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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 2398.PDF
544 \* NOVEMBER 19TH, 194* WAR* IN THE AIR whatever lair it may be lurking. Each Italian naval base should be treated as Brest was treated. Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham and his merry men will ask nothing better than that the Italian Fleet should come out aad offer battle. Submarines may be a nuisance, but the Royal Navy has sub marines, too, and in any case recon naissance aircraft and light naval craft have more chance of spotting and deal ing with U-boats in the comparatively narrow waters of the Mediterranean than in the open wastes of the Atlantic. It must be a great strain on Hitler's resources to have to move his soldiers down to the south of France just now. He had kept in Occupied France (so the Prime Minister has told the world) an army about equal to that which we British have in the United Kingdom (apart from the Home Guard). Mr. Churchill mentioned 33 German divi sions, as well as a large proportion of the Luftwaffe's bomber force. He spoke with some frankness about the preparations we have made to invade in the North-West, and he also spoke about the justifiability of deceiving the enemy. Now the German force in France is split in two. Hitler must indeed be guessing, and studying a map covering much the same area as the one published in this article. Carthage and Rome HPHE ruins of Carthage lie just by -1- Tunis, and once again the struggle between Carthage (now revi vified) and Rome (now decadent) is renewed. Field Marshal Smuts was responsible for this historical allusion in a speech in which he also made the impressive remark that " he who holds the Mediterranean probably holds the key to Europe." He also pointed out that the U-boat campaign is on the increase, and that Hitler regards it as the last hope of Germany. He urged new measures for dealing with it; which reminds us that Flight has often remarked that attacking tin- U-boat nurseries was just about the most useful contribution Bomber Command could make towards vic tory. Looking back on the steps which led up to " the most amazing trans formation that we have seen in thi.* war—perhaps in any war " (to quote Field Marshal Smuts again) ene notable air feat was the flight ot Col. E. D. Raff and his American para chute troops from England to the country behind Oran, where they landed. It was a fine flying feat, and it also saved space on the carriers, which was valuable, besides making the surprise more certain. These troops were quickly backed up by the full strength of the Army landed from the transports, and, therefore, wer? in quite different case from the Axis « TRADITION IN THE MAKING : Ej Daba airfield captured from the Luftwaffe by the Royal Air Force Regiment, in action for the first time. The Battle of Egypt will thus appear as the first of the Regiment's battle honours. y troops landed by air in Tunis, with out any such backing of artillery and tanks. Another outstanding air exploit was the attack made by British two- engined fighters on that same landing ground at Tunis, which is named El Alouina. They wrecked at least 20 machines on the ground, among them five Ju 52s, which must be almost worth their weight in gold to the Axis just now. Unfortunately, their crews had presumably got out of them before our fighters arrived. An other six JU52S were shot down in the air over Cyrenaica the same day. It almost goes without saying that Allied bombers have been hammering the air fields in Sardinia, as well as the Axis ports along the coast. But the advance of the Eighth Army has been so rapid that by now British ships probably want to use the ports them selves, and will be rather inclined to curse the efficiency of the bombing to which our own aircraft have subjected them. That has been the way all through with this see saw campaign in Libya. Boston Tea Parties A IR CHIEF MARSHAL TEDDER •**• has given an interview in which he discussed the part played by the R.A.F. in the desert campaign. He insisted on the way in which Army and Air Force had waged a "joint war," a point which needs constant emphasis. He defined air superiority as "whether on land, sea or air you can do what you want without; serious enemy interference from the air." The preliminary steps for the great Battle of Egypt began, he said, on October 9th, when Axis fighter aerodromes were water-logged, while British air craft were able to get off the ground. The raids by Bostons, which the R.A.F. men called "Boston Tea Parties," broke the enemy's strength in fighters, and once that was broken our airmen naturally had the rest of things pretty much their own way. It is interesting that Sir Arthur Tedder rated the Italian pilots with their Macchis as deserving of as high, if not higher, recognition than the Germans. He is not the first British airman to hold that view. The speedy ending of French resist ance in the African Colonies after the American and British troops and air squadrons landed was -most satisfac tory. In many cases it was but a token resistance, but even so it was hateful for British forces to have to engage their old Allies. In Syria and Mada gascar the resistance was much more prolonged, and now we may hope that there will be no more need for blood letting between French and British. The Americans are also traditional Allies of France, and the name of the Marquis de La Fayette is never for gotten on the other side of the Atlantic. Some Repercussions T^HE Germans and, to some extent, the Italians, have been quick to react to this great Allied move in Africa, but their measures are all defensive. The initiative lies with the United Nations, despite the landings in Tunis, the invasion of southern France, and the occupation of Cor sica. Speculations of Axis attacks on Allied positions in Africa are to be deprecated ; what we all wait to hear is news of the next advance against the enemy. Undoubtedly Africa now presents the second front for which everybody in Russia as well as in other Allied countries has been eagerly waiting. The Germans in France are now threatened from two sides, and Italy and the Axis troops in the Balkans are
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