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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 1986.PDF
164 WAR IN THE AIR us whether General Alexander was well supplied with the types of gun which have been proved to be most effective in mountain warfare. Guns, however, must have been playing their part, for the correspond- ent of The Times in Sicily has written that the hill fortress of Centuripe must have been impregnable in pre- artillery days, but it was duly stormed by the famous 78th Division of the Eighth Army, and it was the capture of this place which apparently led to the fall of Catania a few days later. The latter place was not, apparently, stormed, but evacuated by the Ger- mans when they found that they had better go while the going was com- paratively good. The town had been badly knocked about by our bombers. The retreating Germans had to go back towards Messina by the coast road which runs between Etna and the sea, and that road was under fire from the fleet as well as from pursuing air- craft. With the opening of this assault the George Cross island of Malta is able to look back on a very satisfactory month's work in July. During that month R.A.F. squadrons based on the island destroyed for certain 200 enemy aircraft, of which 62 fell to in- truders and night fighters. The island became one vast airfield, into which squadrons of Spitfires from Africa crowded, only to move on to bases in Sicily as they became available. Their places were taken by Kittyhawks. General Eisenhower moved his head- quarters into the island in preparation for the great Sicilian battle. In addi- tion, Beaufighters from Malta ranged far afield, and even attacked a hostile seaplane base in Greece. In the week before the invasion of Sicily began no less than 2,000 sorties were made by aircraft, mainly from SICILIAN SORTIES : Baltimore aircrews reporting to intelligence officers during combined operation. Malta, on the 25 airfields in Sicily, and they were very heavy raids. In order to hurry on the business an airfield was constructed on Gozo island (next to Malta) in just over a fortnight, while Pantellaria also became a base for the N.A. Air Forces. This attack on the Sicilian airfields, accompanied by many attacks on others in the toe of Italy, was mainly responsible for the complete air ascendancy enjoyed by the Fifteenth Army Group as ;t took possession of Sicily. Other Triumphs '"THE raid on the oil refineries it •*• Ploesti, in Rumania, by U.S. Liberators in daylight was* one of the most enterprising operations so far conducted in this war. The crews specially trained for it over a " mock- up " of the area built up in Africa, IN BUNDLES OF THREE : Clusters of incendiary bombsjalling from U.S.A.A.F.Fortresses during the big daylight raid on Hamburg. ^**fne tjme of the attack th town was still on fire from the R.A.F. 's attaolc the p/evlous night. and their bombers were fitted with special bomb-sights for aiming from a low level. The Germans had always realised the possibility of such an attack, and the oilfields were strongly defended, by balloons as well as flak and fighters. As we write, detailed re- ports have not yet been received, and it is not yet possible to assess the pre- cise or probable damage done to the supplies of oil on which the Germans have been counting, but it is believed to have been serious. The flight, by the route chosen, involved a round trip of 2,400 miles or so, and on Jhe return flight eight Liberators wye forced down on Turkish territory through having run out of fuel. Mr. Stimson, the U.S. Secretary for War, has stated that 20 per cent, of the raiders were lost, which he did not consider excessive, considering the "devastating" blow struck. In recent daylight raids in the West the American aircrews have noticed that some of the German fighters which have come up against them have been painted black, clearly for use by night, and also that twin- engined fighters, Ju88s, Me 110s and 210s, have been used to repel day attacks. This shows that the Germans are now very short of fighters and must use anything which comes handy. They cannot any longer pick and choose. Fortresses are notoriously difficult for fighters to tackle by day, and the comparatively clumsy twin- engined fightersjtnust suffer more from the battery or guns in each Fortress than the jjjfire nimble Fw 190s likely to Gwd News from Russia _<ER has had a very depressing *~Jn addition to the news Sicily, fnw^Russians have cap- ed the two important towns of Orel
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