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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 1410.PDF
442 MAY WAR IN THE AIR (CONTINUED) the fire, and after four short bursts one of the enemy air- craft burst into flames and crashed into the sea, its com- panion then breaking off the engagement. Another enemy fighter—a Messerschmitt no—made a succession of attacks on two or more of our aircraft. Tracers were seen to ricochet off the wing and fuselage of the enemy fighter, and after the British bombers had fired over 3,000 rounds a flash was seen in the Messerschmitt from the rear gun position as though an explosion had taken place. The third phase of the attack on Stavanger came after dark when another force of bombers subjected the aerodrome to a series of raids that continued into the earl ' hours of the morning. Strong opposition was encountered from ground defences, but employing varying tactics of approach the aircraft succeeded in reaching their objective and in- flicting still further damage oh the air base. Aalborg and Fornebu aerodromes were attacked during the night by other aircraft from Bomber Command. High explosive and incendiary bombs were dropped on the Danish air base. A fire, visible some thirty miles away, was started by the first attack on Fornebu. Later air- craft arriving just before midnight were guided to their target by this fire as it burnt fiercely on the edge of the aerodrome. Guns placed round the aerodrome and on promontories east and south of it attempted to screen the target with, a barrage of fire, but could not hold off the attackers, who ran the gauntlet of the powerful defences and. dropped bombs on the hangars and runways. As each aircraft descended to attack it was met by a concen- tration of fire from the German guns, and numerous search- lights, working in close co-operation with the gunners, added to the difficulty of the raiders. Bombs were dropped on the north side of the aerodrome where several aircraft were believed to have been parked; one large hangar was hit and set on fire, and new fires were started with in- cendiary bombs. Seven British aircraft of the large force employed—one of the strongest yet engaged in a single night operation— have failed to return. On the credit side three important enemy bases have been heavily bombed and damaged, and four enemy aircraft are known to have been destroyed in air action, in addition to a much larger number that may have been hit in the air or destroyed or damaged on the aerodromes in the attack. When the morning raids started on Wednesday, May 1, no enemy fighters rose against our bombers. The damage done during the night was seen, and more was done. This time all our aircraft returned safely. Stavanger was raided again on the Wednesday afternoon and early on the Thursday morning. Aalborg and Fornebu were visited again that night. We suffered no casualties in these raids. The Fleet Air Arm '"THE Fleet Air Arm has participated most gallantly in the -*- work off Norway. It is evident that aircraft carriers must have approached the Norwegian coast, to shorten the range for the F.A.A. machines, for Rear-Admiral Fraser, Third Sea Lord, in a speech on Friday, May 3, told how a midshipman pilot ran out of petrol, landed on the ground where nobody thought he could land, "scrounged" some petrol, and returned to his ship. Moreover, it has been announced that on Sunday, April 28, seven German air- craft attacked a British carrier, but three naval aircraft went for them, shot down two, and broke up the attack. The naval machines have also bombed aerodromes at . Vaernes and Thanshavn, places which have not been men- tioned in Air Ministry communications, and did much damage. In the course of the operations the F.A.A. de- stroyed at least ten enemy aircraft and damaged many others. In some cases the pilots flew on in their eagerness until their petrol was exhausted. "In most cases," said Admiral Fraser, "the Navy had been able to recover the crews." . In.the operations between April 24 and May 3 • the F.A.A. lost the crews of six aircraft. The Admiralty has sent a message: '' We are proud of the Fleet Air Arm." The Luftwaffe has now destroyed four more moving war- ships with bombs. One was the sloop Bittern, 1,190 tons. She had been in action all day, fighting hard, and had shot down one enemy aircraft, besides damaging others. It was reckoned that 150 bombs were aimed at her, of which 149 missed. At last her ammunition was practi- cally exhausted, and then she was hit and' set on fire. Her crew were taken on board another warship, and the Bittern, being likely to become a danger to navigation, was sunk by our own forces. The others were the destroyers H.M.S. Afridi, the French Bison and the Polish Grom. Since the German invasion of Norway, H.M. ships have been exposed to repeated enemy bombing attacks. At least twenty enemy aircraft have been shot down and others damaged by the anti-aircraft gunfire of the Fleet. •'.*..,•. The propaganda caption issued with this picture taken in Norway states that the conflagration was caused by a crashed British aircraft. The machines on the aerodrome are Junkers Ju 52 bomber transports ; they have gun positions just behind the pilots cockpit and further aft on top of the fuselage. - . . ' .
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