AWARDED BAR TO D.F.C.

Camp News (Northern Command), Volume 1, Issue 19, 6 September 1940, Page 1

AWARDED BAR TO D.F.C.

Flight Lieutenant Deere, Wanganui A bar to his Distinguished Flying Cross has been awarded the Wanganui ace, Flight Lieutenant A. C. Deere, according to a cable received om him today by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. T. J. Deere, Wanganui. The feat for which the decoration was awarded is not mentioned, but it is presumed to be his destruction of a Messerschmitt 109 by ramming it. . ■ Describing this incident in a recent

letter, Flight Lieutenant Deere wrote: “Well, the war is at our shores now and we.are having some grand fights. I was iii a dogfight with some Messerschmitt 109’s and had shot one down when another endeavoured to get on my tail. We both manoeuvred for position, finishing up shooting at one another head on. He wouldn’t give way and neither would I, so we finished up by colliding. He went straight into the sea and I tried to bale out, but had to sit there as my hood had been pushed in. My machine caught fire and I eventually crashed in a field, mowing down posts en route. I managed to batter my way out and escaped with bruises. I was up flying next morning.” Flight Lieutenant Deere was awarded the D.F.C. in June for exploits in France during which he shot down five planes. On one occasion he escorted a trainer plane to Calais to rescue his squadron commander, who had been shot down there. The trainer plane was attacked by 12 Messerschmitts while taking off, but Flight Lieutenant Deere and a companion drove them off, shooting down three and damaging