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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 1160.PDF
356 F -• MAY 22ND, 1941. COLLABORATION UNDER DOMINATION : A French light tank used by the Luftwaffe for bomb-train hauling. passed harmlessly to starboard. Two days later the enemy attempted a night torpedo attack on the Fleet while at sea. This is the first time they have attempted it. Like the daylight attack, it failed under the umbrella barrage put up by the guns of the Battle Fleet. Everything was turned on. Lewis guns, multiple pom- poms, 4in. high angle and even the 6in. guns were in operation. The attack lasted for some 45 min. and one account by an eye-witness speaks of the sea being lit up by the blaze of the guns and of its periodically be- coming a mass of small and large waterspouts as splinters from the bar- rage fell in the water. Since torpedoes and bombs could not do the job the German and Italian propaganda departments pro- ceeded to sink our ships and shoot down Our aircraft in large numbers. The truth is revealed in the Admiralty communique which, in its laconic ac- count of seven days and nights out- standingly successful work, says: — '' During operations in the Western Mediterranean German and Italian aircraft made repeated attacks on our naval forces. These attacks continued throughout the afternoon and evening of Thursday, May 8th. No damage was sustained by any of our ships. As each attack developed it was inter- cepted and broken up by naval fighter aircraft and subsequently driven off by them and by the anti-aircraft guns of the squadron. One of our fighters is missing; another was lost but the crew were saved. The next-of-kin of casualties are being informed as soon as possible. '' The enemy attacks were made by torpedo bomber aircraft, by high level bombers escorted by fighters and by dive-bombers escorted by fighters. In one case a formation of 25 dive- bombers escorted by Me 110s was in- tercepted and brilliantly broken up and driven off by naval fighters before the attack could materialise. The fol- lowing losses were inflicted upon the enemy. Three torpedo bombers and one S.79 were destroyed by the anti- aircraft fire of the squadron and two torpedo-bombers were severely dam- aged. Naval fighters shot down one Ju 87 and two S. 79s and severely damaged one Ju 87, one Me no and one Cr 42. In addition to these casual- ties damage is known to have been inflicted on other enemy aircraft." No mention is made of the actual fighter types which were employed by the Fleet Air Arm. It is possible that Brewster Buffaloes and Grumman Martlets were used but, since the loss of one fighter crew is given in the plural, Fairey Fulmars were presum- ably in action. A later Admiralty message claimed, for the period May 6th-i2th, a total of 16 enemy aircraft destroyed and at least six others severely damaged. A straw in the wind showing the gradual change over by our forces from defence to offence came on Wed- nesday last when the Air Ministry WAR IN T announced a successful daylight raid the previous day by a squadron of Bomber Command aircraft. The target was the German naval base of Heligoland. Surprise played a great part in this operation, which was carried out in line abreast at a height of only 150ft. Before the defences could open up our pilots had seen their targets and were bearing down upon them. Covering the fortified area of the.island, our aircraft dropped sticks of high explosive bombs. Columns of smoke, mixed with dust and debris of shattered buildings, rose immediately and spread over the ground to obscurt^ the cliffs. "It was the perfect theoretical raid carried out in practice," said the pilot who led the attack. " We came in at exactly the right spot after more than two hours' flying. Below us we saw . the targets as we had seen them on the photographs in the briefing-room. We dropped our sticks almost simultan- eously. Many fires followed the attack. It was a punch in the face of Heligo- land with our , knuckle marks across the island." It is instructive to note the forma- tion and height at which the attack was made. When raiding island or coastal targets low height gives the element of surprise, and line abreast at this height obviates any following bomber being blown up by bombs dropped by previous machines, as would happen, for instance, in a line ahead attack from the same height. None of our aircraft was lost in this audacious raid. At dawn on the same day ground strafing Hurricanes attacked Ostend aerodrome. Presum- ably these Hurricanes carried shell-gun armament because an extract from the THAT'S SHELL THAT WAS : The geodetics of an East African Wellesl? revealed by an Italian shell burst. \
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