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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 0153.PDF
JANUARY 2IST, 1943 FLIGHT 57 Spitfire IXs of Fighter Command all set for a formation take-off prior to a sweep over Northern France. WAR in the Ah The Doughty Fortress : Losses of the Luftwaffe : The Ruhr Diligently Hammered : Sandstorms and Sleet in Tripolitania TIE exploits of the Fortressescontinue to amaze everybody,and the Luftwaffe must hate and dread them in much the same way,as it hates and dreads the Schpitfuer. Last week a formation of Fortressesfrom French Africa made a daylight raid on the airfield of Castel Benito,which lies to the south of Tripoli. One may note in passing how the bombersof the Eighth Army and those of the United Nations in French Africa are now overlapping in their raids. Rom-mel's forces and those in Tunisia are being hammered from both sides. Thisraid destroyed at least 20 aircraft on the ground, besides blowing up build-ings. As the Americans returned they were assailed by some 20 to 30 Me 109fighters and a running fight went on for an hour and a quarter. No fewerthan 14 of the German fighters were shot down, and others were damaged,while the Americans lost only one FLYING BOOTEES : The crew of a Beaufighter shot down by A.A. fire whilestrafing Rommel's transport west of Sirte. They trekked for 16 days behind the enemy lines before being picked up by an armoured car patrol. This is the firstphotograph showing a Vickers K gun being used as rear armament on a Beaufighter. bomber during the day. At this stageof the war the .Axis canuot easily afford to lose 34 machines at one fellswoop. Yet that was not the full tale ofthe Luftwaffe's woes. Either on that day, or perhaps it was the previousday, far away in the region of the Caucasus, where the Russians arepressing forward with tremendous im- petus towards important places in theplain of the Kuban river, their bombers raided Krasnodar, the capitalof the province and an important rail- way junction, and claimed to havedestroyed 40 aircraft on the ground. The attack seems to have taken theGermans by surprise. Since winter began aircraft have not been muchmentioned on the Eastern Front, atad much of the. work which they usually •do has been left to swarms of Cossack horsemen*. Naturally, in winter conditions,even though this winter is said to be less severe than that of lastyear, the internal-combustion engine loses some of its supremacy, and fleshand blood can move and strike where aircraft and mechanical vehicles areat a disadvantage. This flexibility in the Russian use of alternate armsaccording to the season will provide much study for Staff Colleges afterthe war, when the full facts are known. None the less, Stormovikshave been harrying the crowded roads along which the Germans have beenretreating in the direction of Rostov, and the Germans have mentioned theuse of aircraft by the Russians on the northern sector, to the east of Lenin
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