association. | WELLINGTON, Aug. 14. The exploits which gained the Dis- ; tinguished Flying Cross for FlightLieutenant Alan Christopher Deere, Wanganui, are told in the London Gazette of June, which has reached New Zealand. The award was made in recogni? tion of gallantry displayed in flying operations against the enemy. FlightLieut. Deere, in company with his squadron had, during May, taken part in offensive patrols over northern France and had been engaged in seven combats, often against superior numbers.

In the course of these engagements he personally shot down five enemy aircraft and assisted in the destruction of others. On one occasion, in the company of a second plane, he escorted a trainer plane to the Calais-Marek aerodrome to rescue his squadron commander, who was shot down there. The trainer plane was attacked by 12 Messerschmitt 109 fighters while taking off at Calais, but Flight-Lieutenant Deere and his companion immediately attacked, shooting down three enemy aircraft and severely damaging three others. ‘‘Throughout these engagements,’' stated the Gazette, "Flight-Lieutenant Deere displayed courage and determination in attacks on the enemy.”

Flight-Litutenant Deere had an exciting experience not long after this when his plane was shot down over Belgium. He landed safely by parachute in territory occupied by the enemy. Making his way to a road he held up a car with a revolver and then made a dash for Dunkirk where the great evacuation was soon to take place. He had to make his way through the spreading enemy front line, but 'despite some "incidents” on the journey, arrived safely, embarking in a destroyer.

Flight-Lieutenant Deere, in addition to successes in the air. won some notable victories in the boxing ring during his service career in Britain and is middleweight champion of the Army, Navy and Air Force. He had, before leaving New Zealand, won schoolboy boxing championships, territorial championships, and represented Wanganui in the New Zealand championships. Born in Auckland, Flight-Lieutenant Deere celebrates his twenty-third birthday next December.