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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 1521.PDF
JULY IOTH, 1941. FLIGHT IQ WAR IN THE AIR me." Then began a battle of wits. The R.A.F. pilot was determined to get his opponent to come down and attack him. For ten minutes jockey- ing for position went on, but '' the enemy pilot, obviously very experi- enced, would not take any chances. Finally," said the Spitfire pilot, "I flew straight up sun and watched him very carefully. He turned about 1,000 feet above me and came round behind, but still would not attack. At last he dived, and the moment I thought his sights were on me I evaded him. As he shot past I got in a long burst. Bits flew off his machine, which turned on its back, smoking and diving vertically, and when I looked again I saw a splash in the sea." The ideal tactics now would be for the Bomber Command to attack the rear of the German army, but that, unfortunately, is outside our range. Nor can we be sure that we are able to cut short the supplies which the German army needs. They must have piled up what munitions and stores they thought sufficient for the cam- paign before they started the invasion, and so would not be dependent on the daily output from the Ruhr and other factory areas. At least that must be the case, unless the Russians can hold them up long enough to upset their programme and exhaust the margin of supplies which they would have allowed. Range Limitations TDUT, with increased strength, the±J R.A.F. is certainly doing all it can to discommode the Germans in northern Europe. The daylight sweeps with strong escorts of fighters are not meet ing with anything remotely resembling the opposition which the Luftwaffe met last year in the Battle of Britain. The mainly inexperienced fighter pilots of the Germans have suffered heavy losses whenever they have chal- lenged our aircraft, and on numerous occasions the R.A.F. bombers have shot down or driven off Messerschmitts which have attacked them. Of course, the range for the daylight sweeps is limited by the fuel capacity of our short-range fighters, and likewise the scope of our night bombers is circum- scribed by the shortness of the hours of darkness. But, when all is said and done, the R.A.F. is hitting the Ger- mans hard and showing the French people that we have the aggressive spirit. There is welcome evidence, SOME WRIGGLER : A Flight Sergeant pilot inspects the damage received in a "party" with four Messerschmitts. too, that our bombing of submarine bases has helped to diminish the volume of German attacks on our ship- ping out in the Atlantic. The men who did so brilliantly in the Middle East are going elsewhere. Sir Arthur Longmore left not long ago, and now Sir Archibald Wavell has also made over his Command to a suc- cessor. It may yet come about that AMMUNITION, FUEL, OIL : Immediately a fighter lands from an operational flight, riggers, fitters, armourers and radio mechanics swarm over the machine to make it ready for service again. The photograph above is of a Spitfire on return from one of the recent daylight "sweeps." An Intelligence Officer is talking to the pilot.
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