EMPIRE AIRMEN’S PART

Waikato Times, Volume 130, Issue 21655, 16 February 1942, Page 5

EMPIRE AIRMEN’S PART

PEKSUIT OF GERMAN SHIPS WELLINGTON MAN WOUNDED (United Press Assn.—Elec. rci. Copyright) (Received Feb. 16, 12.30 p.m.) LONDON, Feb. 15 Australians and New Zealanders fully shared the Beauford torpedo attack against the German ships in the Channel. Pilot-Officer E. Birchley and Pilot-Officer R. Archer of Brisbane flew on either side of SquadronLeader W. Cliff. Pilot-Officer Archer said the Scharnhorst hit his and the top of the cockpit was blown off. The rear gunner, Pilot-Officer A. Wfells, of Wellington, was wounded. The navigator, Sergeant D. N. Keeling, also of Wellington, replaced the gunner in the turret. Pilot-Officer Birchley, after dropping a torpedo, put his head out of the cockpit window to try to see the result through the mist. He flew within 100 yards of the Scharnhorst, and the gunner machine-gunned the decks. Both the Australians thought they would never get out of the flak. SquadronLeader J. S. Dinsdale, of Tekai, also participated. Assuming that the German warships were not damaged, their future tasks, according to authoritative British naval opinion, may include firstly to invite a general fleet action in the North Atlantic, secondly to increase surface raiding, making it necessary to escort convoys with battleships, and thirdly to attempt an assualt on Kronstadt, Leningrad’s fortress, from the sea, and fourthly to create a base on the Norwegian Coast, possibly at Narvik, and attack convoys going to Russia.