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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 1227.PDF
APRIL 25, 1940 389 of our aircraft engaged in these operations have failed to return. That day a Sunderiand flying-boat landed alongside a British destroyer in a Norwegian fjord and had a narrow yscape. Six German aircraft attacked. They were four Junkers 88 and two Heinkels. Circling at about 5,000ft., the Junkers made level bombing attacks. The Heinkels used diving tactics. The attack on the destroyer continued for some time, but although 24 bombs were dropped no damage whatever was done. The bombers then con- centrated their attention on the flying-boat. While some of them machine-gunned it, another dropped six incendiary bombs around it. All the time the flying-boat zig-zagged on the surface of the water, an officer in the upper observa- tion dome watching the release of the bombs and success- fully guiding the pilot so as to evade them. As the flying-boat dodged about on the water the crew brought seven machine-guns into action against the raiders, who withdrew, having caused no more damage than a wound in an officer's knee and two bullet holes in the fuselage. The Sunderland got back safely to Scotland, though the Germans claimed that both it and the destroyer had been sunk by bombs. A young Canadian pilot of the Bomber Command who took part in one of the raids on Stavanger gave the follow- ing account of his experiences. He comes from Ontario. " We had been standing by from early morning," he said, " but we didn't take off till about midday. We were told to look for German ships. We came into perfect weather within thirty miles of the Norwegian coast. Then we saw a spotter machine, a Messerschmitt no. He didn't attack, just went like blazes for the shore. We kept straight on to the mainland. I could see snow on the hills and a lighthouse on an island that looked exactly like a cruiser, complete with control towers. As a matter of fact, I thought for a moment that it was a cruiser. We came to within about a mile of the coast and quite close to Stavanger. The sun was very bright and it was rather difficult to see—but the land looked very green. From this point we turned along the coast to starboard. Mean- while, three Messerschmitt 110s were forming up to attack us above and behind. The first attack came and we pulled away in a single section—a section being three. We went down on to the sea, so low that the under-turrets were wet from spray. We do that so that we cannot be attacked from underneath. Soon attacks were coming from every direction. The section was flying ' as one machine.' The chaps were grand; we were so close together—and such a big machine takes a bit of handling. The Messerschmitts were attacking singly, in quick succession, from opposite sides. At one time they came in on an attack so close that I ducked my head instinctively. I thought they were going straight through us. I could see the blue smoke coming out of the old canon; it looked like a lighted cigarette, and the trail of smoke from the machine-gun bullets. But you haven't time to think when you are wait- ing for him. When the Messerschmitts were attacking us we waited for them until just before they opened fire. They got a few bullets into our other two machines, but nothing serious, and my machine came away without a scratch." The section to which the-young Canadian pilot belongs was able to claim two Messerschmitts definitely down in the sea. " I think one or two of the others felt uncomfortable, too," he added. The Bombing of Aalborg QN the night of Saturday, April 20, the R.A.F. turned its attention to Aalborg, the aerodrome in North Den- mark from which the Germans were flying reinforcements across to Norway. Bombs were dropped from a low height, and damage was caused to a hangar. The British bombers came in singly, and the first to arrive found the aerodrome plainly marked with night-flying illuminations. Evidently the Germans had not thought A.R.P. necessary in occu- pied Denmark, though that they should treat the R.A.F. with so little respect is surprising. Our raid took the enemy by surprise, and for some time there was no fire from the ground. One searchlight beam was exposed, but machine-gun fire put it out. Our bombers flew low, and presently were met by fire. The pilot of one of the bombers said: — '' My aircraft was the first of the formation to reach the aerodrome, the boundary lights of which were on. So were the obstruction lights on the buildings. While look- ing for a suitable target we flew practically alongside a German transport aircraft. It was signalling, presumably asking for permission to land. My rear gunner immediately gave him something else to think about, and we got in a good burst of fire before the German disappeared into the clouds. That little incident over, I decided to go in and bomb. We could see three hangars in a half-moon shape. We made our run over some billets and a wireless mast. The rear and front gunners were both ' strafing' the aero- drome as we flew over and dropped our bombs. It must have been a shock for them. They were obviously not expecting us. Most of the ground lights went out after the first explosion, and a solitary searchlight came into action." Aalborg has since been raided repeatedly. At the same time other formations attacked Kristiansand and Stavanger. At Kristiansand a number of enemy air- craft were seen dispersed on the aerodrome and were attacked with bombs. In the case of Stavanger bombs were dropped, a number of which were seen to hit the runways. The burst of another bomb was followed by an explosion on-the aerodrome. Bombs were also dropped on the sea- plane base nearby. These attacks were carried out by strong forces, and all of the large number of aircraft en- gaged in the operations returned safely to their bases. The Fleet Air Arm Busy HTHE doings of the Fleet Air Arm during the operations -*• at Narvik and Stavanger have now been described in more detail. On the evening of.Friday, April 12, its aircraft reconnoitred Narvik and its environs and "attacked the German destroyers. On their return they reported that they had made two hits on one destroyer and one on another. These good shots probably simplified the task of the Warspite and her colleagues which steamed in next day. On that day, too, the F.A.A. machines were up, and they synchronised their attack with that of the war- ships, again claiming two hits. German aircraft had landed on a frozen lake nearby, as there is no aerodrome very close to Narvik, and the F.A.A. visited that lake in turn and destroyed several of the enemy machines there. On ice a near miss may well cause an aircraft to sink. When the Fleet bombarded Stavanger on Wednesday, April 17, the naval aircraft helped to protect the ships from air attack. Some of them made as many as three separate flights during the day, and they definitely shot down one Dornier and one Heinkel, besides damaging other enemy aircraft, without loss to themselves. On Saturday, April 20, the Admiralty issued a communique which stated that "intermittent air attacks on our naval units and transports have occurred during the past two days, increasing in in- tensity to-day. The enemy, however, obtained no hits upon either ships or transports, while three of their aircraft have been shot down and others damaged. News of the destruction of the third of the enemy aircraft was received in the following signal from one of H.M. ships: 'Bombed again. Have shot him down.'" On the same day the enemy dropped many bombs over Namsos, where some of the British troops have landed. They did extensive damage to the town, but the only Allied loss was the trawler H.M.S. Rutlandshire. There were no casualties to Allied troops. The change to fine weather caused much air activity to break out over the fronts in France and Germany. Our Hurricane pilots, as usual, displayed the utmost contempt for odds against them, and attacked enemy formations wherever they were found. As a result of two days' fighting five Messerschmitts 109, one Me no, and two Heinkels were shot down. Two other Me 109s are believed to have been seriously damaged, probably destroyed. One German pilot was killed when his parachute failed to open. One of our pilots was slightly wounded, but brought down his machine safely, and another was forced to land with the pilot unhurt The French pilots brought down one German fighter and one reconnaissance machine in France, one of their own machines having been forced to land within their own lines
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