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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 0496.PDF
MARCH 5TH, 1942 WAR OVER THE DESERT : Bristol Blenheims of the Middle East Command in formation. The view is that of the second pilot. saw four ships, two cruisers and two destroyers, of which one cruiser and one destroyer were in tow. Pre sumably the other survivors had gone on ahead. One wonders how the Japanese are going to keep their.troops supplied on all the islands which they have occupied. The Japanese soldier is a frugal person who can live on the rice which he will find in the Malay villages, but ammunition is not to be picked up in that way. Three other large Japanese transports were sunk by Allied airmen near Macassar. More- Fighters Wanted f~\F course, Japanese raids have been ^-^ constant over Java and other Dutch islands, and where there were no air defences there has been machine-gun ning of civilians in the streets. The Japanese have nothing to learn from the senior partner of the Axis in tin- way of brutality. Naval parachute troops are said to have landed on the island of Timor. The Portuguese troops did not arrive in time to pro tect their half of the island, and the British and Dutch were not there in sufficient strength. From Java goes up the regular cry for more fighters. American P40S have been in action over the naval base of Surabaya, and have done wonders. One day they tackled 52 Japanese bombers escorted by 40 fighters, and did some damage. But it is .almost pathetic to read of another fight in which the Americans numbered only seven. None the less they turned back a superior Japanese formation and bagged a few of them without loss to themselves. On the day following the Rangoon air battle mentioned above, in which the Japanese lost at least 30 machines, there was another resounding victory for the R.A.F. and Americans in the same area. This time 21 enemy machines were brought down. The Japanese no doubt have strong air forces, but over 50 lost in two days is enough to make any commander think. They are said to be construct ing airfields in northern Siam, oppo site to where the Chinese troops are lying, and developments in that region are probable before long. It is good news that some 5,000 civilians have been evacuated from Rangoon by sea. The trip across the Bay of Bengal to India is not now a. pleasure cruise, and most of the ships were attacked by Japanese aircraft. Although it is improbable that the ships were armed, none-was hit by the enemy's bombs. Evidence is accumu lating that the Japanese are not good bomb-aimers. General Wavell's love for flying about the world has cost him a broken rib. He visited Singapore just before the surrender, and his machine had an accident when taking off on the return journey. The accident has notjbxpt him from his work, though he musMJe suffering pain from the fracture. The German Warships A IR reconnaissance has now proved ^*- that neither the Scharnhorst nor the Gneisenau got through the Channel unscathed. Both are laid up, one in dry dock at Kiel, the other in the dockyard at Wilhelmshaven. It is not possible to say whether the wounds in flicted on them came from air tor pedoes or marine torpedoes, and we must hope that some of the latter found their mark, as they do heavier damage. The Prinz Eugen seems to have escaped the risks of the Channel passage, but she has since been hit by a torpedo from the submarine H.M.S. Trident, and will certainly need pro longed repairs before she is fit for sea again. That is no small consolation for the rebuff which our forces suffered when the ships made their way through the Channel without being sunk outright. In Russia the German Sixteenth Army has been surrounded at Staraya Russa, and the Russians are closing in on it. Originally it consisted of CAMP DES INTERNEES BR1TANNIQUES : A group ©i F, in the internment camp at Laghouat, Algeria. The Sub. Lt. (A) J. M. Robertson, D.S.C., R.N.V.R., who is on thqfcight ih the bottom row. I^ir Arm .peritonei J togi^ph was sent by r . ^
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