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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 0967.PDF
MAY 7TH, V 194* WAR I <r ENEMY AIR LOSSES TO C April 26 „ 27 .. 28 , 29 „ 30 May 1 2 Totals : ver G.B, 2 1 6 0 8 0 0 17 North 5,836 Far East fig Over Continent 6 II 4 2 9 1 0 33 MAY 2nd. Middle East 3 5 5 4 4 0 0 21 ; Middle East, over 3 738 ; jres not reliable. success on the British side, and the R.A.F. has continued to fly and to harry the enemy as much as possible. J ^ the Mediterranean the Middle ft Command has been using both bomb and torpedo with effect against the enemy's shipping on the way to Africa. The enemy has'been send ing escorts of aircraft as well as destroyers with his convoys, but on one occasion of the sort our machines shot down two Dornier 18s, while two Italian fighters, which were also with the convoy, failed to hit our machines. The tanker which was being escorted was hit by cannon fire, and clouds of smoke and steam were pouring from her as our aircraft left. Both the Dorniers were shot down by Belgian pilots who were members of the British squadron. H.M.S. Illustrious has been visited at a northern port in Great Britain by Rear Admiral A. L. St. G. Lyster, Fifth Sea Lord, who flew his flag in her when her T.S.R. aircraft wrought such havoc to the Italian Fleet at Taranto. After the battle of the Sicilian Straits the carrier was repaired at Norfolk, Virginia, and the Navy yard there presented the ship with a bell to replace the one which was damaged by bomb splinters in the battle. WINGS OF THE ARMY : A photo graph of the badge which will be worn by army pilots of gliders and observa tion aircraft. The latter will be known •as air observation post pilots. It is worked in pale blue on a black back ground. The naval Distinguished Service Medal has been awarded to Gunlayer H. H. G. Farley, who is the first gunner in a merchant ship to receive such a decoration. He has shot down three enemy aircraft which tried to bomb the ships in which he was serv ing. His latest victim was a Heinkel 111 shot down on December 18th, 1041". Widespread Activities '"FHE evacuation of Mandalay, com- -*• ing so soon after the loss of Lashio, is deplorable, but hardly un expected. If it is the case, as has been stated, that it was Burmese jealousy of India and a desire to check the movement of Indians into Burma, which prevented the making of good land communications between the two countries, Burma is paying a heavy price for her isolationism. It is more probable that no one expected that Britain would lose command of the Bay of Bengal; and sea transport was so easy compared with the engineer ing difficulties of connecting the two countries by rail and road, that things were jusi left as they were. But Chinese bombers and A.V.G. fighters can still swoop down from China on to the Japanese, and they have made a successful'raid on the Lashio airfield and barracks. It appears that a new chapter in the Middle East offensive was opened by the attack by Wellingtons on the Axis submarine base in the island oi Leros in the Dodecanese. It is notable that Reuter's correspon dent now describes Wellingtons as "medium-heavy" bombers. Perhaps the Middle East is to get the real "heavy" bombers. The Wellingtons dropped special anti-submarine bombs which are calculated to damage the plates of a U-boat even if they only fall near- it. The Wellingtons came from six squadrons based in the Western Desert, and they had a most successful moonlight raid, meeting with little opposition. Each machine carried a ton and a half of bombs. The regular bombing of Benghazi goes on well nigh every night, with little intermission. While everyone is surprised at Hitler's delay in launching his spring offensive, some initial activity has taken place in the form of German bombing raids on the Russians in the Kerch peninsula. The Germans have not mentioned the use of dive-bombers there, from which it may be con cluded that their mastery of the air is far from complete. In the northern area, aerial recon naissance and photography have shown that for some time to come there is no danger of a strong German fleet steaming out to dispute the mastery of the Atlantic. The Gneise- nau is at Gdynia in Poland^ and is severely damaged along the whole length of her forecastle. The Scharn- horst is still in the hands of dockyard workers at Kiel, while the Prim Eugen, which was torpedoed by H.M.S. Trident, is at Trondhjem, and her after-part needs very considerable repair. Some of the damage to the first two may have been done during their passage up the Channel, and later they may have struck British mines. During April, Bomber Command sent raiders over German territory on nineteen nights, and in six of those nights 1,300 tons flf bombs were dropped. The Command lost 144 air craft. Fighter Command attacked on twenty days, losing 99 machines and destroying 77. , • < / / / FOR FAR EAST ATTACK BRITISH AIR LOSSES TO MAY 2nd. Middle East A'crft. 3 2 2 2 0 0 0 ^Totals : North, 3,645 ; Middle East, about 1,101; Far East figures not reliable. Over G.B. A'crft. April li May, 27 28 29 30 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Over Continent B'brs 2 17 9 6 0 1 2 37 — Ftrs. 4 20 6 2 4 8 0 •*»
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