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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 2995.PDF
OCTOBER 24, 1940 34* WAR IN THE AIR (CONTINUED) Naturally, however, the R.A.F. cannot pile up such huge numbers of stricken German machines as in the days when the Heinkels and others offered themselves to the slaughter. The fighting on Thursday mostly took place over the Thames estuary, and for the most part the raiders were prevented from getting through to London. The sirens only sounded in the Capital five times during the daylight hours, and there was next to no interference with the ordinary business of the people. Few bombs were dropped, damage was not great, and casualties were iaot heavy. Of course the much harassed towns of Kent and other coast counties got their quota of destruction, but fighter-bombers cannot wreak widespread havoc. The night raiding started a little earlier than on pre- vious nights, but it did not start with a heavy attack. The night was fine, quite a change from the rainy conditions of the night before, but the sky was not clear and the moon was past the full. A flight commander in a Spitfire squadron, who has five German aircraft to his credit, recently gave a broad- cast, in the course of which he said : "Well, the squadron has seen a good deal of fighting since Dunkirk, when we brought down Junkers, Dormers and Messerschmitts in our very first fight. Our ' bag' has risen to over 60 German aircraft whose destruction has been confirmed, and some 40 'probables.' But we our- selves have not got away unscathed. I wouldn't say, either, that we still have that first elation, for we know now, with absent faces in the mess,: something of the tragedy of war But I can say we" are still full of fight. Fact is, we are far happier fighting than in ruminating over it. I.know that I, personally, always find the period of waiting rather trying. There is, of course, something of the natural apprehension which the infantryman feels, waiting to 'go over the' top.' But more than that, one begins to imagine all kinds of things not quite right with the aircraft, with the armament, or with oneself, and to be afraid of bungling something. "Once I am up, I find the machine and myself O.K., and I have too much to do to be apprehensive of anything. If a pilot comes out of an action with a kill or two to his credit he feels an insatiable desire to go on shooting down Germans. If he. foozles an opportunity for a kill, and comes home with nothing to show for it, he usually looks a bit depressed. You can always tell, in the .mess, who has had a successful day and who hasn't. I always tell my pilots that they can't expect to ' bag' a German every time they go up. But actually I like to see them peeved if they've l een unsuccessful. I know then they .are still full of fight. They always will be. More so now, perhaps, than when we first went into action. For we've been at grips with the Luftwaffe in so many circumstances that we've come to know their measure. It's the measure of a bully, and everyone likes to paste a bully. " The British Counter-attack TF the Battle of Britain is over as a battle and has de- -*• generated into unimportant but spiteful slaughter and destruction, the British counter-attack on the German power goes on and continues to grow. We cannot yet call it the Battle of Germany, but it will develop into that in time. Frankly, the details make monotonous reading. There are many things which the British reader would like to know, but he will not learn them from the official com- muniques, about the doings of the Bomber Command. There have been many raids on Kiel of late, but no com- munique tells us whether the Scharnhorst is still in dock there. If she is, then one can understand that it is worth much energy to prevent her from emerging as a fighting ship to prey, perhaps, on the smaller craft of the Royal Navy. Our bombers still spend a lot of energy in cutting German communications, which must mean that there is still a reason for hampering the munitionment of the German armies in the Low Countries and France. Such bombing can be classed as defensive rather than as aggres- sive in its nature. We still pay regular visits to the so- called invasion ports, and at times the Navy joins in. But in making these short trips the R.A.F. is careful. Rarely are the energies of the heavy bombers expended on such little trips; the invasion ports are almost entirely left to the medium bombers of the Coastal Command, and again the Navy often lends a hand through the medium of the Fleet Air Arm. These attacks on the Channel ports are undoubtedly defensive bombing. Norway still comes in for some attention. Skuas attacked an enemy supply ship of four to five thousand tons which was lying alongside the jetty at Haugesund. Hits were obtained with bombs and the ship was left heavily on fire in both forward and after holds. In "Bjiorne Fiord Skuas attacked an enemy supply ship of about 2,000 tons. Bombs were seen to hit this ship and it is considered to have been sunk. Our aircraft were subsequently attacked by a superior force of enemy fighters, and one Skua is missing. Of the effects of our really aggressive bombing, our attacks on oil refineries and stores and on munition works, the people in this country have no means of judging. That no slight damage is being done is evident from the reports of the pilots who have s?e\i the great fires caused by their ALMOSTdiscernible wing, 5 INTACT ; A Junkers Ju 88 bomber which was brought down near the coast. Several of its salient features are easily ible. The typical German " beetle-eye " bomb-aimer compartment ; the circular radiators and the diving brakes under the In the triangle under the pilot's windscreen the figures 87 denote the octane value of the fuel employed.
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