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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 0962.PDF
442 FLIGHT MAY 7TH, 1942 at the request of higher authority, was to raid Trondh- jem and Kiel, in both of which German warships are certainly lying. The damaged Scharnhorst is known to be in dock at Kiel, undergoing repairs, while at Trondhjem there still may be the battleship Tirpitz, which was probably hit by a British torpedo not long ago, the Admiral Scheer, the Prinz Eugen, .and perhaps another cruiser of the Hipper class. If these ships had all been repaired and made ready for sea, they would be a formidable fleet—not one capable of wresting from the Royal Navy the command of the seas, but certainly of doing great damage as commerce raiders. They might get loose in the Atlantic and hit our convoys hard, or they might work on the route which leads to Northern Russia. Aerial photographs taken by the R.A.F. have shown that the three warships which escaped from Brest are* all undergoing repairs, though it is not certain whether most of the damage was done during their passage up Channel or subsequently. These latest raids on Trondhjem and Kiel may have given the repairers still more work to do. If so, Bomber Command has performed a notable service to the Allied cause. German Reprisals T HE German so-called reprisals for the activities of Bomber Command have been, apart from the tragedies which they have caused, of a pitiable nature. The lords of the Luftwaffe ha-ve selected a number of cathedral cities in England and bombed them. Exeter, Bath, Norwich, York, all have suffered. The German papers say that they are selecting places marked with three stars in Baedeker. The German mind is incapable of grasping the idea that great works of art belong, not merely to the country in which they happen to be situated, but to the common culture of the whole world. The modern Huns do not even consider the feelings of their subordinate allies, for educated Italians would lament, as heartily as we British should do, the destruction of the Roman baths in Aquce Sulis (fortu nately they escaped) in which so many famous Romans of-old must have enjoyed a swim. Cultured Italians, by the same token, must regret the devastation of the his toric buildings of Malta, for the island is closely con nected with the history of Italy. While selecting places precious to world culture, it seems likely that the Germans also reckoned that such places would be - less heavily defended than the great centres of British war industry. Consequently they could do much damage with a small number of bomb^s. They worked with forces of about twenty aircraft, ,, flch is a big contrast to the heavy raids they were sending over eighteen months ago. It is obvious that the Germans do not want to risk heavy losses in the air just as the fierce summer campaigning season is about to start. But they forgot the efficiency of British fighters, especially on moonlight nights. The percentage of losses which they have suffered has been high, some times 25 per cent, of the raiding force,- while the damage to Britain's war effort has been nil. Even Prussians can hardly think that a satisfactory balance-sheet. AFTER THE BLITZ WAS OVER : A remarkable daylight (1) The main assembly shop showing the damage done the main assembly shop. (3) Another assembly shop d out and roofless. (5) Damage to workshops by blast V^(6) Paint pletely burnt out. A night photograph take/while to the Heinkel works at Rostock. bombs. /(2) fuselages and aircraft salvaged from Iderableportion of the machine shop burnt ked. (7) Other buildings com- ogresiappears on page 444.
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