(Canadian Press Cable)
LONDON, Sept.18.-1942—Two
Canadian pilot officers Thursday night told how they shot down a Nazi
Focke-Wulf 190 and damaged a second in a
wave-top chase from the South of England to near the French coast.
The two Canadians, P.O. Lloyd Powell of Edmonton, credited with
destroying one of the enemy aircraft, and P.O. W. Barry Needham of Wynyard,
Sask., who damaged the other, were
flying as a section when they sighted
the enemy seconds after they had dropped bombs on the gasworks in the coastal
town of Worthing. Then , as Powell said,
“the chase was on.”
“It was about 30 miles from
the French coast when we caught them and attacked,” he added.
“We each took one. I fired a 10-second burst after which the
Jerry went into a steep climb. I saw it pull up suddenly, and then stall, turn and crash into the sea about 15 miles
from the French coast.”
Needham recounted that he
attacked and “gave the enemy a 10-second burst and observed strikes all over
it. I last saw the aircraft crossing the coast with a volume of white smoke
pouring out; but that was after I had
given it several bursts.”
Both Canadians returned to base without having a shot fired
at them.
A sequel to this story was revived when Squadron Leader Chris Goss, an RAF historian
and author of several war-time books was researching German and British records
for a new book on German hit-and- run raids on the South coast of England. He
contacted Willy Wenger, brother of the pilot flying the damaged FW190
and Barry Needham, pilot of the Spitfire for information.
In 2001 an enduring E-mail and telephone association between
Wenger, now living in Austria and Barry in Wynyard was established.
The final chapter to this saga was recently written when Barry,
accompanied by wife Martha and daughter Denise visited Willy and his wife Wilma
in their home in Bad Gleichenberg, Austria,
where they were graciously made welcome.
Willy had a special gift for
Barry, a 20mm cannon shell that had been extracted from his brother’s
airplane. “You gave this to my
brother, now I am giving it back to
you”.
Submitted by W. Barry Needham,
Wynyard, Saskatchewan.
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