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Aviation History
1944
1944 - 1329.PDF
JUNE 2<JTH, 1944 FLIGHT 6$g INVASION CLOSE-UP ^N* a easily. The canal bridge they had to fight for. but they soon got it. "I didn't go with the paratroops to the battery, but it went well as well. A war correspondent who went with them went in a glider which didn't land in the right place, but the battalion had good luck. The R.A.F. had been there and had bombed it just before, and they had blown up a lot of mines and the wire. They had some oppo sition while they landed, but when they got outside the wire they came up against stiff opposition. There were some casualties. They took the battery, the guns were all demolished, and the paratroops got out and cleared out again. " They had done their job, and they must get back to the bridges. " These bridges " (pointing to the one on the Dives River near to the seashore) "I didn't go to; I know they were •p**'n up. They blew up the bridges on the Dives River, Wind the high ground all around here was taken " (motioned to map to area between Dives River and the%xther two waterways). "Originally there was not a great deal of opposition, but the opposition came the next day, and the day after it came thick and fast; but on the first day I think we got them when they were completely surprised. It ie rumoured, and I think correctly, that the troops in this area were either young boys or old men who were out on an anti- invasion exercise on the night we landed. So I don't know whether they had taken blank.ammunition or what, but they were out on an exercise. Some of them weren't quite intelligent and didn't catch on. Two of them were still in bed on their own in the village of Franreville Plage, which is more than could be said of some of thern • "The paratroops who had already landed before us did a wonderful job. They cleared the 'poles,' and they got a marvellous landing strip ready for us—and when we came "in quite a lot hit the landing strip and quite a lot didn't. SWITZERLAND'S AIRCRAFT INDUSTRY TLTARDLY noticed by the outside world, the Swiss air- -*--*- craft industry has grown during the past few years from modest beginnings to a, relatively considerable size. To-day it employs 5,000 workers, mostly specialists, and 650 engineers, technicians and administrative staff. The production of the aircraft departments maintained jC ' different industries to-day covers a wide field, ranging through fuselages, wings, undercarriages, engines, air screws, controls wireless equipment and armament. At present the raison d'etre of this development is the orders for the Swiss. Air Force and the absence of foreign competition ; there is little doubt that the nesv industry has acquired a quite considerable position in the Swiss economy. The problem of maintaining the industry after the war, and the readjustment of the industry to post-war civilian requirements, is now being considered with some appre hension. A memorandum of the Association of Swiss Aircraft Manufacturers, which embraces about a dozen firms, lays down the requirements of the industry for possible post war development. Stating that aircraft production is particularly suited to Swiss technical skill and workmanship, the memoran dum rejects any idea of limiting its scope to component production. Only complete production can spur on 1 tie industry to a sustained progress, it is said. The memorandum points out that difficulties are pre sented, not bv technical problems, but by marketing. Without purposeful State assistance the small Swiss market cannot provide a durable basis for Swiss aircraft produc- -<*i90HIMHIIIHVHMPHMIHMRH|HHiVHBwPMVIHP!lwHMlR!BMMMMHMQH^wViv!9 Close-up of a P47 attacking a German flak tower, taken by the automatic recording camera of the next attacking machine. The photographic qual'ty is remarkable. Quite a lot landed with their noses in the ground and their tails in the air, including the General! " An opportunity presented itself to see some of the combat films taken by the automatic cameras carried by the American fighters. This obtaining of photographic evidence is a little trick which they learnt from us during the Battle of Britain. They have now, however, gone a long wav past anything the R.A.F, turn out. The most our people hope for is just a muzzy outline where the U.S. pictures have definite photographic quality, and a large proportion of them are taken in natural colours. Another feature which we do not share with the Americans is that the camera runs at 64 pictures a second and the projector at 16 pictures a second. This makes an air battle sequence lost just four times its actual length : an exciting feature when ground strafing is portrayed. It makes it appear as if the pilot ij^dawdling over the enemy airfield at round about stalling speed. To see an Fw. 190 receive the strikes from converging" 0.5m. bullets and blow up in one great black and orange mass is more thrilling than anything Hollywood ever produced. tion. But while the idea of direct subsidies is strongly objected to, the memorandum suggests that all orders oi public bodies should be placed with the local industry, pro vided the latter is capable of delivering products of u quality equal or similar to that of foreign firms. These proposals are on the lines of the policy of public trans port companies, such as the Swiss Federal Railways, whicli procure their rolling stock and transport vehicles from loca, first-rate firms. The memorandum demands that a construction pro gramme for the entire aircraft industry should be adopted with the co-operation of the Swiss Government. For this purpose the formation of a special committee is advocated, to be composed of representatives of the Federal depart ments concerned, industrial and scientific bodies, which should have sufficient powers to make decisions, including financial ones, and to supervise the development of tech nical research. FIRST PICK-UP IN NORMANDY WHAT may be the beginning of more rapid " turn-round " for gliders occurred the other day in Normandy, when four gliders, carrying between them two and a half tons of letters from soldiers, were picked up by C47 Skytrains from a small clearing in a wood. The Americans have, of course, bean experimenting with flying pick-ups of smaller gliders for several years, and pick-up air mail services are in regular opera tion in the United States. This, however, was the first time that gliders of the large type used in the invasion have been picked up from a base in France. The advantage is, of course, that the tug aircraft does not have to land, so that provided there is room to climb after the glider has been picked up, any sort of field with any sort ot surface can be used. A Nylon rope is used because of its shock-absorbing properties.
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