Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 2, 2020 14:18:38 GMT 12
I was in the process of arranging a trip down south a few years ago to visit and interview Colin White but he sadly died before I could get there. As he was a rather significant member of the Fleet Air rm I am glad to find this article interviewing him. It was in the NORTHERN ADVOCATE, 1 MARCH 1943
N.Z. Pilot Torpedoes Five Axis Ships
LONDON, Feb. 23. Five Axis ships were torpedoed by Sub-Lieutenant Colin White (of Cheviot) of the Fleet Air Arm during seven months on Malta. He flew Hurricane bombers in the daytime and Albacores at night-time, also Spitfires and Swordfish. He strafed a German aerodrome in Sicily, shot up railways at Sfax and Sousse and patrolled over Bona.
(Special.)
Sub-Lieutenant E. F. Pratt (Christchurch), who was killed on January 17, flew with Sub-Lieutenant White on several occasions. Sub-Lieutenant Pratt hit two ships. Sub-Lieutenant White said: “Our first operation was over Sicily. Sub-Lieutenant Pratt and I were flying four-cannon Hurricane bombers accompanied by an escort of 20 Spitfires. We bombed runways then shot up about 50 Germans who were parading. They went down like ninepins. The first ship I attacked was at Spartivento. It was a 6000-tonner which had been previously torpedoed and we were sent in to finish it off. I hit it with a ‘fish,’ after which it was bombed.
Two Cruisers
“Sub-Lieutenant Pratt was with me when we went to find three Italian cruisers. They were of the 7000-ton Condoterri class. I was first to attack and saw a torpedo explode with a great flash and a column of water amidships. It continued on its course and we were never quite sure what became of it.
“Sub-Lieutenant Pratt also hit another with a torpedo. He met intense flak which started to come up. After my attack, he returned with his plane pretty badly damaged.
“Our next attack was by moonlight against a heavily escorted convoy going to Tunis. We met heavy flak. Just as I was about to drop a torpedo at a 7000-ton motor vessel, a large destroyer about 2000 tons came in front of it. As a result, a ‘fish’ hit the destroyer, which blew up and completely disappeared.
Smoke 6000 Feet High
“A few days later I found a 4000-ton ammunition ship off Pantellaria. I was flying about 300 feet when a torpedo struck. There was a terrific explosion which flung up my aircraft to 700 feet and my head went right through the perspex hood. I have never seen anything like that explosion, which sent a column of smoke to 6030 feet.
“My last attack was against a motor vessel of about 3000 tons off Maretimo.’’
Many Adventures
“I fired a torpedo from 600 yards and saw a flash aft of the ship and a column of water. Later I flew over it and saw it apparently sinking by the nose. Those last three attacks were all made within 10 days.
“Once, when returning from Bona after a long-range patrol, I was attacked by a Junkers 88. We had a bit of a fight. I saw my cannon-shells striking its tail, after which it sheered off and was later shot down by two Beaufighters. We made several flights over Sousse and Sfax.
“One morning I blew up a railway engine in a round-house at Sfax and then silenced a gunpost. Sub-Lieutenant Pratt sank a 10,000-ton tanker off Maretimo. He did a great deal of night intruder work over Sicily. I understand he was flying a Spitfire when he crashed into the sea. He was one of the best chaps, and did grand work.”
Sub-Lieutenant White observed that Malta’s airpower is now considerable. “We have got Axis convoys between Maretimo and Tunis pretty well taped, although the Germans are using many night-fighters in that area.”
A Great Leader
Sub-Lieutenant White said that he had seen a good deal of Air-Marshal Keith Park (Dunedin), who used a Hurricane for flying himself. “Sub-Lieutenant Pratt and I used to maintain and service it for him. He is a great leader and all the boys liked the way he used to come to dispersal huts to chat with them.”
Sub-Lieutenant White had often flown over Kasserine Pass, where at present there is heavy fighting. He is now on leave in London.
One of the new arrivals at Malta when he left was Sub-Lieutenant Owen Richards, of Christchurch. Pilot-Officers J. F. P. Yeatman (Wellington) and J. E. Mortimer (Auckland) also recently returned from Malta, where they flew Spitfires. Pilot-Officer Mortimer shot down a flying-boat and a Messerschmitt 109. Pilot-Officer Yeatman, who is a former member of a New Zealand Spitfire squadron, probably scored a hit on a Junkers 88 and a Messerschmitt 109. Sub-Lieutenant D. J. Nairn (Wellington) flew Grumman Martlets in the Mediterranean area. He is now in London before going to America as a test pilot.
