March 2018 FLYPAST 69BRISTOL BLENHEIM 100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
Above left
Wearing pre-war
code letters, a 23
Squadron Blenheim
If at Wittering just
before the start of
the war. E G CABANLeft
Shortly after the
fi rst kill by Flt Lt
Duke-Woolley, Sqn
Ldr J S ‘Spike’
O’Brien shot down
23 Squadron’s
second Heinkel, but
he lost control of his
Blenheim and had to
bale out.
23 SQN RECORDSBelow left
Blenheim If L1466 in
January 1939 shortly
after 23 Squadron
re-equipped with the
type. D M DIXONout. We came in behind, put the
sight on him and counted out five
seconds as I pressed the gun button.
I then broke off and, looking where
I’d been, I could see all these red
flashes, which I later realised was
the return fire from the German
gunner.
“I then went in again, but after
another long burst he was still flying
along. I then flew underneath and
let my gunner have a go, but still he
didn’t appear to be hit or
damaged.
“All the time
something kept
nagging at me that I
was doing something
wrong. Then I suddenly
realised that our guns
were harmonised to 250
yards from a point some
feet below the sight. This
meant that at 100 yards, the
range I’d been told I’d blast
him from the sky, I was hardly
hitting him at all.
“So I slid in again, aimed high
up on the German’s tail fin, fired
and broke to port, but this time his
return fire was much less, so I knew
I was hitting him. I pulled in again
and gave him seven seconds, but as
we broke this time we
were hit.”Then, about 10 to 12 miles away
I saw a very small yellowy light
going down, then it went out.
Then I saw a parachute, and
suddenly realised what I had seen
was one of our intercepting
aircraft going down on fire.
Again, I called control, told
them a Blenheim had gone
down and that I was going to
engage. After a short silence I was
told to engage in my own time.
“Closing in, I began to realise
I should also soon be fired at
and that I had no armour
protection in front of me.
My fuel tanks were not
self-sealing and the more I
thought about it, the more
I realised that I was going
to live just long enough to get
tangled with this German aircraft –
about four minutes.
seconds as I pressed the gun button.
I then broke off and, looking where
I’d been, I could see all these red
flashes, which I later realised was
the return fire from the German
gunner.
“I then went in again, but after
another long burst he was still flying
along. I then flew underneath and
let my gunner have a go, but still he
didn’t appear to be hit or
damaged.
“All the time
something kept
nagging at me that I
was doing something
wrong. Then I suddenly
realised that our guns
were harmonised to 250
yards from a point some
feet below the sight. This
meant that at 100 yards, the
range I’d been told I’d blast
him from the sky, I was hardly
hitting him at all.
“So I slid in again, aimed high
up on the German’s tail fin, fired
and broke to port, but this time his
return fire was much less, so I knew
I was hitting him. I pulled in again
and gave him seven seconds, but as
we broke this time we
were hit.”Then, about 10 to 12 miles away
I saw a very small yellowy light
going down, then it went out. going down, then it went out.
Then I saw a parachute, and
suddenly realised what I had seen
was one of our intercepting
aircraft going down on fire.
Again, I called control, told
them a Blenheim had gone
down and that I was going to
engage. After a short silence I was
told to engage in my own time.
“Closing in, I began to realise
I should also soon be fired at
and that I had no armour
protection in front of me.
My fuel tanks were not
self-sealing and the more I
thought about it, the more
I realised that I was going
to live just long enough to get
tangled with this German aircraft –
about four minutes.
“I fl ew alongside him – it was a
He 111 – about 500 yards away, until the
last light fl icked out. We came in behind,
put the sight on him and counted out fi ve
seconds as I pressed the gun button”
“I was thinking furiously about how
I was going to attack and perhaps get
away with it. A plan occurred to me
which I then imparted to my gunner.
‘They’ve still got a searchlight on him
and what we’re going to do is this:
I’m going to keep port until the light
goes out, then I’m going to come up
in line astern of him at 100 yards and
open fire with a five-second burst. If
that doesn’t work, I’ll come back and
do another one.
“‘I shall then break away to port
and shall come up under his wing,
and I shall want you to put bursts up
into him. If that doesn’t work, we’ll
have to go back and start again.’
And that’s what we did.”NAGGING DOUBT
“I flew alongside him – it
was an He 111 – about
500 yards away, until
the last light flicked