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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 1629.PDF
JUNE,24TH, 1943 FLIGHT 653 WAR IN THE AIR #m ENEMY AIR LOSSES TO JUNE June 6 ., 7 8 9 , 10 , • M , 12 , 13 , M , 15 . 16 . 17 , 18 , 19 Over G.B. 1 . 0 0 0 0 1 5 4 0 0 0 0. 0 1 12 Totals: West, 7.0 IE • Nortf Con- tinent 0 0 0 0 4 5 2 3 2 4 2 9 0 4 35 ; Middle Afrka, 2 Middle East 10 0 0 3 1 01 1 5 1 0 1 2 1 1 26 East, ove 109. 9th N. Africa 9 II 1 18 39 14 0 0 4 16 5 2 39 1 159 - 5,369; to- be expected. The Americans will ' not waste time. • Later reports from Guadalcanal give :*. the Japanese losses in the great air i,.battUv as- 94 instead of 77. Another rating, item of news from* the Pacific is that Vultee Vengeance dive- .bombers have been in action over an d named Selaru, in the group of Tenitnber islands. Almost imme- diately after Duiikerque the Royal Air Force placed an order for Vengeance machines, and the time which passed without any deliveries being made caused much comment. Now the type has appeared in the. Pacific. In the meantime the R.A.F. in Africa de- veloped the use of fighter-bombers and " tank-busters " as a means of discom- fiting the Axis forces, and the results were most gratifying. An Eaisl Asian Command '"THE most significant piece of news published last week was that an East Asian Command was to be formed to conduct the war against NOT ON HOT BRICKS : An American "Cat" in a 60-knot blizzard on AdakIsland in the Aleutians. Japan, relieving the Commander-in- ' Chief of India of that responsibility. This announcement accompanied the other announcements that Field- Marshal Wavell was to become Viceroy in October and that General Auchin- leck would straightway resume his former appointment as Commandef-in- Chief. . - The first reflection aroused by these announcements is that the Armies of the Empire lose the services of two of our most brilliant military com- manders—at least sqtfar as command in the field goes. The name of the* officer who is to be placed in charge of the new Command may be announced before these words are pub- lished, and at the moment of writing speculation would not be profitable. It will almost certainly be a combined Command, at least over the Army and Air Force, and perhaps over the Royal Kavy as well, in the sphere of opera- tions. It will, we presume, be analogous to the positions held by General Eisenhower in North-West Africa and General MacArthur in the South-West Pacific. It is a comforting thought that the Empire (or should we say the United Nations?) is now so rich in competent leaders that it can afford to deprive the fighting forces of two such men as Wavell and Auchin- leck as conductors of campaigns. In the Mediterranean there was a lull for some days, and then the air JET PROPELLED FIGHTERS—NOT YET ! What appears to be a hoax surroundsthis picture. Certain daily papers in reproducing it described the aircraftas a new-type " propellorless " Italian plane driven by compressed air. " Thecircular intake in the flat nose," it was explained, "admits air to the com-pressor and ejects through an adjust- able outlet in the tail." We fear thatsomeone has been hoodwinked ! The nose is an ordinary spinner, the re-volving airscrew blades have not reproduced and the aircraft appears tobe Reggiani 2001 of orthodox type. BRITISH & June : 6 178 9 10 II 12 13 14 15 »6 !7 18 19 Total Over C.B. A^crft .0 0 -0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 U.S. AIR • LOSSES to JUNE 19th Continent B'brs. 00 00 0 •51 2S ' 29 18 2 14 0 C 3 142 5 : West, 6,408 ; F'trs. 0 4 1 0 3 I 1 5 0 0 5 3 0 2 25 Middle Middle East A'crft. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 • o0 0 0 0 0 1 N;W, Africa A'crft. 1 2 11 6 3 0 0 0 7 . 0 "0 8 0 29 East, about 2,095 : North West Africa, 748. offensive against Italy and the Italian islands broke out more fiercely than before. Naples suffered heavily, and so did Syracuse. Perhaps Sardinia was subjected to the most widespread Bombing, and it is evidently intended that that island shall be left in no position to interfere with future opera- tions by the Allies in the Western Mediterranean. Corsica, a French possession now in the hands of the Axis, has not been similarly -attacked at the moment of writing. Naturally, the Allies do not want to hurt French civilians. Northern France, however, where the Germans are using factories to help their war effort, cannot be left alone. Last October a force of Lancastcrs made a daylight raid on the armament factory of LeCreusot, 170 miles south of Paris. The works cover about 270 acres, and are so important that the Germans set to work to repair them and get them into working order again. Last Saturday night a force of four-engined" bombers went there again to destroy the repairs. Only slight opposition was encountered, and the bombers set about their task methodically. Their losses were very light, and it is hoped that great damage was done to the factory.
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