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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 1087.PDF
APRIL 29TH, 1943 FLIGHT 437 WA R I N TH E A 1 R ENEMY AIR LOSSES TO APRIL April II ,. l4 .. 15 16 „ 17 Over G.B. 0 0 0 4 0 4 0 8 Totals : West, 6,810 ; North Con- tinent 1 0 2 8 2 5 5 23 Middle East 0 0 1 0 2 2 2 7 Middle East, over Africa, 1,328 I7th N. Africa 41 12 II 21 2 7 42 135 5,281 ; transport aircraft (would that there were more of them!) and ambulance machines. The last-named may not be so essential in European warfare as they are in the desert, but there may always be times when rapid transport by air will save lives which would otherwise 6e lost. It is, however, well known that when the United Nations invade the Continent, the air support of their armies will not be limited to the squad- rons, of Army Co-operation Command. The whole of Bomber Command will lend a hand in the way most suitable to each class of squadron. In the meantime it is a good thing to give the bomber squadrons of A.C. Command some practical work on the Continent. Mosquitoes now have an intimate connection with special Nazi days, and take a delight in upsetting whatever jubilant feelings they may inspire in the people of Berlin. Not long ago they made two daylight raids which interfered with broadcasts by Goring and Gobbels. Hitler's birthday pro- vided another such opportunity, and accordingly on that night a force of Mosquitoes paid another visit to the Capital of the Reich. It was a busy night for Bomber Command, and the Baltic ports of Stettin and Rostock IMPROMPTU AIRFIELD : A Vultee Vigilant taking off from the El Hamma road after landing a liaison officer. were also raided, and in both cities great fires w£re started which. were seen burning ten hours later when a reconnaissance machine of the R.A.F. flew over them. The Russians also joined in that night with a bombing raid on Tilsit, a city famous for the treaty signed there in 1807 between Napoleon and the Tsar. This treaty, says the Encyclopedia Britannica, "registers the nadir of Prussia's humiliation." Another humiliation for Prussia is impending, in which Russia will certainly play a major part, while France will surely contribute her share, so Tilsit is a place of good omen. In the Far East, the Americans are now paying serious attention to the Japanese in the Aleutian island of Kiska, and the bombing raids on the place have been growing in frequency and weight. The final day of reckon- ing with Japan has not yet arrived, but it will certainly come. The news that the Japanese put to death some of the American airmen who were taken prisoner in the raid on Nippon from the carrier flornet a year ago ha9 filled the civilised world with horror. Not long ago we fondly imagined that the Japanese had emerged from mediaeval barbarism and had become civilised. But, then, we also thought the same of the Germans. The Enffilavirie Battle TN the opening stages of the Eighth •*- Army's attack on Rommel's posi- tion at Enfidaville, aircraft could play no direct part. General Montgomery attacked by night, and the arms which he used were the infantry and the artillery. He is an adept at ringing the changes in his methods, and he always uses the arms most suitable for the job in hand at the moment. When day broke the air arm was not used against the enemy's positions in the hills, for bombs do not produce their best effects in mountain warfare. Near misses cannot be reckoned on to do damage—in fact, if the slope is steep, a miss may literally be as good as a mile. Our aircraft were launched in full strength against the enemy's air- fields with the object of preventing the Axis air arm from interfering with the back areas of the Eighth Army on the plain below. That was the best ser- vice they could render MAST-HIGH ATTACK: Two North American Mitchells bombingtransport on the Bismarck Sea. a Japanese BRITISH & U.S. AIR Apri' II 12 13 14 15 16 17' Totals Over G.B. A'erft. 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 : West, Cont B'brs. 40 4 23 0 55 16 102 5,740; 1 LOSSES to APRIL inentF'ti-s. i 3 4 3 5 6 Middle East A'crft. 00 0 • 0 0 0 0 0 17th N. Africa A •crft. 14 2 3 C 0 3 12 42 Middle East, about 2,086 ; rjorth Africa, 510.
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