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Aviation History
1944
1944 - 0378.PDF
192 ^ s* Oc ( WAR IN THE AIR dusk one evening. The carrier H.M.S. Pursuer formed part of the escort, and probably the Germans thought that its fighters would not venture to take off in the failing light. Of course the fighter pilots accepted the risk, and four Grumman Wildcats ilew off. They were outnumbered, but still they held the trump cards in their hands. A • heavy bomber far out over the ocean stands a very poor chance of survival if seriously damaged, while the fighters had their carrier at hand as well as the friendly ships of the convoy to pick them up if they came down in the water. Consequently German heavy bombers never show much stomach for a fight when tackled by fighters far from shore. The Wildcats (lately known in the F.A.A. as Martlets) broke up the German attack and drove the bombers off. One Heinkel and one Focke-Wulf were shot down and a second Focke-Wulf was damaged. The other four made off, and then all the Wildcats made safe landings on the not too spacious deck of the escort carrier in the bad light. It was a gallant and most successful little show. A subsequent success by Wildcats from H.M.S. Biter has also been reported. In this case one JU290 equipped with a glider bomb tried to attack a convoy in the North Atlantic, but the carrier sent up two Wildcats, a»d the enemy at once tried to get into a cloud. He had nearly succeeded when the fighters were able to open lire. They shot away one of the Junkers' starboard engines, and the bomber promptly crashed in flames. Then both the fighters successfully landed on the flight deck of the carrier. Later in the same day a Coastal Command Beaufighter, which was then taking part in the escort duties over the same convoy, shot down another Ju 290. The Anzio Battle T/"ESSELRING made another grand -^*- assault on the beachhead at Anzio on February 16th, using a formidable concentration of artillery, and actually venturing to make 130 aircraft sorties against the troops on the enclave. The weather had improved, and so both sides were able to make more use of the air. and this fact told in favour of the Allies. Kesselring is a Luftwaffe Field Marshal, and appreciated the importance of not allowing the Allies a monopoly of air power, especially over the flat ground round the beach. Up in the Apennines air power has less value. In reply Gen. Eaker used all the resources at his command to hit the assaulting Germans hard. Again the Fortresses and Liberators of the U.S. Army 15th Air Force were used for tactical action, and they were suitably armed for the task in hand. They did not carry the high explosive bombs £' FEBRUARY 24TH, 1944 PUTTING IT ON THE SPOT : A sequence of photographs showing a target indicator bomb falling on the Gnome - Rhone engine factory at Limoges, 200 miles south west of Paris. which are intended for destroying buildings, but dropped some 1,000 fragmentation bombs, which are essen tially man-killers. There were nearly twice as many American heavy bombers in the sky as there had been over Salerno on September 14th. Medium bombers also attacked the German back areas with the object of preventing supplies and reinforce ments from reaching the firing line ; and railway lines, yards and bridges were also attacked, with special atten tion t§^he neighbourhood of Florence. The Middle East Air Command is being deprived of the American Army 9th Air Force, which is to join the in vasion forces in Britain under the general command of Air Chief Marshal Leigh Mallory. It includes medium bombers, attack bombers, fighter- bombers, and fighters. Throughout the Libyan campaign this force worked in conjunction with the Desert Air Force. Now the Mediterranean Allied Air Force is strong enough to dispense with the 9th A.F., while the invasion command needs overwhelming air strength. It is a matter for speculation whether this move has any connection with the recent departure of the Allied military mission from Turkey. If it has, it may mean that there is now thought to be less urgency in dealing with the Aegean Sea and the Dode canese Islands. Their turn for serious attention will certainly come, but it may be advisable to leave them alone for tire present, while maximum air power is concentrated for more vital operations elsewThere. The invasion force certainly deserves and demands priority over all other fronts, ancfaFi is receiving it, though with no neglect of the Italian front—except perhaps in the matter of night bombers. The Solomons and Truk ~^TO less than 22,000 Japanese soldiers 3 j! have been cut off in the Solomons and are facing extermination, chiefly from famine and disease. After Ameri can forces had occupied the Green Islands, 120 miles to the east of Rabaul, which they did with only slight opposition on the ground and in the air, Gen. MacArthur announced that for all strategic military purposes the campaign in the Solomons had been completed. That means that the advance will be continued, and Rabaul is now in serious danger. The bombing of that base has continued, and we all look forward to the day when the place will be occupied by Allied forces. The U.S. naval forces which have seized the Marshall Islands have seat an air force to attack Ponape, an votmi\ about 400 miles east of Truk, the Japanese naval base in the Carolines. Next—and this is one of the biggest pieces of news which has come in for a long time—the U.S. Navy has reached the Japanese naval base of Truk and attacked it. Powerful naval forces arrived there at daylight on the morning of February 15th. They had several hundred aircraft working with them, which implies a strong force of carriers. That is where the Japanese battle fleet has been believed to have been waiting, covering by its presence there the movements of cruisers and other craft as they escorted supply ships and transports full of troops to the various lands which the Japanese overran in their first fine flush of vic tory after the treacherous attack on Pearl Harbour. They little knew then what a hornet's nest they were stirrjng up for themselves ! They thought that they had crippled for good and all the sea power of the United States, while Britain seemed to their heated imagi-
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