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Aviation History
1944
1944 - 0485.PDF
MAKCH 9TH. 1944 WAR IN THE AIR ENEMY AIR LOSSES TO MAR. 4th Feb. 27 ,. 28 .. 29 Mar. 1 „ 2 .. 3 4 Totals : Over G.B. 0 0 2 5 0 0 0 7 Con tinent 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 Middle East 0 , 0 1 1 5 1 "4 Italy 1 0 6 1 0 15 1 24 t ] West, 8,039 ; Middle East, over 5,833 ; N.W. Africa and Italy, 4,654. sentry-go over four enemy airfields west of Paris for an hour and a half, ready to attack any German fighter which might try to take off. No such attempt was made. These tactics are not novel. They were used in the last war, and the most notable occasion was on the eve of Allenby's great advance in Palestine. "^ Jt was most important that the Turks should believe that the main attack would be made on the east, wftereas it was on the sea shore that the cavalry actually broke through. So on the eve of the attack Camels kept up con tinuous sentry-go over the Turkish air fields, and not an enemy aircraft was able to fly over the British lines to report the true state of affairs. After a fairlv easy initial success, the Americans have run into some fairly stiff fighting in the Admiralty Islands. The key point there is the airfield at Momote, and the Japanese, having lost it without much of a de: fence, made some strenuous e;~ regain it. The outcome was^ infantry battle, in which tjre J attacked recklessly and lost The Americans are reported lost only 61 killed and 244 wounded, which is a very moderate loss for a hardly contested battle, while the enemy are believed to have lost some 3,000 killed and wounded. Americans Reach Berlin T AST Saturday American heavy •^** bombers with an escort of fighters flew far into Eastern Germany, and one formation penetrated to the Berlin area and dropped its bombs there. The loss on the day's work was 14 bombers and 23 fighters, which seems moderate. ^n _Si£—-JB££££di2S_ *^ay American . figtrteTs, Ligritning^7nSol~TCrad*<^v'hat is described as an offensivejrweep over Berlin. It was evidentijr^i t^-out for the morrow's work^or no particular tesults of the swa^p w*e chronicled. BRITISH & U.S. AIR LOSSES TO MAR. 4th Feb. 27 28 29 Mar 1 2 3 4 Over G.B. A'eft. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Continent B'brs. F'trs. 0 0 6 2 2 8 4 0 13 6 10 6 14 23 49 45 Middle East A'cft. 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 Italy A'cft. 2 3 6 0 6 10 3 30 Totals : West, 10,217 j Middle East, about 2,377 ; N.W. Africa and Italy, 1,750. SHADES OF 1940: The recent resumption of night bombing of London has provided photographs of wrecked enemy aircraft which are reminiscent of the Battle of Britain days. 9th Air Force flew to a point 20 miles east of Berlin, making a record round trip of 1,200 miles. They flew through bitter cold and thick clouds which, of course, shielded them from attentions of German fighters), an| for pjftt of \lie way had to fight auainst a wind of 90 m.p.h. This vwdi^SjstJw- them on their return olrnl5y\jEhe two days' work was a emarkj$fc^ demonstration of the powers of American fighters. Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris sent a message of hearty congratula tions to General Doolittle on the achievement of his heavy bombers in having at last reached Berlin by day- 'iglit. He recalled that it was over i year since the German Capital was ast bombed in daylight. That was an attack by Mosquitoes which interfered with a broadcast by Goring Last week-end also saw the an nouncement that the scientists have now supplied the R.A.F. with a bomb weighing 12,000 lb. They were dropped by Lancasters by night in brilliant moonlight on aircraft fac tories in northern France. Strict orders were issued that bombs were to be brought back if there was any risk of missing the target, and one crew did bring its load home. Thus the minimum risk of hurting French* people was run. The moonlight helped the- bombardiers, though it also exposed the bombers to greater risk from the defences.
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