FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1942
1942 - 1468.PDF
J6 FLIGHT JULY I6TH, 1,942 bulletins had little to say about close air support for the ground forces in battle (which is what the term " Army co-operation" mainly suggests), and the function allotted to the Air Force was clearly to interrupt, so far as possible, the enemy supplies from reaching Rommel's fighting troops. It appears that since General Auchin- leck took command and began his stand at Alamein the air squadrons have changed their policy, and have been playing an active part in the fighting. They are reported tc have been attacking the Axis troops as well as their supply lines, and to have been doing so with considerable effect. All reports lay stress on the tremendous effort of the R.A.F., but there has been so far no suggestion that new classes of aircraft, such as dive-bombers or tank-busters, have recently been received. The only novel reinforcements mentioned have been American heavy bombers, which, quite rightly, have been used for raids on Benghazi and Tobruk harbours, not for close support of the ground troops—a task for which heavy bombers are not suited. One wonders why this sudden change has come over the Libyan scene. Is it due to the presence of General Auchinleck in person, or does it merely mean that the Axis forces are now so thickly crammed into a narrow front that they provide better targets for air action than they did while the battle wandered over a much wider area? Or have thfrpreparations and studies of the Army Co-operation Command suddenly borne fruit? Prob ably the answer is : Roth. A Raw Deal /IS from Monday of this week the Air Training Corps /~\ came under the direct control of the Air Ministry, the post of Commandant having been abandoned and Air Commodore Chamier becoming Inspector of the A.T.C. This action by the Air Ministry appears somewhat high-handed, in view of the fact that if it had not been for Air Commodore Chamier there would have been no A.T.C. As Secretary-General of the Air League of the British Empire, Air Commodore Chamier conceived the idea of forming the Air Defence Cadet Corps, which'quickly grew to a very impressive size. Then the war broke out and, after a time, the A.D.C.C. was disbanded and the A.T.C. took its place, with Air Commodore Chamier as Commandant, the Air Ministry agreeing to wind up the financial part of the A.D.C.C., the squadrons of which became A.T.C. squadrons. The title of the Air Cadet journal was changed into the the A.T.C. Gazette, but it continued to be run by the Air League, and very efficiently run under the editorship of Mr. Leonard Taylor. No one who knows the dynamic personality of Air Commodore Chamier is likely to be optimistic about the chances of the A.T.C. being more efficiently run under Air Ministry control than it was under his, and it\i». impossible not to feel regret that he has been deprive^ of the command of the corps which he has built up. The Outlook War in the Air Here and There Voices from the Past Army Co-operation - The B. V. 141 Adventure of a Tiger Moth Aircraft Characteristics - CONTENTS Ahead of Their Time—6 - Japan's Power Units - Behind the Lines - In Parliament American Military Transport Correspondence Service Aviation 55 57 60 61 62 64 66 66, a" and b 67 70 73 74 75 76 77 SUBMARINE CHASER : A striking flying picture of the Avro Lancaster. Last week-end several squadrons of Lancasters made daylight flights to Danzig and Flensburg on the Baltic coast, where they attacked submarine yards and slipways. The round trip meant some 1,750 miles' flying, but only three machines were lost in this operation. It will be remembered that Lancasters were used for the famous daylight raid on the submarine diesel engine plant at Augsburg in April. Dimen sions of the Avro Lancaster are :—span, 102ft. ; length, 69ft. ; height on ground, 19ft. 7in. Maximum speed is about 300 m.p.h.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
