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Aviation History
1944
1944 - 2037.PDF
OCTOBER 5TH, 1944 FLIGHT ; J S59 The Arnhem Evacuation Activities of -lis Luftwaffe's Spasmodic Appearances : Heavy Bombers v^gn| A ship blows up during an attack, by Seafires and Avengers from H.M.S. Furious and Trumpeter, on a German convoy off Norway. THE loss of some 5,000 men, mostly of the ist Airborne Army, and the withdrawal of about 2,000 exhausted survivors to the southern bank of the Lek branch of the Rhine caused grief and disap pointment in Britain, in which Holland obviously and outspokenly shared. This set-back means that various branches of the Rhine still lie in front of Gen. Eisenhower's armies, that Holland has not yet been com pletely liberated, and that the way into the plains of Germany does not yet lie open. But great successes have been gained, and on the whole the Battle of Holland has been going well. Some German forces whi^h were stationed in the coastal areas were given a new chance of escaping into Germany, whereas they might have been cut off and "liquidated" if the airborne effort had been a complete success. That does not apply to the garrisons of the Channel ports, which were ordered to hold out to the last. The Canadians steadily advanced round Calais, and Bomber Command paid several visits there, and unloaded heavy weights of bombs on the for tifications. The occasional appearances of the Luftwaffe are interesting, chiefly be cause they are so rare. During the battles to link up with the airborne troops, about- 100 German aircraft made, an attack on the bridge over the Waal at Nijmegen, and succeeded in hitting it. They did not, however, destroy it, and it remained usable. In the meantime an airfield had been established in what was called the corridor, up which the supply columns were rushing to the branches of the Rhine, and, of course, fighters were the first Allied aircraft to take up their residence on it. So the German bombers did not have things all their own way, and their losses were not light. Any loss in the air is now a serious matter for the Germans; but an Air Force which does not venture to bomb or to fight is not a very valu able asset. No doubt the German fighters are being conserved for some special occasion, and they still resist some of the Allied bombing raids with a degree of spirit, but they never seem to achieve much. Specific figures are not pub lished, but one inclines CEILING DOWN : The effect of one of our big armour-piercing bombs on the 12ft thick ferro concrete roof of the submarine pens at Brest. to the belief that nowadays Allied air losses are mainly due to flak. A few months ago flak was considered far less damaging than defence by fighters. Mustangs and Thunderbolts have been bombing the fortifications of the
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