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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 1735.PDF
AIRCRAFT ENGINEER FIRST AERONAUTICAL WEEKLY IN THE W>RLD •• FOUNDED wod Editor C. M. POULSEN Managing Editor G. GEOFFREY SMITH, M.B.E. Chief Photographer JOHN YOXALL Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices: DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.1 8-10, Telegrams : Truditur, Sedist, London. COVENTRY : CORPORATION ST. BIRMINGHAM, 2 : GUILDHALL BUILDINGS, NAVIGATIONS T. Telegrams: Autocar,Coventry. Telegrams: Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone: Coventry 5210. Telephone: Midland 297 1 (5 lines). Telephone: Waterloo 3333 (35 lines). MANCHESTER, 3 : GLASGOW, C.I : 260, DEANSGATE 26B, RENFIELDST. Telegrams: Iliffe, Manchester. Telegrams: Iliffe, Glasgow. Telephone : Btackfriars 4412. Telephone: Central 4857. No. 1802. Vol. XLIV. c Registered at the C.f.Q. as a Newspaper. July 8th, 1943. The Outlook Thursdays, One Shilling. 9,000 Miles Saved WHEN the victorious advance of the Eighth Annystarted, the prospect of opening the Mediter-ranean once again to British shipping began to dazzle the minds of everyone in this country, not to mention far-sighted Americans. A statement issued by Allied Air Headquarters in North Africa on June 30th proclaims that this is now an accomplished fact. The Mediterranean and the Suez Canal have always been regarded as one of the lines of communication on which British Empire strategy has been based. At this happy moment it is salutary to cast one's mind back to earlier days when the possibility had to be faced that this line might be .closed. The entry of Italy into the war on the side of Germany had been expected, but the loss of the French fleet as a partner had not. Men began to talk gloomily about the possibility of steaming , round the Cape, thinking mflre of the connection with India and Australia than of the link between the British Isles and Egypt. The idea seemed fraught with despair. That an Army in Egypt could be kept supplied by means of the Cape route looked well-nigh impossible. To meet such an emergency a force had been stationed in Syria and Palestine under Generals Weygand and Wavell, but again the defection of France defeated the original plans. One consequence was the loss of Greece and Crete, and a long delay before the original Army of the Nile could be built up into the great Eighth Army. From Great Britain to Suez through the Mediterranean is some 3,000 miles, while round the Cape it is 12,000 miles. U-boats haunted the route, though the conquest of Somaliland cut down their sphere of operations. The strain on British shipping was enormous, and how the job was carried through to a successful conclusion is one of the wonders of this war. The Axis leaders must have thought that it never could be done. Despite all difficulties it was done. Now the Mediterranean is open once again. The pos- session by us of airfields all along the northern coast of Africa means that our shipping sails always under an umbrella of fighters by day and night. Only those in the secrets of the Allied High Command can say whether the Middle East is still such an impor- tant base for an offensive as it was a few months ago. To all appearances, at least as they appear to the man in the street, North-West Africa is now the more impor- tant base, and that can be supplied direct from Great Britain and from the American continent. But to have opened once again the direct line to India and Australia is a success of prime importance. Of at least equal moment is the saving in shipping by our recovered ability to by-pass the Cape of Good Hope. Allied grand strategy is based on shipping, and the setting free of the enormous tonnage needed for the . Cape route is almost the equivalent of sinking a record number of U-boats in the Atlantic—and in May and June we did that also. Towards the Setting SunI T has not taken long for action to follow Mr. Churchill's words in Washington that the United Nations were now strong enough to press the war against Japan as well as that against Germany and Italy. General'MacArthur has started an offensive ot an amphi- bious nature by landing troops on various islands. The day of defence by bombers alone has passed, and now the naval and land forces of the United Nations are playing their due parts in the new offensive. That does not mean that aircraft have lost any of
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