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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 0057.PDF
JANUARY IITH, 1945 FLIGHT WAR in the Ah A Qreat Air Battle : Corking the Tunnels : Battle of Skagerrak : The Effect of Weather FOG OF WAR : Gunners of the U.S.escort carrier Kitkun Bay watch the smoke rising from the explosion of aJapanese shell off the port quarter. NATURALLY it would be veryunwise to tell the Germans theexact results of the great air fighting on New Year's Day. One estimate says that the Luftwaffe lost 364 machines, of which British and American fighters shot down 155, while the A.A.- gunners claimed 209. It is also thought that there were an additional 81 "probables." The Ger- mans have claimed that they des- troyed far more; that claim was to be expected and need not be taken seriously. Reliable correspondents have admitted, however, that the Luftwaffe met with a measure of suc- cess, and that some unstated number of British aircraft was destroyed or damaged, mainly on the ground. It is noteworthy that the raids are reported to have been made entirely on R.A.F. airfields. Some of these in the liberated districts were probably over-full of aircraft. It does not follow that the casualties to personnel were heavy. It is also unusual for the claims by the A.A. gunners to exceed those of the fighter pilots. The prob- able reason for that was the surprise nature of the attack and the low level at which the Germans flew. Generally speaking, it is un- doubtedly to our advantage that'theLuftwaffe should fight as often as pos- sible. We can replace aircraft lossesmuch more readily than the enemy can, and the same applies to pilotsand aircrews. Even equal losses would be to our advantage ; but it is seldomthe case that in a fight the Germans do not lose more machines and menthan we do. A Sad Loss TT7HEN one thinks of the enormous * * number of miles flown during this war by eminent psrsonages, and in particular by the Prime Minister and Lord Wavell, it comes as a shock when- occasionally the life of a valued leader is lost in an air accident. The loss of General Wingate was heavy ; and now we have to mourn Admiral Sir Ber- tram Ramsey, whose machine crashed as he was leaving Paris for Brussels. He was one of the outstanding figures of the Combined Operations which have been such a notable feature of "this war, and his loss therefore afflicts not only the Royal Navy but the other two Services as well. We may, or we may not, have to undertake more operations of this kind in Europe— that cannot be foretold here—but if we do, Admiral Ramsey will be sorelymissed. There will certainly have to be more Combined Operations in thewar against Japan ; and it will be a great advantage for those in chargeto be able to study the methods by which Admiral Ramsey made such awonderful success of the Navy's part in those which have taken place inAfrica and Europe. Stopping the supply of munitions,etc., to the German front line is still one of the most important serviceswhich aircraft can perform in aid of the ground armies. Most of this workis done by the Tactical Air Forces, though the heavy bombers of thestrategic air forces have lately been doing a lot of good work on marshal-ling yards and other centres of com- munications. Lately, however, an-other branch of Bomber Command has taken a hand, in a very novel fashion.Mosquitoes of that Command started the New Year by dropping a numberof 4,000 lb. bombs into the mouth of railway tunnels which fed the Germanlines. These heavy bombs hit the ground while still travelling almosthorizontally, and disappeared into the tunnel. The pilots had to fly ex-tremely low, and after making the re-
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