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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 0139.PDF
J.WTARY T5TII TQ4I. ,47 WAR IN THE AIR (Continued) being severely bombarded. Tobruk has been bombed almost continually, and its aerodrome—at El Adem—has been evacuated by the Italians. Our troops on taking over found no less than forty aircraft which had been rendered unserviceable by the R.A.F. attacks. In Albania, Valona was again attacked. The raids were carried out in bad weather conditions, rain and low cloud being met near the target. Bombs were seen to burst on buildings, warehouses and in the vicinity of the harbour jetties. Enemy fighters intercepted, and one CR42 broke off the attack with smoke coming from its engine and another enemy fighter, a G50, dived towards the sea with- out its guns having been fired. One of our bombers failed to return. Seven-hour Raid on Dockyard N the night of Wednesday, January 8, while the Ger- man Air Force were still inoperative, we attacked naval dockyards at Wilhelmshaven and Emden. The com- munique dealing with the raid stated: — Aircraft of Bomber Command attacked the naval dock- yards at Wilhelmshaven and Emden. At Wilhelmshaven many explosions were observed, and these were followed by large fires. More than 20 fires were started in the docks at Emden. Other aircraft bombed an enemy aerodrome on the island of Borkum, where barracks were hit and a fire broke out. None of our aircraft is missing. Moonlight and clear weather enabled aircraft of the Bombc Command to identify clearly two of Germany's naval bases and shipyards in which a large number of her warships and submarines are built. At Emden there was a box barrage of intense anti-aircraft fire, and at Wilhelmshaven guns were firing from all quar- ters of the town for many hours ; when our aircraft were held by searchlights the barrage increased until, as one pilot put it, the sky appeared to be filled with flashes of fire as the shells burst all round his aircraft. One or two of our bombers received minor damage, but none were driven from their targets. The raids on Wilhelmshaven began not long after 8 o'clock and the last of our pilots did not leave until just before three in the morning. For several hours the moon shone brightly and there was no cloud or even any ground haze; as they came over the Dutch coast our pilots could see the frozen sea far below them, and the Zuyder Zee a sea of ice. Some of our aircraft attacked the Bauhafen, a large square harbour joined by a canal to the sea ; on each side of it there are slips, dry docks, and submarine and shipbuild- ing yards. The great naval dockyard, the Marinewerft, is almost outside the harbour. Bombs burst all round this harbour and there were many fires, both large and small. Emden, the importance of which as a naval base has revived in recent years, was first attacked soon after 8 o'clock and at intervals until the early hours of the morn- ing. The skies were clear throughout this period, and visibility was exceptionally good. Docks and shipbuilding yards, and especially the Binnenhafen and the Industrie- hafen, were successfully raided. The island of Borkum lies opposite Emden harbour, and some of our bombers found time to raid its aerodrome. In the course of the night's operations aircraft of tl * Bomber Command also dropped bombs from a low level on enemy supply ships and anti-aircraft ships, and one came down to well below 1,oooft. to bomb a large bridge over a railway line south of Esens and to machine-gun a convoy of lorries in the same district. Our Bombers Are Tough TT is remarkable to think that aircraft can pass through -*- such barrages and still return home. We are prone to think the aeroplane a fragile instrument of war, and so it is by comparison with, say, a tank. Nevertheless, it is astounding what our sturdily-built stuff will stand. The recent case of a flare blowing out the side of a Whitley fuselage will be remembered, and there are many similar stories ; of the tail and rudder of a Hampden badly damaged by cannon and machine guns ; of fuselage and wings of a Whitby severely holed by anti-aircraft fire at a range of only 2,000 feet; of a Wellington hit in six places by a severe barrage ; of very serious damage to the port airscrew of another Hampden. Yet once again, in the words of the official communique, "none of our aircraft is missing." Over Hamburg a direct hit in the port wing of one of our Hampdens ripped open the oil tank, yet the port engine, to the pilot's astonishment, ran sweetly all the way home, a distance of over 400 miles. A Blenheim flying over Rotterdam met exceptionally heavy anti-aircraft fire. The port oil tank was punctured in three places, the lead from the starboard petrol tank was fractured, the elevator main spar was holed, the main spar and fin shot through, and a rudder cable cut half through. There were also holes in the tail and fuselage, but the machine got home and was back in service two days later. Another Blenheim actually rose safely into the air again after hitting the sea. After this encounter with the water the airscrews were bent back, the tail wheel missing, the bomb hatch cover stove in, and the shields, cowlings and air intakes completely wrecked, yet the machine was still good for a safe if timorous journey home. Benghazi and Gubba TyTlD-WEEK activity in the Middle •*•*•*• East included heavy raiding of aerodromes and ports in eastern Libya, military stores at Elbasan in Albania, and air co-operation with Abyssinian patriots at Gubba. At Martuba, our aircraft carried out low flying attacks on 11 Savoia Marchetti S79.S and several Fiat CR42S UNLUCKY FOR SOMEONE: Thirteen,i8in. torpedoes awaiting installation in Coastal Command Beauforts. Thisview shows clearly the contra screws and control surfaces.
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