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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 1359.PDF
MAY Q, 1940 |R FORCE (CONTINUED) Two big ones, the Vickers Vimy of1918 (top) next the Handley Page 0/400 which was to bomb Berlin.No. 3 is the Brisfit "which finally went out of service in 1928.(Bottom) All sorts and shapes of uniforms. A typical R.A.F. groupin 1919. times, and came back with no positive infor- mation of importance. Reconnaissances followed every day, and on August 22 established that the German right-wing was making the enveloping move- ment, which was the basis of the Schlieffen plan for the invasion of France. The re- treat from Mons began on the 24th, after a delay of twenty-four hours to assist the French forces on the Sambre. Air Commodore L. E. O. Charlton, then a Flight Commander in No. 3 Squadron, re- corded his impression of one of these recon- • naissances while flying as an observer* "Before crossing into Belgium the tail fin buckles, and only superb pilotage saves them from death. Another machine, an- other pilot, and he sets out again. Namur and Charleroi are both in flames, but from the height they are flying the conflagrations look like lazy bonfires and not the demon- iacal work of war. He wonders if flying in safety overhead, while fury is loose below, is a brave part to play." All through the retreat from Mons, while aerodromes had to be changed from day to day, and often improvised, the work of reconnaissance went on, the crews armed only with a revolver or a service rifle. Oii the 24th one of the machines, seeing thret German aeroplanes on the ground, dropped a bomb overboard, but missed them. There were no bomb racks, no bomb sights. The bombs were lifted by hand and chucked * Charlton—an Autobiography. •I KSHI :aS!p|Pfw"*^^w^Si^>| w1" ,
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