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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 1219.PDF
MAY 13TH, 1943 FLIGHT 489 250-YARD FULL-LOAD TAKE-OFF : Just over a year ago 16 U.S. Mitchells bombed Tokio. Only recently was the in- •formation released that these took off from the deck of the American carrier Hornet. No mention is made of any take-off assistance other than the usual 30-knot air flow over the flight deck. Ominous Japanese Moves : Russian Air Strength : The Luftwaffe Stretched : Allied Offensive in Tunisia THE Japanese seem to be plan-ning mischief, not an unusualthing for them to do. They have lately assembled a fleet of sub- marines somewhere near the coasts of Australia, and they have laid down a chain of airfields in the semi-circle of occupied islands which is said to be capable of accommodating 1,500 air- craft. Recently they marked their aggressive mood by sending a fairly strong force of bombers with fighter escort to raid Darwin. A Spitfire squadron went up to meet them and tackled them with good effect. In the fight three of the British pilots were shot down, but the enemy suffered more heavily, and presently the Japanese turned tail and went off. The Spitfires followed ventre a terre (to use an utterly inappropriate but most graphic phrase) and so keen were they on the hunt that they did not watch their petrol gauges with suffi- cient care. The wind turned against them, and when they tried to get home a number of them ran out of fuel and came down in the sea. Fortu- nately all the pilots were picked up, but a number of valuable Spitfires were lost—a matter for great regret. No doubt the Japanese are keeping a watchful eye on the war in Europe, and news from Tunisia may well give them the hint that the anti-Comintern sun will not be shining for very long, and that they had better make hay as fast as they can. Still, Japanese con- ceit is so great that they may well mis- read the writing on the Tunisian and Russian walls. Gen. MacArthur's Air Force is kept busy hitting at the Japanese in all directions, and it has suffered small looses itself. Conse- quently, the new aircraft which are continually reaching him from America are additions rather than replace- ments. Over in the States Col. Knox, Secretary for the Navy, has spoken about the War of the Atlantic. There have been more attacks on U-boats, which, he said, were due to better air covering and more escort vessels. He did not attempt to express an opinion as to which form of escort was the more valuable. -Both are evidently essential, and of late it has been noticed that most of the sinkings have taken place on that stretch of the Atlantic which was beyond the work- ing range of aircraft from either shore. Another American authority, Mr. Angus Macdonald, has rather damped the pleasure aroused by Col. Knox's remarks by stating that the Germans are now producing faster and stronger U-boats. Bomber Command is making things as difficult as possible for the builders of U-boats as well as for those who service them at Lorient and St. Nazaire, but the Germans seem to be progressing none the less. We are told that scientists have produced new devices which help the escort vessels, and now the aircraft carry depth charges in place of bombs, which makes their attacks more deadly, but it is still a stiff fight for the mastery. It is very comforting to know that now the Russians outnumber the Luft- waffe in the number of aircraft on the Eastern Front, but the Germans have better communications behind their lines and can probably mass their squadrons so as to gain superiority for a time at a particular point. Some- thing less than half the whole Luft- waffe is now stationed in Russia, but it could hardly be called a well-balanced Air Force there. The German bombers heavily outnumber the fighters ; in fact something like 66 per cent, of the whole German bomber force is calcu- lated to be massed against the Rus- sians, whereas the fighter cover pro-
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