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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 1938.PDF
136 WAR IN THE AIR fighters, fighter-bombers, and light bombers. The heavies, of course, can still work trom bases in the Middle East and North-West Africa; in fact bombing raids on Italian ports are now sometimes mere incidents in flights be- tween Britain and Africa. In the various African campaigns, of which the invasion of Sicily is a direct sequel, c 'rcraft have many times been used as field artillery when it was not possible or easy to get the guns into position in time. It is not the ideal thing to do, but it is a useful ex- pedient on occasions. When the artil- lery can be • brought into play in sufficient force it is best to leave the battering work to them, for it is their proper job. Best of all is a combina- tion of guns and bombers such as was seen in the later stages of the fighting in Tunisia, each doing its own share of the work, and not interfering with the other. The Allies are free to land guns in Sicily, for they hold command of both sea and air, and have good ports at their disposal, but it is doubtful whether they nave yet had time to get large quantities into the island and up into position on the fighting front. Time is of importance to General Eisenhower and his men, for obviously the Germans are merely fighting to gain time and their object ought to be frustrated. There is lots of work for the armies from Africa to do elsewhere once Sicily is completely in our hands. Therefore it seems probable that the final blow which will break the Ger- man ring round Catania and Messina may be struck by the aircraft of the Allies. In fact, that may have hap- i pened by the time these lines are pub- f lished. No air opposition of any account need be feared, for the Ger- F LIGHT mans are very short of fighters and have withdrawn most of those which they had massed in Sicily—that is to say those which survived, but their losses have been heavy—and the British and American machines of all classes are free to rove whither they like and to strike at positions as well as at communications. The German field force, unbacked by fighters, is in a position comparable to that of H.M.S. Prince of Wales and Repulse, though their destruction may take somewhat longer to accomplish. Tor- pedoes do their work quickly, but they are not for use on land, and defensive positions in mountainous country are the least susceptible of all to destruc- tion by bombs. Still, if the forward positions can be isolated by day, and perhaps to some extent by night, the task of the Allied infantry will be enormously simplified. Meanwhile, the abolition of the Fas- cist party by Marshal Badoglio looks like an attempt to appeal for easy terms so soon as Italy ceases to be held down by the German garrison. The repetition of the phrase '' The war goes on'' has no sound of expec- tation of victory. Forward in the Solomons /"^ENERAL MACARTHUR has been ^-* feeling his way cautiously forward in New Georgia towards the great Japanese air base at Munda. He is using both infantry and aircraft, and it does not appear from the reports that he has much artillery in action, except when his warships bombard a position. Time does not seem of first- - rate importance to the Americans and Australians, so long as they can hold off the threat to Australia, which is now negligible, and gradually make headway. The grand attack on Japan will come later; at the moment it is of more consequence ttat the progress I g AUGUST 5TH, 1943 BACK TO NICKEL RAIDING : Loading leaflets into a Lancaster of a Rhodesian squadron before one of the big raids on Hamburg. Over 2,000 tons of bombs were dropped at the same time to emphasise the message in the leaflets. EXPLOSIVE THISTLEDOWN : Para-chute bombs dropped by U.S.A.A.F. Mitchells during an attack on aJapanese airfield. should be made with the least possible expenditure of Allied lives. So the American bombers, of which there are a great variety of types in the area, are kept busily employed. Munda has been heavily bombed over and over again, but it seems to resemble Stavanger m its power of survival against attack from the air. The Japanese defence against infantry ad- vance consists mainly of innumerable machine-gun posts cleverly placed most resolutely manned. The proper way of dealing with machine guns is by sending tanks against them, but this is not feasible in island warfare. Bombs are the best weapons available, but they are not ideal for blotting out small and well-concealed targets. They can wreak havoc in camps, and they have taken a very great toll of Japan- ese shipping, but against machine-gun posts direct hits are all that can do any good, and direct hits must be more a matter of good luck than good guid- ance. The Japanese, unlike the Ger- mans in Sicily, can bring defending fighters into play. A new move in the Pacific war has been a series of American bombing attacks on Wake Island, one*of the chain of American island bases which the Japanese seized in their first im- petuous attack. Kiska, in the Aleu- tians, has become a regular target now that summer weather has come, and there seems little doubt that the Americans intend to recapture it as they have recaptured Attu. Its cap- ture will remove a remote threat to the American continent, but will not provide a base for bombing Japan. In Burma the R.A.F. and Ameri- cans have continued their air opera- tions against the Japanese in spite of the monsoon. Vengeance dive bombers
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