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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 0529.PDF
FEBRUARY 22, 1940 Service transport : The most practised student of aircraftidentification may be stumped by the R.A.F. machine on the right into the capacious fuselage of which supplies are beingloaded for delivery to an isolated post. It is a Fokker four- engined F.22. Below, a German cyclist detachment isemplaning on a Ju 52 bomber transport. 169 weird violet light. Every movement of the crew gives off sparks and a, noise of crackling. It is in such conditions that our airmen collect informa- tion, photograph towns, fortresses, transport routes, and naval and other harbours, and record landmarks for those who come after them. At night the enemy opposition to the Royal Air Force over Germany has not been very effective. Their fighter aircraft, for instance, have repeatedly failed to intercept our night reconnaissance air- craft. But on occasion, fire from enemy anti-aircraft guns, working in close co-operation with many searchlights, has forced us to take evasive action. Anti-aircraft gunfire, how- ever, varies in accuracy. The pilot of an aircraft that flew over Berlin reported that the defence organisation there must have been badly shaken. Not a shot reached home, although it was obvious that every available gun had been brought to bear on the visitor. For the most part the pro- jectiles used in this case seem to be experimental. Among the familiar ones generally used by the enemy are the '' flaming onions,'' a string of balls of fire shot into the air. It is not on record that they have ever done any damage, either in the last war or in this. Day reconnaissance is a very different matter. Though it is less handicapped by adverse weather, it is exposed to an enemy that can see. The fact that our aircraft have been able to take photographs at low altitudes over enemy territory is proof of the crews' courage and enterprise, and of their ability to make the most of the prevailing clouds to hide in. Unmolested '"FHOUGH nearly all our aircraft have come under fire -*- over Germany, there have been remarkable exceptions. Instances are recorded where Royal Air Force aircraft photographing an enemy aerodrome, have apparently gone unnoticed by German fighters just about to land. One British aircraft, flying alone over Germany, encountered three German fighters, all of which kept their distance and did not offer battle. Another Royal Air Force aircraft drove off three attacking enemy fighters at about 200 yards. These last were exceptional cases. At times the German fighters may have seemed reluctant to meddle with intruders, but generally our bombers have to face deter- mined resistance by enemy aircraft. Every photograph that appears and every piece of information brought back is a witness to many feats of endurance, patience and skill. The Coastal Command also has to carry on its ceaseless work despite the cold, but as its machines do not need to fly at great altitudes their crews suffer somewhat less. Moreover, they have lately been doing quite a lot of rescue work for mariners whose ships have been mined or bombed, and the interior of an aeroplane must seem quite cosy compared with the lot of the wretched sailors in open boats or even clinging to rafts. Not long ago an aircraft spotted ten men in a small lifeboat in the North Sea. It afterwards appeared that they were the crew of the trawler Theresa Boyle, of Granton, on the Firth of Forth, which had been sunk by a German bomber 120 miles out to sea, and the men had been in the boat for over 50 hours. When the aircraft crew observed the open boat it was being buffeted in a heavy sea. Two of the men aboard were trying to row. It was obvious, however, that they were nearly at exhaustion point, because the boat was drifting at the mercy of the wind. The aircraft went down low over the lifeboat. Eight of the occupants were seen to be prostrate. The pilot saw a number of them wave their arms feebly as they lay stretched out in the bottom of the boat. The aircraft set off to bring help and found two minesweepers 15 miles away. The pilot asked the minesweepers by lamp signals to follow him. By firing coloured lights the pilot guided the two minesweepers to the open boat. He circled round until all the ten occupants had been safely picked up. The aircraft resumed its patrol. When it was about two miles away, the rear gunner re- ported that one of the minesweepers was flashing a message by lamp. The pilot went back and asked if anything was amiss. "No," was the answer. "These ten fellows we have collected just want to say thanks to the R.A.F." Another machine of the Coastal Command, while-on patrol over the North Sea on Tuesday, February 13, saw three ship's lifeboats, each with a number of men in it. The pilot immediately set off in search of help. A steamer was sighted and directed towards the position where the lifeboats were seen. The distance was equivalent to three-hours' steaming. Before the ship had reached the position the approach of darkness forced the aircraft to leave. The steamer succeeded in finding the lifeboats and picked up all the men on board. One M.P., filled with indignation at the ruthless attacks on our fishing vessels, suggested that we ought not to rescue German airmen who came down on the water. To this the First Lord replied that the ordinary instincts of humanity required the rescue of drowning men or cast- aways should they be observed by His Majesty's ships in the course of their duties. This reply evoked a loud cheer. It is not often that the Fleet Air Arm gets into the news, but the Navy is proverbially the Silent Service, and the Fleet Air Arm is part of the Navy. Either in carriers or as catapult aircraft in cruisers and capital ships, the machines of the F.A.A. go where the ships of the Navy go and play their part in their work. The Admiralty has, however, admitted that the German ship Wakama, 3,771 tons, was located by an aircraft from one of H.M. ships in the South Atlantic. On being ordered to stop by the aircraft, the German crew set fire to the ship and then scuttled her. The British warship later picked up ten officers and 36 men. That just gives up an inkling of what the F.A.A. is doing, and helps to explain how it is that, though we started the war with fewer cruisers than we should have liked to possess, yet it is possible for those that we have to keep the wide oceans under their observation.
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