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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 1891.PDF
AUGUST 2IST, 1941. FLIGHT 103 ENEMY AIR LOSSES TO AUGUST 16th. Over Over G.B. Continent Aug. 10 „ II,. 12 .. 13.. M „ 15., 16 Touts : — — 1 1 1 4 — 14 1 20 Northern Area, 5,221 ; over 2,053. Middle East 1 ;. 5 —• 6 Middle East, WAR N THE AIR unit. This Wing does not include the first two squadrons of Poles which were in action last year. The first of them shot down more than 120 enemy aircraft in 1940, and the second squadron also distinguished itself. Last week the Polish Wing went out over Northern France one afternoon and met a large force of German fighters. The Poles bagged 13 of the enemy for a loss of three Spitfires. Since joining the R.A.F., the Poles have destroyed over 250 German machines. A second Eagle squadron of American pilots has also been formed. Among recent achievements by the R.A.F in the Middle East has been the successful blocking of the Corinth Canal. The ideal way of blocking a canal is to sink a ship in it. Our bombers were not lucky enough to. do that, but they brought down so much of the embankment into the canal that it will not be possible for ships to get through for some time to come. This will be a grave incon- venience to enemy shipping between the Ionian Sea and the ^Egean. Tankers Torpedoed '"THE Middle East has been very busy •^ in the last week or so, and again the Fleet Air Arm has scored with its torpedoes. One convoy of five mer- chant ships and a destroyer was attacked, and it is practically certain that two of the merchantmen and the destroyer were sunk. On the same day two tankers and two schooners were attacked with bombs by R.A.F. Blenheims in the Central Mediter- ranean between Tripoli and Benghazi. All four were hit, and one tanker blew up at once, while the other was set on fire. Both were probably sunk. The Russians have mentioned the use of six-engined bombers in recent communiques. Probably they were converted passenger machines of the type 760. An illustration of the type appeared in Flight of Dec. 12th, 1941. BRITISH AIR LOSSES TO AUGUST 16th Over G.B.Fighters Pilots Aug. 10 — —11 — — 12 -13 - - 14 - -15 — — 16 - - OverContinent Aircraft 3 33 18 13 *7 MiddleEast Aircraft I Totals : Northern Area, 2,492 ; Middle East about 357. Sir Archibald Sinclair, Air Minister, has spent a night with units of the Bomber Command, visiting stations whence Stirling and Wellington bombers set out on their nightly busi- ness. He made a speech to some of the crews, telling them that " It is the Bomber Command which is going to be the main instrument of victory. It is the fighters who saved us from defeat last autumn, and it is the bombers who are going to smash the war industries of Germany and break the will to win of the German people." Words like these must have a very stimulating effect on crews who are just about to set off on a daring raid, and will make all their troubles, efforts, and risks seem small in com- parison with the results which they hope to achieve. DAYLIGHT ATTACK : With tail and target, shell and bomb bursts, all at crazy angles, this vivid photograph of the Blenheimattack on the power stations of Cologne gives anyone who has flown an exact picture of the raid. The " g " can be positively felt. A second picture appears on page 105.
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