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Aviation History
1944
1944 - 0029.PDF
JANUARY 6TH, 1944 FLIGHT 13 Behind the Lines New Fuel SATISFACTORY results are reported to have been obtained in Finland with a new type of fuel, also suitable for gas producers. The new fuel, which is described as lignine, is a by-product of wood sugar. Estimate ACCORDING to a German estimate, of 1,500 Soviet aircraft said to have been destroyed by the Luftwaffe during October and November on the southern sector of the Russian front, only 112 were American "Airacobra" types. Change-over THE manufacture of pre-fabricated huts has been developed in Germany in recent years for the quick erection of concentration camps and housing for the German Labour Corps and for foreign _. workers. The organisation is now re ported to be employed on the rapid con struction of accommodation for the bombed-out. Air Support GERMAN reports say that Luftwaffe transport units have a specially im portant task on the Nevel front. Trans port aircraft have to fly to the very front line because these advanced German positions cannot be supplied from the ground, since in their rear—says a Ger man commentator—are dispersed enemy troops or partisans who intercept their supplies. The Ju 52s have certainly a tough job. Weather conditions in this sector of the Russian front alternate between fog, blizzards and ice storms, and the machines, heavily loaded with ammuni-' tion, bread .preserves and concentrates for horses have to fly at altitudes of 30, 50 and even 25ft. Sometimes the aircraft have to wait for a day for some improve ment in the weather conditions. * Service and Industrial News from the Inside of Axis and Enemy' occupied Countries Low flying is also necessary because of the difficulty in locating the isolated positions in a landscape which is a vast forest area, some parts of which are in German, some parts in Russian hands. Precautions T HE German Food Controller an nounced that in order to counteract the effects of air raids on large German cities food concerns will be decentralised. Small retail shops will keep enough stocks foi a week; in some cities for a fortnight. This—it is said—will prevent the disastrous consequences of a hit on the stocks of a wholesale dealer. Brave Teutons THE president of the Hamburg police has ordered that all able-bodied men must attend to their A.R.P. duties and are forbidden to repair to shelters when the alert is sounded. This regulation has been made neces sary because of many complaints that many able-bodied men take their lug gage and disappear in bomb-proof shel ters or leave the town as soon as the air becomes thick. In the Hamburg popu lar parlance these men are referred to as "Mr. Never-there." Silkworms STRENUOUS efforts are now being made in Germany and her satellite countries to increase the production of silk necessary for the manufacture of parachutes. Model cultivation centres are to be set up all over Germany in order to impart the necessary knowledge to those breeding silk worms. All schools have been ordered to grow mulberry trees and breed silkworms and to co operate in these efforts. Similar efforts are being made in Rumania, where silk production for parachutes is given a high priority; to promote silkworm breeding the Government has ap pointed special travelling„ instructors. PROVISIONS' BOMBS : Two types of container which the Germans drop by parachute to their isolated and forward units. (Left) A fresh water container and (right) for food and light equipment. Boy Labour AN appeal which is chiefly directed to members of the Dutch equivalent of the Hitler Youth is expected to produce some more boy-power for the German war machine. Dutch youths from 14 to 17 years of age are being recruited for the German aircraft industry, and after a short period at a " selection camp " are sent to Germany under their own leaders. The so-called training period in German aircraft factories is to last from two and a half to three years. Revival THE enlistment of parachutists ordered by the Secretary of State for Air ot the Fascist Italian Government is re ported by the Swiss Telegraphic Agency. Former instructors of parachutists' schools are invited to join up, and young men, between 17 and 25, are asked to volunteer. Among other qualifications candidates must be at least 5ft. 6in. tall. The recruiting centre is stated to be the First Command, Squadra Aera, at Milan. Bomber Effect HPHE effect of recent raids on Berlin is J- reflected in many reports published in neutral countries. '' There was a general atmosphere as if the end of the world had come," says, one neutral eye-witness. In the offices people concerned themselves almost ex clusively with things which had nothing to do with work. There was little con nection with the outside world, as the telephone was a long time in being re paired, and the post never arrived. Burned documents still bearing the Jabel "very secret" are floating around Berlin. Banks had been destroyed, postal cheque offices closed, and the entire business life of the city—reports a Swiss journal—had come to a stand still. Particularly chaotic were the condi tions of the transport system, and although only one week after the November 22 nd raid the first train crossed the city, the last raid threw the Berlin traffic completely out of gear. Workers had to hitch hike or walk to their places of work, and journeys lasted many times longer than normally. The food supply situation, too, was seriously dislocated. The central market and the meat market were burnt out, and supply by rail was impossible, so that everything had to be brought by car. After the raid on November 22nd, in many places in the centre of the city there was nothing to eat for days, as hardly any shop had anything to sell. With large bakeries burnt out and no gas supply, the restaurant and household catering was at breakdown. A German report says that consider able difficulties have temporarily arisen in cold storage houses on account of the interruption oi the gas supply, and sub stantial stocks of butter and other fats have been lost. Truck loads of war prisoners, among them Italians, were brought to Berlin, but the Italians—complains a corre spondent—only work when watched by German soldiers.
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