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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 2218.PDF
448 CAA^. FLIGHT ") OCTOBER 22ND, 1942 BATTLE-AREA AIR ORGANISATION (Top left) In the operations room the Wing Commander in charge of operations gives the order for attack. An Intelligence Officer telephones briefing material. (Top *ight) At a bomber station air crews gather round the briefing tent while their 'chutes and flying kit lie ready. On the airfield their Bostons are already refuelled and bombed-up. (Bottom left) At a fighter station a Squadron Leader outlines in the sand the tactics to be employed by the fighter escort. (Bottom right) The first flight of Bostons take off from the desert landing ground to join the fighter escort waiting overhead. whether they can do it, and gives the necessary order. Such is the system in general. In detail it depends on an Air Support Control Unit in touch, through a network of wireless channels, with the forward ground units. All notifications of suitable targets in the battle area and all calls for air support pass through this unit. Here they are sifted and passed to the Air Staff, which decides whether or not to attack. Various points must be considered in deciding whether a target is suitable for air attack. Is it far enough from our own troops for safety? Is it well defended by A.A.? Is it well or badly dispersed? Can it be easily picked up from the air? The best targets for bombers are the enemy's thin-skinned vehicles—his supply echelons, petrol convoys, troop-carriers. The hardest to damage are his guns and tanks and armoured vehicles. A good target for artillery will not necessarily be a good target for bombing. The man on the ground has had to become air-conscious. to learn what the Air Force can and cannot do. The man in the air has had to become ground-conscious, to learn what the Army does and does not want. Each now knows the other's functions so well that there is no wastage of air effort. The weight of Air Force bombardment is used to its maximum effect. The vital factor in air support is speed. Air attack, to be effective, must be swift. This depends first on rapid transmission of information. A call for support must be flashed back to Army-Air headquarters, by field telephone and wireless link, with the minimum delay. There a quick appreciation of the position must be made, a quick deci sion reached. Simultaneously, the call has reached the headquarters of the bombers, who will make the attack, and of the fighters, who will escort them. The gong calls crews to the briefing tent. They are given details of the target, and of the best method of approach and attack. Their (Continued at foot of next page.)
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