"In the second attack an enemy aircraft was engaged by all of the escort and by ships in the conv It crashed into the sea and a heav explosion followed immediately, Its type has not been identified,"
The Fernie and Atherstone are both destroyers of the Hunt class, The size of the convoy they were protecting was not revealed but the presence of a powerful destroyer escort suggests it was important. The location of the convoy also was not given, It had been earlier reported that a large convoy passing along the Channel was. attacked by bombers during the night and German long-range guns on the French coast flashed into action while the planes were attacking.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.