Hawker Hurricane to attack a Fiat CR.42 near Harwich, England. Blatchford had used up his ammunition during a mêlée with Italian fighters, and upon returning to base discovered two of his propeller blades missing nine inches. Although he did not see the results of his attack and only claimed the Italian fighter as "damaged", he did report splashes of blood on his damaged propeller. Although technically not ramming, RAF pilots did use an intentional collision of sorts against the V-1 flying bomb. When it was discovered that shooting a V-1 could detonate the warhead and/or fuel tank, thereby endangering the attacking aircraft, pilots would instead fly beside the V-1. Once in position, the pilot would roll to one side, lifting his wingtip to produce an area of high-pressure turbulence beneath the wingtip of the V-1, causing it to roll in the opposite direction. The rudimentary automatic pilot of the V-1 was often not able to compensate, sending it diving into the ground. Greece On 2 November 1940, Hellenic Air Force pilot Marinos Mitralexis shot down one Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 bomber; then, out of ammunition, brought another down by smashing its rudder with the propeller of his PZL P.24 fighter. Both aircraft were forced into emergency landings, and Mitralexis threatened the bomber's four-man crew into surrender using his pistol. Mitralexis was promoted in rank and awarded medals. Japan The Japanese also practised ramming, both by individual initiative and by policy. Individual initiative saw a Nakajima Ki-43 fighter plane bringing down a lone B-17 Flying Fortress, The Fighting Swede, on 8 May 1943. After three of the Japanese fighters had each made two attack passes without decisive results, the bomber's pilot, Major Robert N. Keatts, made for the shelter of a nearby rain-squall. Loath to let the bomber escape, Sgt. Tadao Oda executed a head-on ramming attack, known as . Both aircraft crashed with no survivors. Sergeant Oda was posthumously promoted to lieutenant for his sacrifice. On 26 March 1943, Lieutenant Sanae Ishii of the 64th Sentai used the wing of his Nakajima Ki-43 to ram the tail of a Bristol Beaufighter, bringing it down over Shwebandaw, Burma, killing both Squadron Leader Ivan G. Statham AFC and Pilot Officer Kenneth C. Briffett of 27 Squadron RAF. On 1 May 1943 Sergeant Miyoshi Watanabe of the 64th Sentai knocked out two engines of a B-24 Liberator piloted by Robert Kavanaugh, killing two of