21 Squadron War Diary
27 / 9 / 41 L.G. 021
[handwritten] War DiarySECRET COMBAT (BOMBER) REPORT 35 46REFERENCE Pilot : Maj. J. F. Britz Observer : 2/Lt. Oberholzer Squadron : 21 S.A.A.F.CB Duty on which engaged : Dumps. Bardia & Petrol Place : Over Bardia BayDate : 27 / 9 / 41Number of own aircraft : Escort if any :1 [strike-through] 9 Marylands 21 Tomahawks Time : hrs.Own formation when attacked Height : 15000 feet. 2 Aircraft in Vic, on bombing run.
(1) Type of enemy aircraft or description :M. E. 109(2) Number of enemy aircraft and preparatory formation :(1) First attack, two in line abreast, divingout of sun onto our tails.(2) One which pursued us for approximately5 minutes on way home.(3) Direction from which initial attack was commenced :Out of sun dead astern(4) Intensity of attack (number of enemy aircraft attacking simultaneously or nearly so) :(1) two(2) one(5) Duration of each separate attack :(1) two minutes(2) five minutes(6) Total duration of engagement :Ten minutes(7) Formation position of aircraft selected by enemy for first and subsequent attacks :Line abreast(8) Enemy method of breaking off engagement :(1) Both shot down(2) Turned away when it could not catch up with us(9) Description of enemy tactics during engagement :(1) Attacked from dead astern after a dive out of the sun(2) Followed astern and slightly below.(10) Result of engagement including own and enemy casualties :(1) One Maryland shot down in flames.(2) One M. E. 109 shot down in flames. ( front guns )(3) One M. E. 109 last seen diving away with smoke issuing from it.(11) Special comments :See attached statements.Signed. J. F. Britz Maj.<u>STATEMENT.</u>After my first B run I turned to my Starboard up the Coast in thedirection of Ras El Milh. At the same time one large formation ofTomahawks had turned in the same direction. I then turned back anddived from 15000 ft. to 13000 ft. prior to commencing my secondbombing run. Approaching the Target, I suddenly saw a burst ofTracer fly past my Port wing. I looked left and a second burstpassed over my craft. As this was happening I heard my rear Gunnersfiring and then pulled away to my right and immediately afterwardsto my left and I then saw the Aircraft which had been flying inVic Formation (No. 1660 2/Lt. Louw) on fire and immediatelyafterwards someone baled out of the rear hatch and the parachuteopened. I then noticed an intense patch of A/A in front and on theleft of my Aircraft. At the same time I saw two M.E. 109's divedown and round in front, below me to my Starboard side. I depressedmy nose and followed the second E/A opening fire at it. I observedmy fire enter the engine and cockpit. Now the first E/A that haddived past my nose, had done a steep climbing turn on to my tailand I heard my Gunner fire at him. At this stage I saw, both theMaryland and 109 go down in flames. After the 109 had turned on itsback and a ball of flame had dropped from it. We jettisoned ourbombs, as the rear gunners reported a third 109 coming at us fromastern and below. I dived towards Sidi Barrani as there were noother Aircraft near me. The 109 did not gain on us and after aboutfive minutes it turned away out of sight.Signed. J. F. Britz Major.<u>STATEMENT.</u>After we dropped our bombs, 2/Lt. Louw's Aircraft was attackedby two 109s f om the rear. Within a few seconds we saw flamescoming out from lower part of Aircraft and it went into a shallowdive apparently under control towards town (Bardia) One 109overshot and past in front of our Aircraft and we heard the Pilotfiring (Maj Britz). The Other 109 slid towards us. My guns wouldnot fire at first, but when he was moving towards us at 50 yards Iwas able to fire about 80 rounds. He immediately wavered and droppedout of my sight below tail. The lower Gunner then opened fire andtold me he had gone down smoking. Afterwards I saw a burning 109far down below. Some time later near our front line one Aircraftdived on us from the rear from a great height and distance. Atabout 100 yards I recognised him as an enemy. When he fell offbelow tail and a second or two later the lower Gunner fired a shortburst and saw him turn off at once and disappear West.Signed. N. H. Petterson A/Sgt.<u>STATEMENT.</u>We approached our Target and made our first run, dropped a stick offour bombs, turned to Starboard to prepare for second attack. Whenwe were approaching our Target we were attacked by two M.E. 109s.The first I heard was when Maj. Britz shouted "Lookout" I am goingto fire my front guns. I looked up and saw a M.E. dive past us.Maj. Britz dropped his nose and opened up. I could very clearly seehis bullets entering the E/A and in a split second afterwards theM.E. went into a steep climb as if intended to loop. When in theinverted position the Pilot of the ME left his Aircraft which wasburning from the engine. I also noticed that the Pilot was alrightand his parachute did'nt open. Just then Maj. Britz again told methat 1660 Maryland was alight. I looked to my left and saw it. At thesame time one member of the crew left the machine and the Pilotsteered his machine towards the land waving his wings, at the sametime did I hear the Gunners in our Aircraft firing short bursts inturn. We turned to Starboard to see 2/Lt. Louw, when I saw thesecond ME diving towards the land with smoke trailing from behind it.Intense A/A forced us to turn back, just then did our Gunners reportanother E/A behind us and so we jettisoned the rest of our bombs inthe sea and made off. The Enemy Aircraft took up the chase and we setcourse for Sidi Barrani. When just South West of Sidi Barrani theGunners reported that the E/A had turned back and disappeared in theblue. So we slacked off and set course for Base.Signed. M. A. Oberholzer 2/Lt.<u>STATEMENT.</u>After Sgt. Petterson had fired at a Fighter, he yelled at me toindicate it was coming under the tail. I then saw an ME 109slipping past from right to left, very close. I held him in mysights and kept firing until he was out of range. I could see mybullets going into him. As he disappeared I saw smoke pouring fromhim. A second or two later I saw him again, twisting down near the seaAt the same time I could see two other burning machines below us.A little later I saw a third ME 109 approaching. I fired short burstsat long range and he turned away after a few minutes.Signed. P. Earnshaw A/Sgt.