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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 0069.PDF
JANUARY 8TH, 1942 FLIGHT «3 Dec. Jan. , ENEMY AIR LOSSES TO JAN 3rd. Over G.B. 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 Total! 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 : North Over Continent Middle East 0 0 8 0 0 3 0 . II On 5,606; over 3,362. 3 2 4 0 5 0 2 16 ground 428 Middle East, raiding the airfield at Sungei Patani, which is in Japanese hands. A report from the Netherlands East Indies says that an Australian squadron of Hud- sons stationed in their islands bombed a Japanese cruiser off Celebes and set it on fire. The Dutch assert that the Japanese" will get no oil from the wells in Borneo. The British force in Sarawak has withdrawn to the Dutch part of that island. The New Pacific Command TTTHILE the Japanese fleet domin- '* ateS the Pacific for the time being and permits reinforcements to be landed in the Philippines, and presumably in French Indo-China, whence they march against Malaya and Burma; while attempted land ings are made on the Malay peninsula and have to be repelled by British artillery, but not interfered with by the weakened British naval forces in that part, and while Jap anese dive-bombers harass the Ameri can and Filipino forces in Luzon as they grimly fight on against ever- increasing hordes of Japanese troops, a step has been taken in Washington which may, and ought to, bring about a timely reversal of the tide of Jap anese successes. The Pacific campaign is primarily a sea-air affair. Japanese aircraft have crippled the British naval forces at the Ley point of Singapore, and have done considerable damage to the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Har bour. It is these preliminary steps which have allowed the enemy aircraft carriers to range far and wide over the Pacific Ocean, and have made pos sible the landing of Japanese troops on the various islands. Those troops have been accompanied by dive- bombers, which have played their regular part in the land fighting. All these successes are due. to preponder ant sea power, cleverly combined with the use of air power. On the other hand, we may recall that President Roosevelt has stated that, despite the damage done at Pearl Harbour, the U.S. Pacific Fleet is still a well-balanced fleet. Some American warships are certainly in the Atlantic playing their part in the battle for the supply line between the Americas and the Old World. But, though official knowledge is not to be expected, we may assume that, while the R.A.F. can prevent the Sharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen from emerging from Brest, there is no reason why the American battleships should be in the Atlantic. Of the Pacific Fleet we have heard no news since Col. Knox returned from Hawaii. That is as it should be. It suggests that that fleet is busy, and when a fleet is busy it keeps silence. Of course, it may be waiting for re inforcements, British as well as American, but it may already have begun to search for the Japanese battle fleet. The American carriers must be very active in sending out scouting aircraft to search the vast ocean for that enemy fleet, but there are only certain areas where it is likely to be found. If the Japanese battle fleet can be smashed in a modern Trafalgar, which ought not to be be yond the combined powers of Britain and the United States, everything else would follow naturally and, so to speak, easily. Once the Japanese are deprived of the command of the seas —which depends on their battleships —the Allies will be able to deal with all their scattered landing parties, each of which would be cut off from its base. But, with so many Japanese expedi tions in progress, so many local interests involved, unity of Allied command is needed as never before. On our side there are forces from Great Britain, Australia, New Zea land, the Netherlands East Indies and the United States, all fighting hard in or on all three elements., One co ordinating mind, capable of thinking in terms of grand strategy, was obvi ously needed, and General Wavell has been chosen as that man. It may strike many as strange that a soldier should have been chosen to rule a campaign which is mainly naval and aerial in character; but the requisite in the supreme commander is not that he should be able to tell an Admiral how to deploy his ships for 300 BRITISH AIR LOSSES TO JAN 3rd. Over G.B. A'crft. Dec. 28 U . 29 0 , 30 0 „ 31 0 Jan. 1 0 2 0 .. 3 0 0 Over Continent B'brs. Ftrs Pilots 7 0 0 0 II 2 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 1 0 0 10 6 6 Middle East Aerft 1* 4» 2 2 2 2 14 Totals: North, 3,143; Middle East about 862. "I Pilot safe. a fleet action, nor that he should be an authority on the siting of airfields and the combined use of bombers and fighters, but that he should be able to see the Pacific war as a whole and be able to combine his forces of many nations and three Services, and direct them to the best advantage. We British believe that no one could do that better than Gen. Wavell, and evidently President Roosevelt is of the same opinion. Great things were expected of the meeting of the President with the British Prime Minister—who is him self a strategist on the grand scale— and this decision is the first outcome of the meeting. It is so bold, com prehensive, and unusual a step that it almost takes one's breath away. Without that meeting the Allies might have stumbled along for weary years of hard fighting and losses before they achieved unity of purpose and action. Soon, perhaps, Russian air strength will be added to the other forces arrayed against Japan. Meanwhile, the Russians press the Germans back •all along the line. It has been sug gested that the Luftwffe concentra tion in Greece and Crete was meant for use against the Crimea. If so. the Russian landing there has fore stalled the move. The aircraft may now, perhaps, be diverted to Tripoli- tania. JAN FEB APR AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC The above diagram deals with British and German losses in the Northern Area ot the war, including the episode of the R.A.F. Wing in Russia. It does not include the fiddle East, or enemy aircraft shot down by ships and the Fleet Air Arm.
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