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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 0773.PDF
APRIL 3RD, 1941. 253 WAR IN THE AIR (Continued) ENEMY AIR LOSSES TO MARCH 29th OverG.B. Over Europe Middle East March 23 2 — 19 ., 24 2 — , 25 — - I „ 26 2 2 , 27 — — — . 28 - - . 29 I — — 7 0 22 Total In Northern Area, 4,330 ; Middle East, about 1,230. had seen their leader with smoke pour- ing from his aircraft were amazed when they returned to find him safely back at the aerodrome. The pilot who made this gallant rescue of his com- rade was reluctant to discuss the J incident. All he had to say was, "It wasn't very comfortable with two of us in the cockpit." ;.: >.; '. T.v'' •', Aircraft in Sea Fight "D.A.F. aircraft, as well as those of •*•* the Fleet Air Arm, took part in the naval engagement in the Ionian Sea, which has been described as the greatest sea fight of the war so far. At the moment of writing it appears that three 10,000-ton Italian cruisers and two large destroyers were sunk, while one more battleship of the Littorio class was damaged. At the outbreak of war Italy had two battle- ships of that class in commission and two more building. Of the former ^ pair, one was hit by a Fleet Air Arm torpedo in Taranto harbour and the * . other by a torpedo from another Swordfish T.S.R. in the sea fight to the west of Sardinia on November 27. It seems that at least some of the Italian losses in this most recent fight were due to bombs dropped by bombers of the R.A.F. If so, the event is something of a novelty, for previously the verdict of this war has been that moving warships have little •u to fear from air bombs. Warships at ' anchor or in harbour were a different matter, and in such circumstances both sides have suffered losses—most of our losses having been during the Dunkerque evacuation, though our. most serious loss, namely, H.M.S. Southampton, was certainly due to a German dive-bomber when the vessel was moving. The Regia Aeronautica has certainly done our Mediterranean Fleet no harm, but the Italian Navy cannot say the same about the attacks delivered by the Fleet Air Arm and the R.A.F. on both moving and stationary ships. As a result of this battle, our Medi- terranean Fleet, which suffered no harm during the fight, will be in a better position than ever to control the movements of shipping in the sea which Mussolini once hoped to rule. Our surplus of strength over the enemy must now be overwhelming, and in consequence it should be very difficult for the Axis to send more German reinforcements across to Tripoli. In fact, it may even be hard for the enemy to get essential supplies across. In the past the Italians doubtless piled up stores of every kind there, but it is not to be supppsed that all those stores will be of use to their German friends. Their mechan- ised troops will need spares, and now it is very doubtful whether they will be able to get them. Another example of the general immunity of moving warships from air attack is provided by the very unpleasant affair of the French convoy which passed through the Straits of Gibraltar in Spanish territorial waters, carrying cargoes which, it was be- lieved, would be useful to the Ger- mans. Not only did the French shore batteries open fire on our warships as they exercised their undoubted right to call on the convoy to stop for visit and search, but French bombers flew out and tried to bomb our ships. They failed to hit any of them. Pre- sumably the British ships were de- stroyers, and they would naturally be the hardest of all marks for air bombs. The attitude of the Vichy French is indeed hard to understand. Do they really want the Germans to defeat us and enslave France for all the future? It is certainly a matter for regret that we have had to postpone our advance against Tripoli until a more con- venient season, for the effect would undoubtedly be great if the French troops in Tunisia were to see. the Union Jack and the banner of Free France floating on the eastern side of the defences which they prepared years ago to hold the Italians in check. Lovers of freedom may, and do, find comfort in the exploits of a Free French squadron of bombers which has been helping to hammer the Italians in Ethiopia. Reinforcing the East ^"TRIPOLI will have to wait until the •*• Greeks axe out of the wood. The revolution in Jugoslavia has halted the Germans for a while, but we must also presume that the German threat to Thrace has slowed up the Greek opera- tions against Tepelini, and to that ex- tent brought a breathing space to the hard-pressed Italian forces in Albania. It may be that before long the Jugo- slavs will have joined the gallant band cf Allies v;ho oppose the New Order of the Axis. They, and particularly the Serbs, are among the toughest fighters in Europe, and their record in the last war was as full of heroism as of tragedy. But their strength in the air is not equal to their strength and quality in land fighting—though they are possessed of some Blenheims and Hurricanes., The bulk of the air work in the Balkans will have to be done by the R.A.F. Fortunately, although no Power can BRITISH AIR LOSSES TO MARCH 29th Over G.B. Over Europe Middle EattAircraft Pilots Aircraft Aircraft March 23 . 24 ., 25 , 26 . 27 28 29 — — — I I » Total in Northern Area, I 799;East, 133. 4 Middle ever say that it has "enough" air squadrons, there has recently been visible proof that the United TIing- dom can afford to spare squadrons for fronts outside the British Isles. The Middle East must by now have a very respectable force, including the South Africans and the Rhodesians, though it has been admitted that a risk was taken when first the Home Govern- ment decided to reinforce General Wavell and Air Chief Marshal Long- more. But only the other day it was announced that more R.A.F. squad- rons, including fighters, have been despatched to Singapore. As the Governor of that Colony remarked, it is very gratifying to see that I'ritain could spare them, and likewise that they could be shipped there without loss from enemy action. From that fact it may be inferred tnat on the Balkan front, which is not the least critical front at the moment, the R.A.F. strength will be adequate for the work it may have to do. Mr. Churchill has promised both Greece and Jugoslavia that Britain will do all it can to help the fight for freedom there, and everyone will place reliance on his word. Singapore itself should now be in a position to hold its own if Japan should attempt any sudden coup d'etat. Mr. Matsuoka will, it is hoped, have learnt something from his visit to Europe and particularly from his coming visit to Mussolini. Japanese statesmen are not usually to be hoodwinked by bombast—and even Mussolini must find it hard to talk with confidence just now. Never, we believe, has history shown a more glar- ing example of a bullfrog which tried to blow itself out to extravagant size and burst in the process. On the Northern front the weather caused a partial lull in major bomb- ing operations. The Luftwaffe con- tinued to pursue its policy of trying to assist the German blockade of Britain, and the R.A.F. seized every oppor- tunity of hitting at military objectives in Germany and in territory occupied by the enemy. Miss Ellen Wilkinson, M.P., Parlia- mentary Secretary to the Ministry of Home Security, has stated that 28,859 civilians have been killed and 40,166 seriously wounded in air raids on Britain. Th? number of soldiers killed in the raids is about one-fiftieth of that number.
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