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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 0197.PDF
JANUARY 23RD, 1941. 67 WAR IN THE AIR (Continued) NOT SO DUSTY:Hurricanes raising a sand-storm as theytake off in formation on the We s te rnDesert. These eight- gun fighters haveproved themselves as useful on the desert asthey were in Europe. From a Paramount News Film. welcome to them. In that campaign, too, the Regia Aeronautica shows every sign of being a beaten force. Like the rest of the Italian troops which invaded Greece, it had expected a walk-over. If opposition was offered, the Greek flying corps was tiny, and the Regia Aeronautica was large and could overwhelm it. The Italians seem to have forgotten the Royal Air Force. That supplied the one great de- ficiency in the Greek defence system, and the Italian 'airmen found themselves confronted by the best pilots in the world. The promptitude with which some air help was hurried to Greece made a lot of difference, and the quality of British airmen and British machines did the rest. The Luftwaffe may bring a new spirit into the operations in Albania ; but the R.A.F. is no more to be overawed by the Luftwaffe there than it is in Northern Europe. Our airmen know that man for man and machine for machine they are better than the Germans, and they are not likely to let the Germans forget that fact. : ' The Road to Victory A LL over the Western Desert is strewn the wreckage of •**• the Italian Air Force shot down by the Royal Air Force during the recent offensive. It is not necessary to leave the "Road to Victory," as the Italians named the highway they built across the desert from Sollum to Sidi Barrani, to find evidence of the aerial battles that took place. At Sidi Barrani itself an S.79 stands silhouetted against the setting sun as one approaches from the direction of Mersa Matruh. The pilot made a brave effort to regain the aerodrome after he had been badly shot up by an eight-gun fighter, and he came to rest only a few yards outside the landing ground. Three of his crew were dead and he and the remainder were soon on their way to prison camps. Not only the crew, but also a would-be rescue ijarty who came out from the shell-torn town, were cap- •ystured. Between Sidi Barrani and Sollum there are to be _y seen further examples of the destruction created by the Royal Air Force. One C.R.42, shot down by a sergeant- pilot, who bagged another the same morning, came down at such an angle that it remained there—stuck on its nose. Everybody who has passed along this inaptly named "Road to Victory" has seen it too. Nobody can miss it as it stands poised there.. And so it is, all along this wide roadway, where at each five-kilometre mark there is an inscription recording the name of the Italian unit which had helped in its construction. At Upper Sollum, on the aerodrome—which was greatly enlarged for the R.A.F. not very long ago—there were aircraft aban- doned practically, if not completely, intact. Round each of them the Italians had placed a number of thermos flask bombs. i-Across the frontier there are the remains of what once was Fort Capuzzo. There is very little left of this fort, named after one of the Italian commanders who assisted in quelling disturbances among the inhabitants of this corner of Libya. Not far beyond the fort is the Italian aerodrome, and here there were several burnt-out aircraft. y Either they were deliberately set alight by the Italians or they were fired during the fighting on the ground. The search for a large party of Italian Generals and senior officers is still being carried but "by Hurricane aircraft of the R.A.F. These Italians escaped from Bj.;dia, and were making for Tobruk along the coastal paths, before Bardia was surrounded and finally taken. R.A.F. Hurri- canes are flying low, sometimes skimming the cliffs at fifty feet and spotting lurking Italians who are taking refuge in caves. A few days ago a Hurricane observed a small party of Italian officers hiding by the water's edge. A naval unit was advised, and a British motor boat imme- diately took up the chase, which resulted in the capture of the party, one of whom was General Argentina, who was in command of Sidi Barrani. Yet another story is to hand of a young R.A.F. fighter pilot who, single-handed, has just been responsible for taking a band of about 150 Italian prisoners. He was carrying out a routine patrol near Marsa Beddau, when he saw a small concentration of armed soldiers. At first he thought they were British, but later, flying low, he recognised their dusty green uniforms and large hat badges. The pilot swooped low, fired a burst over the heads of the troops, circled and '' ushered '' his captives towards a British military unit, who soon relieved him of his responsibility. ? • ••••••..- •••-".- -..-•;• The Northern Theatre TN the bombing competition with Germany, both the -*- R.A.F. and the Luftwaffe have continued to strike regular blows, each typical of its own methods. The Germans continue to raid by night whenever the weather is favourable, selecting British cities which are certainly important and which contain military targets, but not showing much discrimination as to where they drop their bombs. There have been several more raids on London, in each case heralded by showers of fire bombs, but these have been tackled with promptitude and skill, mainly by ordinary householders, and there has been no repetition of the great fire in the City. Portsmouth and Plymouth have each suffered severe raids, and, of course, the Thames Estuary is a standing dish. But there are increasing signs that the German night bombers will not always find their occupation easy and comparatively safe. The growing experience of our night fighter pilots is beginning to show results. More raiding bombers are being intercepted, and those that do get through are being attacked with some success. The number of our night fighter squadrons is steadily increasing, though necessarily slowly. Pilots must be taught a new technique of fighting, much of which is still experimental; aircraft must be adapted, and, even under the most favourable conditions, the difficulties of trailing enemy bombers, flying at some 250 m.p.h. through the blackness of night, are still severe. The enemy is working on similar lines; our bombers are now encountering night fighters on their raids over Ger- many, and several of these have been shot down. So far, the night tactics of the Royal Air Force have proved more successful than those of the enemy, because none of our night fighters has been lost in action. The first D.F.C. for night fighting has been awarded to Flight Lieutenant John Cunningham. His first successful "action was over the South coast. After following an enemy
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