[phasselgren]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lander

Hi,

a little more information on Well's second claim from "New Zealanders in the Royal Air Force" :-


On 5 July Flight Lieutenant Wells scored No. 485’s first success over France. Thirteen Spitfires from the squadron, in company with others from No. 258, led by Clouston, were flying as part of the close cover to Stirling bombers in their attack on a steelworks at Lille. As the British formation neared the target area several Messerschmitts approached the bombers. Wells got on the tail of one of them and, after a brief attack, the enemy machine went down and the pilot was seen to bale out. A few minutes later, when the Spitfires were returning to the French coast, he attacked a second Messerschmitt. After a few short bursts the enemy machine caught fire and went spinning down.

Was the second actually credited as a confirmed ?

Cheers

Bruce Lander

Bruce,

According to No.485 (N.Z.) Sqadron by Sortehaug/Listemann the second claim was confirmed. The same for An Illustrated History of The New Zealand Spitfire Squadron by Kevin Wells and Spitfire: The New Zealand Story by Gerard Morris.

Cheers,
Peter