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Aviation History
1944
1944 - 1735.PDF
AUGUST 24TH, 1944 WAR IN THE AIR difficulties. War correspondents, much to their annoyance, were forbidden to mention the movements of the Ameri can armour which started off from Brittany, except in the case of the column which reached Le Mans, drove up through Alencon, and arrived at Argentan just at the time when the Canadians forced their way through Falaise. The columns which might not be mentioned reached Orleans, Chartres and Dreux. The state of affairs in the Nor mandy pocket was vividly illustrated by the report last week that the opposing forces were so intermingled \ on the ground that Allied aircraft ^Jiard to keep clear for fear of hitting friend as well as foe. There had been 'one unfortunate instance of this when some heavies dropped their bombs among the Canadians. The attempt of the beaten Ger mans to cross the Seine opened up interesting possibilities for Allied air craft. Most of the regular bridges between Paris and Rouen had already been destroyed by Sir Trafford Leigh- Mallary's bombers, but the Germans had constructed pontoon bridges at places. These could be hidden along the banks by daylight and swung into position at night. They were likely to provide awkward problems. The destruction of bridges is a task not much liked by bombers, even in day light. It is very expensive in the matter of bombs, for near misses are generally useless. Only direct hits are of any avail, and a bridge is a small target. THROUGH THE OVERCAST : A Lancaster bombs an air torpedo launching site through 10/ioths cloud. XT7HEN the Russian armies ap- ** proached Warsaw, the Patriot forces in the Polish Capital rose and •-attacked the Germans—prematurely, it seems. They were short of arms, and the BritisjfcL, decided to supply them, at least with small arms. So a number of bombers, Halifaxes and others, from Italy made a round trip of 1,750 miles to drop the weapons in side the city to the Patriots. It was a remarkable flight, both for its out standing navigation and its daring. The visibility was nil for a great part of the way, and clouds were low over the mountains. Over the city the crews flew very low to ensure accuracy in dropping the arms, and they lowered their flaps, reducing speed to 120 m.p.h. The pall of smoke deadened the searchlights, but flak was intense. FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT AT VII.A.E.I - HTHE week at- H.Q. has been one of 1 * cheerful optimism. When corre spondents have been told that there was little news to be had, it usually meant that the news was good but unsuitable for enemy consumption. The air is playing an enormous part on all fronts, and the Allies are to be utterly thankful that their air chiefs were longsighted enough to have enor mous quantities of just the right weapons ready at the right time. The air picture, however, becomes somewhat confused now that the new invasion of the south of France is under way. None of the air activities on this new front is reported at S.H.A.E.F., although the same air craft may be used on the two fronts. Gen. Eisenhower, with Air Chief Mar shal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory as his air chief, is responsible for the Normandy-Brittany show, and Gen. Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, with Gen. Eaker as his air chief, is responsible for the southern France attack. All of these commanders receive their direc tions from the Combined Chiefs of Staff. Supreme Headquarters is a mis nomer. It is not, as might be expected, a focal point for all the European fronts. Some such organisation is urgently needed. This sort of thing can happen, how ever : A Halifax or Lancaster takes part in a night attack on German in dustry. It is not reported at S.H.A.E.F. The same aircraft attacks a German airfield in daylight and that becomes S.H.A.E.F. news. Again, the same machine is employed tactically to start off an attack, either in Nor mandy or in the south. In the first case it is S.H.A.E.F. news and in the latter case the information is issued via Rome. It makes one wonder what happens if Bomber Command blows up a bridge which has an equal bearing on the two French campaigns. British Gliders One of the very " airborne " enthu siasts was at«H.Q. during the week and had some interesting sidelights to relate. He was one of the small team who worked with the late Group Capt. Sir Nigel Norman. The first military gliders employed in this country were peacetime sail planes which were bought from their owners who were posted from their squadrons to fly them. It was at the time when we were expecting an air borne invasion, and speculation was rife whether there would be enough metal in a glider to cause a reaction onvthe radiolocation system. These sailplanes were gravely towed out to sea by Tiger Moths and released. The reaction was sufficient. But, thought somebody, suppose the Germans pro duce a glider in which all the fittings are either wood or plastic. What then? The prospect was terrifying until someone else realised that it was extremely unlikely that the enemy soldiers' rifles would have rubber barrels. From that time, in June, 1940, when our airborne forces con sisted of five gliders and three Tiger Moths, a year and a-half elapsed before the General Aircraft Hotspurs began to be delivered. This was no one per son's fault. The whole country was bomber-minded, and any idea of in vasion of the Continent was too remote to be worried about. The time did come, however, when one and a-half squadrons went to
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