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Aviation History
1944
1944 - 2087.PDF
OCTOBER I2TH, 1944 FLIGHT 393 * by ^rachute. On these runs three R.A.S.C. despatchers are/carried in each Dakota, and the supplies are packed in rectangular baskets with parachutes attached. When the dropping zone is reached the Dakota is put into a slight climb and the baskets run down on two lines of rollers to the door where the despatchers see them off. It takes some 15-20 seconds to get a complete load away, and this frequently means two runs over the D.Z. These boys had a tough time while trying to run food and ammunition into the 1st Airborne Division at Arn- hem. The Dakotas have neither self-sealing fuel tanks nor any armour plate and, of course, no armament of any sort. To go into the Arnhem area, surrounded as it was by large numbers of A.A. guns of all calibres, at about 600ft. required a very special courage. The Dakotas from the group which I visited were all hit somewhere and casual ties were rather high. Although the general run of transport work is done by Dakotas, it must not be forgotten that in this critical operation a big job was also done by Stirlings, Halifaxes and Liberators. German Jets The chief topic of conversation at the fighter airfields is jet propulsion as practised by the Luftwaffe. Pilots who nave seen these machines in the air say that the Me 262 (the twin-engined job) looks like the Westland Whirlwind with the difference that the tailplane is not so high. The single-engined 163, they say, can be easily mistaken for a Brewster Buffalo. At one time it was thought to be tail less, but this is not so. The body is so short, however, that it borders on an "all-wing." The speed on the level is up to 500 m.p.h. These high speeds bring troubles in their trail and, because of the effect of centri fugal force, only very open turns at maximum speed can be made. Visiting tactical air forces operating under the inspired The Royal Array Service Corps air freight service in operation. All the personnel are specially trained in their duties and although only 30 strong (1 colonel, 1 major, 3 cap tains, 1 regimental sergeant major and 24 other ranks) they can handle some 5,000 tons in a fortnight. Two sections of leadership of Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham always provides opportunities of seeing and hearing of'short-range air power being used in a most effective manner. It will be remembered that at the beginning of the invasion Sir Arthur commanded the whole of the T.A.F. in France. After the break-through at St. Lo, the 9th U.S.A.A.F. worked on its own and thus the Air Force command had a change parallel to that of Field Marshal Montgomery and General Omar Bradley. It is of particular interest, how ever, to note that operationally the 9th U.S.A.A.F. has copied the R.A.F. exactly and, although it is still termed an army air force, it is, in fact, a completely separate entity operating entirely under its own commanders, as does the Royal Air Force. Paradoxically it is in this short-range tactical work that the long-range Mustang has proved so useful since the wild dash across Frame, Belgium and Holland started. Despite the fact that moves were being made every few days (one Spitfire wing was on four different sites in nine days), the pace was so hot that the Spitfire and Typhoon wings were outranged at times. Every effort was made to keep up—only abso lute essentials found place in the precious transport— and in many cases airfields were operat ing as many as 160 aircraft while within four miles of the front line. Several were, and still are, operating under shell fire. It will, I think, be conceded that the rocket-tiring Typhoon has proved to be one of the decisive weapons of the war. At the time of Falaise Gap, the Typhoon pilots were doing as many as seven sorties a day. It is a great tribute to their accuracy of aim that Sir Arthur Coningham felt able to give them permission to make rocket and cannon attacks inside our bomb line. Now their stable companions, the Tempests, are out there to lend a I the Pioneer Corps are attached to the R.A.S.C.A.F.S. to deal with rush periods. For dropping supplies from the air three R.A.S.C. despatchers are carried in each aircraft.
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