N.Z. Pilot Torpedoes Five Axis Ships
LONDON, Feb. 23. Five Axis ships were torpedoed by Sub-Lieutenant Colin White (of Cheviot) of the Fleet Air Arm during seven months on Malta. He flew Hurricane bombers in the daytime and Albacores at night-time, also Spitfires and Swordfish. He strafed a German aerodrome in Sicily, shot up railways at Sfax and Sousse and patrolled over Bona.
(Special.)
Sub-Lieutenant E. F. Pratt (Christchurch), who was killed on January 17, flew with Sub-Lieutenant White on several occasions. Sub-Lieutenant Pratt hit two ships. Sub-Lieutenant White said: “Our first operation was over Sicily. Sub-Lieutenant Pratt and I were flying four-cannon Hurricane bombers accompanied by an escort of 20 Spitfires. We bombed runways then shot up about 50 Germans who were parading. They went down like ninepins. The first ship I attacked was at Spartivento. It was a 6000-tonner which had been previously torpedoed and we were sent in to finish it off. I hit it with a ‘fish,’ after which it was bombed.
Two Cruisers
“Sub-Lieutenant Pratt was with me when we went to find three Italian cruisers. They were of the 7000-ton Condoterri class. I was first to attack and saw a torpedo explode with a great flash and a column of water amidships. It continued on its course and we were never quite sure what became of it.
“Sub-Lieutenant Pratt also hit another with a torpedo. He met intense flak which started to come up. After my attack, he returned with his plane pretty badly damaged.
“Our next attack was by moonlight against a heavily escorted convoy going to Tunis. We met heavy flak. Just as I was about to drop a torpedo at a 7000-ton motor vessel, a large destroyer about 2000 tons came in front of it. As a result, a ‘fish’ hit the destroyer, which blew up and completely disappeared.
Smoke 6000 Feet High
“A few days later I found a 4000-ton ammunition ship off Pantellaria. I was flying about 300 feet when a torpedo struck. There was a terrific explosion which flung up my aircraft to 700 feet and my head went right through the perspex hood. I have never seen anything like that explosion, which sent a column of smoke to 6030 feet.
“My last attack was against a motor vessel of about 3000 tons off Maretimo.’’
Many Adventures
“I fired a torpedo from 600 yards and saw a flash aft of the ship and a column of water. Later I flew over it and saw it apparently sinking by the nose. Those last three attacks were all made within 10 days.
“Once, when returning from Bona after a long-range patrol, I was attacked by a Junkers 88. We had a bit of a fight. I saw my cannon-shells striking its tail, after which it sheered off and was later shot down by two Beaufighters. We made several flights over Sousse and Sfax.
“One morning I blew up a railway engine in a round-house at Sfax and then silenced a gunpost. Sub-Lieutenant Pratt sank a 10,000-ton tanker off Maretimo. He did a great deal of night intruder work over Sicily. I understand he was flying a Spitfire when he crashed into the sea. He was one of the best chaps, and did grand work.”
Sub-Lieutenant White observed that Malta’s airpower is now considerable. “We have got Axis convoys between Maretimo and Tunis pretty well taped, although the Germans are using many night-fighters in that area.”
A Great Leader
Sub-Lieutenant White said that he had seen a good deal of Air-Marshal Keith Park (Dunedin), who used a Hurricane for flying himself. “Sub-Lieutenant Pratt and I used to maintain and service it for him. He is a great leader and all the boys liked the way he used to come to dispersal huts to chat with them.”
Sub-Lieutenant White had often flown over Kasserine Pass, where at present there is heavy fighting. He is now on leave in London.
One of the new arrivals at Malta when he left was Sub-Lieutenant Owen Richards, of Christchurch. Pilot-Officers J. F. P. Yeatman (Wellington) and J. E. Mortimer (Auckland) also recently returned from Malta, where they flew Spitfires. Pilot-Officer Mortimer shot down a flying-boat and a Messerschmitt 109. Pilot-Officer Yeatman, who is a former member of a New Zealand Spitfire squadron, probably scored a hit on a Junkers 88 and a Messerschmitt 109. Sub-Lieutenant D. J. Nairn (Wellington) flew Grumman Martlets in the Mediterranean area. He is now in London before going to America as a test pilot.
