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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 0966.PDF
30? APRIL 4, 1940 IN THE NEWS. "Flight" phvtoi/i v It is now confirmed that a considerable proportion of aircraft used in the night attack on Sylt were Handley Page Hampdens. a bomb which fell in the water close alongside during the raid on the Firth of Forth on October 16, 1939. One Cruiser, very slight superficial damage caused by a bomb which hit, but which glanced off without exploding. This was in the same raid. H.M.S. Iron Duke, a one-time battleship, demilitarised in 1930, used as an accommoda- tion ship, damaged by a bomb which fell close alongside in the raid on Scapa Flow, on October 19, 1939. One Warship (not a capital ship) slightly damaged by a bomb hit during the raid on Scapa Flow on March 16, 1940. German Successes A LL German air attacks on warships at sea have proved •^ abortive. There have also been several German air attacks upon convoys of merchant vessels escorted by war- ships. Here the enemy has met with little more success. A few merchant ships in convoy have received damage at the hands of thi German airmen, but, up to the time of writ- ing, not a single merchant ship in convoy has been sunk by air attack. Nor has any convoy escort warship suffered damage from air attack. The only form of attack which has yielded the slightest success to the German Air Force has been the attack on defenceless merchant ships sailing independently, fishing vessels and lightships and lightship tenders. It has, in fact, been most noticeable that the German airmen appear to avoid attacking targets capable of self-defence and prefer to seek their prey among craft incapable of hit- ting back. Even so, the losses of ships due to air attack has been exceedingly small in proportion to the effort ex- pended by the enemy. The tosses caused by air attacks have been made up entirely of fishing vessels and small defenceless coasting vessels steaming unescorted. The murderous attacks delivered by German aircraft have led to the majority of ships and fishing vessels being equipped with defensive anti-aircraft armament. This has had the immediate effect of reducing the proportion of even partially successful attacks by German aircraft, which have shown a marked tendency to break off the attack and make good their escape as soon as retaliatory fire is opened. Dominion pilots form a large percentage of the personnel of the Royal Air Force to-day. Their response to the call has been amazing and in every mess the different Dominion dialects are to be heard. •-•; New Zealanders Over Germany IN addition to those from the Dominions who are servingwith the R.A.F. it must not be forgotten that actual Dominion units are now serving over here and in the Middle East. We recorded a short while ago the arrival in England of the first army-co-operation of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Now it is New Zealand's turn. Aircraft of the New Zealand Squadron in the Bomber Command carried out their first reconnaissance over enemy territory on the night of March 27. Three of them were engaged with other aircraft in carrying out a reconnaissance over N.W. Germany. All three returned safely.
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