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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 0070.PDF
JANUARY 9TH, 1941. WAR IN THE AIR (Continued AIR LOSSES TO JANUARY 4. Dec. 29 30 „ 31 Jan. I 2 3 4 GERMAN Aircraft , BRITISH , Fighter Aircraft Pilots ITALIAN Aircraft I 3 4 BRITISH Aircraft I 7 I (Returns not complete) IF ~T British bombers lost over German territory : Dec. 29, 2 ; Dec. 30, 2 ; Jan. 2, I : Jan. 3. I ; Total, 6. German losses by R.A.F. and ground defences. 4,184. British aircratt lost in Northern Europe, 1709. In the Middle East the R.A.F have destroyed 488 Italian aircraft and have lost 76. the clouds again and the gunner saw the enemy flying on a zigzag course about 600 yards astern. The Junkers was belching clouds of smoke. It has now been announced that the Free Trade Hall at Manchester has been practically destroyed by the enemy's bombs. Among other buildings in that city, the Royal Exchange has been half burnt out. It was the hub of 1he cotton trade. The Cathedral suffered severely. In Liverpool St. George's Hall, the Adelphi, Hotel, and the Parish Church of St. Nicholas have been damaged. Later News "DEEMEN was not left to recover in quiet after the •*-* destructive R.A.F. raid on Wednesday, New Year Day. On the two successive nights the Bomber Command struck again at targets in the same city. The air crews could not count all the fires they saw in the place. These three successive raids are among the heaviest blows struck by the R.A.F. at the German war effort, and Bremen's large war output must be severely restricted for some time. On the first night of the year a few German bombers flew over various districts of England and Wales, and some not very serious damage was done by their bombs. One of the bombs buried nine members of a barrage balloon crew in their billet, but they were dug out in about half an hour. There has been another considerable raid on Bristol, and a very heavy one on Cardiff. The latter raid took place on the night of January 2, and there were heavy casualties, and much damage to commercial build- ings and private houses. The people displayed the same courage which British citizens have shown in all similar cases. The most cheerful news in the last few days has come from Libya. After thorough preparation a British attack was launched against Bardia on Friday, January 4. The assault was carried out by tanks and Australian infantry. On a front of nine miles the British troops penetrated the defences for a depth of two miles, and they captured 8,000 prisoners. For 30 hours before the attack was launched the whole encampment was subjected to an intensive and ceaseless bombardment from the land artillery, the fleet at sea and bombers overhead. For troops who feel no great desire to give their lives because Signor Mussolini wants something which they do not at all understand; those 30 hours must have been a most unpleasant time. By Saturday night the whole northern sector of the Bardia defence had fallen into the hands of the Australians, and 15,000 prisoners had been taken. Only the south-eastern sector continued to resist, and next day the remainder surrendered. The number of prisoners rose to over 25,000. Probably they were the happiest men in all Africa. The R.A.F. bombers did not only attack Bardia. They also raided Bomba, 120 miles to the west of it, while others attacked the harbour of Tripoli and sank a 10,000-ton motor vessel. Meanwhile, on Saturday, January 4, there was a con- tinuous day and night attack on Brest, first by Coastal Blenheims and after dark by the Bomber Command. A German destroyer was hit several times by bombs. THE CHANCES OF INVASION Navy and R.A.F. Atone Cannot Defeat It I'NVASION of this country must be regarded for a longtime to come as a standing dish on the Hitler menu,"said a senior R.A.F. officer recently when reviewing last year's air war and examining the outlook for the near future. "It cannot be doubted that lie has laid down a plan for invasion at short notice, and there it will stand until he thinks the time opportune ," and if it does nothing else it will have a restraining and containing effect on a great number of troops we might like to employ elsewhere. But we cannot allow ourselves to think for a moment that invasion is off the cards; it is not." On the subject of dealing with an invasion if and when it did materialise, the officer expressed the opinion that the Navy and R.A.F. alone could not defeat enemy forces nor prevent them from setting foot on British soil. We still needed a strong, well-trained and well-equipped Army because invasion was primarily a military undertaking. In the meantime the enemy would undoubtedly con- tinue his night-bombing and would try what he could do in the Mediterranean, which should not be regarded as a secondary feature of the war Germany must look upon the Italian defeats with very mixed feelings, and the unfortunate Italian was going to have a bad time either way. But it would be wishful thinking to say that Italy was on the verge of collapse. Both sides were working strenuously to deal with the night-bomber, and it was really a race of counter-measures. Nothing very striking had been achieved as yet, but there was an improvement in our counter-measures and the scale of enemy effort against this country had diminished. In- tensive A.A. fire had undoubtedly turned back many a bomber from his intended target; the numbers turned back from defended zones was increasing and the number of defended zones was also steadily increasing with the speed-up of production. The day-bomber had not disap- peared but it had a very much diminished horizon. He thought, however, that the high-flying bomber, which was the subject of research on both sides, would eventual^' come into play. '' I was absolutely staggered by the assertion of the American journalist, Mr. Ralph Ingersoll, that our fighter force was stretched almost to breaking point," (i.e., in the Battle of Britain), said the officer. "This, of course, was absolute nonsense." The officer went on to say that in point of fact the R.A.F. had the advantage of not losing pilots who had to bale out and of being able to salvage and recondition many machines which had to make forced landings and that, at the end of October we had more squadrons operating than at the start of that period. It was an instance of the way in which industrial backing had enabled us to withstand a terrific onslaught. The enemy completely underestimated the 1939 production and the increases which followed. Since then weather conditions and the regular visits of the R.A.F. to his air bases and to the celebrated "health resort" of Hamm were some of the reasons why Hitler had been compelled to postpone his plan for invasion. In the meantime, he had directed an intensified attack against our shipping with dive-bombers and submarines, but R.A.F. visits to his submarine base at Lorient and the \'igilance of the Coastal Command had greatly reduced the effectiveness of this attempt at sea blocade.
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