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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 1275.PDF
AIRCRAFT ENGINEER FIRST AERONAUTICAL WEEKLY IN THE WORLD .• FOUNDED WO9 -T Editor C. M. POULSEN Managing Editor G. GEOFFREY SMITH, M.B.E. Chief Photographer JOHN YOXALL Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices: DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.1 Telegrams : Truditur, Sedist, London. COVENTRY s 8-10, CORPORATION ST.. Telegrams: Autocar, Coventry. Telephone: Coventry S21 0. Telephone s Waterloo 3333 (35- lines). BIRMINGHAM, a : GUILDHALL BUILDINGS, NAVIGATION ST. Telegrams: Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone: Midland 2971 (5 lines). MANCHESTER, 3 ; 260, DEANSGATE, Telegrams: lliffe, Manchester. Telephone : Blackfriars 4412. GLASGOW, C.2 i 26B, RENFIELD ST., Telegrams: lliffe, Glasgow. Telephone: Central 4857. SUBSCRIPTION RATES ; Home and Abroad : Year, £3 10. 6 months. Registered at the C.P.O. as a Newspaper. £1 10 6. 3 months, 15s. 3d. No. 1747. Vol. XLI. . JUNE 18th, 1942. Thursdays, One Shilling. The Outlook- Tanks and Aircraft in Libya A LINE in a despatch from the correspondent of The. Junes, on the Libyan front may explain the long lull in Libya during the spring, and also why we permitted Rommel to attack us instead of once more attacking him.. The correspondent writes that all the Axis tanks have a higher fire-power than any of ours, "except for the 'General Grants,' which rule the battlefield." In the late autumn fighting, from Sidi Rezegh to Rommel's recoveiy and renewed advance, it has seemed W)bable to those who tried to read between the lines ztyne official bulletins from Cairo that the Empire forces were (to coin a phrase) out-tanked, and that the Empire's air superiority could not restore the balance. Consequently, Rommel had the best of things, though he postponed his great attack until he had built up his forces from overseas, while the Luftwaffe contingents in Sicily kept Malta comparatively quiet and prevented the bombers on the island from sinking too many of the Axis transports. Generals Auchinleck and Ritchie, on the other hand, must have been waiting for heavy lanks, i.e., the "General Grants," to arrive from America, as most British-made heavy tanks were being sent to Russia. Rommel was ready first, and so attacked. If enough "General Grants" had arrived in time, there can be no doubt that General Ritchie would have started the attack himself, for aggression has always been the motto o*^ll three Services in the Middle East. Perhaps, also, the British Generals were hoping for more "attack'' aircraft from the United States, for the fighters and bombers now in the Middle East have not proved suit able for destroying German tanks (despite some recent vague statements that they have been attacking enemy " armoured " forces), and have found that the best help they could give was by harassing the enemy's supply columns. But in the series of battles which started with Sidi Rezegh, the German tanks were seldom, if ever, immobilised for want of fuel, despite the great havoc wrought by the Air Force among the supply columns. There has been nothing in recent reports to suggest that the position is now different, and that Rommel has not got up enough supplies in the recent desperate fighting, though the Empire Air Forces have used bomb and cannon with great effect. The Midway Mystery T HE battle of Midway Island seems to have fol lowed the pattern of the battle of the Coral Sea, and that pattern is a new thing in naval warfare. So far as our present knowledge goes, and it is certainly very scrappy, in each case the opposing fleets did not come to close quarters, and there was little, if any, exchange of gunfire between the warships. They fought at long range with aircraft. In the case of Midway this is especially remarkable, for the American Admiral has been very definite in reporting that the Japanese had three or more battleships present, as well as at least five carriers. There has been no mention of the composition of the American naval force, but we must doubt if it included any battleships, for there has been no hint of U.S. battleships in the Pacific since the attack on Pearl Harbour. In any case, the Japanese were most prob ably stronger in ships, for it is never their way to send a boy to do a man's work.
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