Death of Marshall Balbo July 1940:

[Brian]

Hi guys

Extract from TIME magazine circa November 1941:

Correspondent Gordon Sinclair of the Toronto Star last week quoted Air Commodore Raymond Collishaw, R.A.F. Commander in Egypt at the time:

"Far out in the desert some of our British armored-car men were lost and dying of thirst and starvation. . . . They were in terribly bad condition. Balbo, who was of impulsive and generous nature, heard of their plight and got into a bombing plane, took an escort of two fighters and personally flew to the rescue of these British soldiers. Having picked them up, he flew the troops to an Italian hospital, then started back to Tobruk; his head quarters. . . .


"At the moment when he came back over Tobruk our forces opened a bombing attack on the town, a queer coincidence. Our men were bombing from 20,000 feet and Balbo flew in at 2,000 feet. . . . When Balbo came over, an Italian cruiser in the harbor . . . opened fire and struck the Marshal's plane with a direct hit. . . . All this talk about him having been betrayed into an ambush was utter rot. . . . He was really a first-class chap . . . and I'm glad of a chance to clear this business up."

Is there any substance to the first part of the story?

Cheers
Brian