On 3 March 1942, Flight Lieutenant Winckel was transporting refugees from the Bandung, Dutch East Indies, to Perth, Western Australia, in his Lockheed Lodestar. He had just stopped on the Broome Airfield to refuel when Broome was attacked by nine Japanese Zero fighter planes on a long-distance raid from Kupang, Timor. Winckel saw the danger of his plane being on the open airstrip and proceeded to dismount the Colt 7.99mm machine gun from the plane. When one of the Zeros, piloted by Osamu Kudō, flew over at low altitude, Winckel managed to shoot him out of the air; the crash killed Kudō. Winckel was thereby credited with the raid's only "kill" on the Allied side. He also believed that he hit another Japanese plane that had to ditch in the sea. The Japanese destroyed 22 Allied aircraft at Broome, many of them flying boats used for refugee transport and moored in Roebuck Bay. Winckel suffered severe burns to his hand during the attack, as he had to hold the machine-gun barrel to aim. His hand was treated and Winckel flew medical evacuations for the next two days without rest.