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Aviation History
1944
1944 - 1384.PDF
i6 FLIGHT JULY 6TH. J944 Behind the Lines New Bomb A SPECIAL anti-tank bomb is said to have been used for the first time by Luftwaffe fighters and torpedo-bombers in attacks against the invasion fleet. Regia Aeronautica Losses ACCORDING to an official statement of the Fascist Italian Government, lir force casualties up to end of July, 94J, total 6,000 killed and missing. Jap Appeal APPEALING for more aircraft to help win the sea battles now being started in the Pacific, the Japanese paper Asahi says: "It is vitally necessary for the home front to pay special atten tion to the production of more planes, without which no modern naval engage ment can be won. First-class machines Me i09F's equipped with drop tanks. Awards of 10RM are paid to finders of these tanks. are needed which, if possible, should be supported by land-based machines. One of the contestants must win the air battle before the real naval engagement between heavy units can begin." Silk SILK for German parachutes comes mainly from the satellite countries, ' of which Bulgaria is the chief producer. 100,000 Bulgarian farms are engaged on silkworm breeding and the output for the current year is estimated at 900,000 lb. of silk, a quantity sufficient for the manufacture of about 42 million yards of silk. In Hungary, Rumania, Croatia and Greece, a system of premiums, subsidies And fixed prices is to sponsor silkworm breeding and in the Serbian part of Yugoslavia the Germans have set up the " Suedostropa " A.G. company, which holds a monopoly for the controlling, purchase and exploitation of the local silk industry. Luftwaffe's Strength " OINCE the introduction of the new vJ Geiman long-distance weapon Ger many was in the favourable position of being able to employ the entire Luftwaffe's strength for tactical purposes over the invasion front, while strategic bombing was carried out by the long- range weapon." Service and Industrial News from the Inside of Axis and Enemy* occupied Countries If one considers this statement of an official Nazi spokesman in the light of Allied reports on the spasmodic appearance of the Luftwaffe in Normandy, then obviously the strength of jthe Luftwaffe must be at a very low ebb. "^ Reflections " TX7HILE the attack of heavy bombers VV was the main task pf German fighters in the past, the destruction of an enemy fighter or fighter bomber over the invasion area," writes a German war commentator, " is to day at least as im portant because it is just these fighters and fighter bombers which time and again create such difficulties for our grenadiers, tank- crews and gunners To destroy or at least to divert these fighters and fighter bombers from their targets is the foremost and most urgent task of the German fighters in the west. "During the long distance operations against the Reich the Americans had often to employ strong formations of long-range ^ghters,. the number of which was often twice that of the bombers. Nevertheless, the losses of enemy fighters then remained within comparatively narrow limits, because the German fighters specialised in attacking the four-engined bombers, whose destruc tion was more important than that of the long-range fighters. "Thus it was that the American fighter formations returned from the air combats over Germany with smaller losses than those suffered by the four- engined bombers. For use over the invasion r front, however, the enemy can now dis pose not only of the long-range fighter but also of these fighters whose range is more limited than that of a long - range aircraft. Considering that it is considerably easier and quicker to build a fighter than a heavy bomber and that the training of a fighter pilot takes a consider ably shorter time than that of bomber crews, whose training still takes almost two years, the question how the enemy can force the employ ment of fighters on such a scale requires no answer. German Optimism— IT is estimated that London docks and offices, have so far lost 23,000,000 working hours. London fire-watchers have been in a state of alert for almost 200 hours and are beginning to show signs of fatigue. Many have not had a hot meal for days." " To-day seven million Londoners are forced to resort to camping, and we are told that this is only a beginning." » * * Speaking of the robots, a German overseas radio commentator said this: *' The new German weapon can chn nge its place of operation and its objective rapidly and without much work. It is independent of weather, time of year, time of day, being in fact an all-round- ^ the-clock, all-weather weapon. Its ' starting points are out of the range of the enemy's armed forces." —and Caution WE have been educated in five years of war not to indulge in delusions and unfounded hopes. The enemy, sut prised by the blow and seized by fear, will mobilise all his technical apparatus to find the answer and, if possible, frustrate the extension of German measures which may be ex pected, but which cannot be yet anticipated. -+. " More weapons, even more effective, will follow. All this is only a begin ning- We have justified hopes that in other spheres, too, various German weapons which have proved their worth will soon become effective. " In the air war our day is not yet over, either. Night attacks have already proved so costly for the enemy that he has very much reduced the frequency of his attacks on the Reich at night. " Nevertheless, we do not want to entertain any delusions as to the serious ness of the situation. One weapon or a temporary technical superiority in this or the other domain does not bring about a decision." The Henschel He 123, first German type fitted with drop tanks, is still in service on the Russian front
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