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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 2083.PDF
JULY 25, 1940 WAR inthe AIR Success of Fleet A. A. Guns : German Canal Breached : Gallant Hurricanes MISSED : An incident during one of the recent dive-bombing raids on shipping. IN Northern Europe the war has pursued much thesame course as in previous weeks with raids andcounter-raids. Certain incidents of more than usual interest have occurred in the Mediterranean. We havelearnt a little more about the naval action of July 9. The day before that took place one of our cruisers was damagedby an Italian air attack and some of her crew were killed or wounded, but her fighting efficiency was in no wayimpaired, and she took her full part in the battle on the following day. In that battle it is now known that no lessthan 20 Italian aircraft were shot down, five by the fleet fighters and 15 by the guns on the ships. These figuresreverse the usual order of things, but we must remember that whereas Fleet fighters, Skuas and Rocs, are not suchterrible opponents in combat as are Hurricanes and Spit- fires, the anti-aircraft fire from the Fleet is apt to be moredestructive than that from batteries on shore. Probably the explanation is that the enemy bombersknow that their chances of scoring a hit on moving war- ships from a height are extremely small, and that if theyhope for success they must come low down. That brings them within the range of the multiple pom-poms and heavymachine guns on the warships, and the bomber which stays for long under that fire and lives to tell the tale isvery fortunate. However, what does it matter? If the Savoia-Marchettis cannot sink British warships, SignorGayda can, and he promptly proceeded to do so. The Admiralty have pointed out that from March 9 to July 14the Axis Powers claim to have sunk 20 British capital ships, eight carriers, 77 cruisers, 78 destroyers, and 44 sub-marines, in addition to 18 unspecified warships and innumerable minesweepers and auxiliary craft. In fact,they have claimed to have sunk more ships than the Royal Navy possessed at the outbreak of war. Truly the type-. writer is mightier than the torpedo. On July 16, after the daily raid on Malta, during whichone Italian machine was shot down in flames, one of our fighters crashed on landing. This was the first loss of a British aircraft after five weeks of fighting. During thattime a handful of fighters (as the First Lord of the Admiralty called them in a broadcast) and the anti-aircraftguns between them have destroyed 20 Italian aircraft. Haifa, in Palestine, had its first air raid on Monday,July 15, when ten Italian machines flew over and bombed it. One Arab was killed and an American was slightlyhurt. Little material damage was done, and the oil pipe- line, which was certainly the objective of the raiders, wasnot injured. Abyssinian Campaign squadrons of French aircraft, with senior officers insome of the seats, have flown down from Syria to Djibuti in French Somaliland, but when the news came itwas not certain whether they were of the Petain or the de Gaulle frame of mind. General Legentilhomme, the Com-mander in French Somaliland, seems grimly determined to fight on. The R.A.F., together with the South African AirForce and the Southern Rhodesian contingent, continue to harass the Italians in Abyssinia, Somaliland and Eritrea.The aeroplanes and stores which they destroy in those parts are sheer loss to the Italians, as they cannot bereplaced. It should be noted that the British Government has now indicated that it regards Abyssinia as an Ally,and rumour has it that the Emperor Haille Selassie has arrived in Khartum to be ready to seize any chance ofputting himself at the head of his people in a rising against Italian rule. On the West of Egypt the R.A.F. continues to bombthe naval base of Tobruk, and our aircraft work with our light ground forces in sporadic actions against Italiantroops in the desert. Sunderland flying boats have been much in the pictureof late. One, belonging to a squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force, had a very complete success overan ocean-going U-boat in the Atlantic recently. The
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