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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 0580.PDF
33° WAR IN THE AIR twin-engined aircraft. In attacking islands with ship-borne aircraft one needs numbers, The large carrier may present a more tempting target to the enemy bombers than a small one ; but to get the necessary numbers of machines from small carriers one has to use a lot of them, and their mere numbers likewise make a tempt- ing target. Submarines as well as enemy aircraft may attack them. Moreover,' larger aircraft can be operated from a large carrier than from a small one; and that fact enables the carrier to lie further away from the danger points in the centre of the battle. Last week the American fleet did a very daring deed. It sent a fast task force right into the Inland Sea, which lies between three of the prin- cipal islands of the Japanese archi- pelago. Its object was to find the main Japanese fleet, and it is believed that it did cripple a number of war- ships, most probably with bombs and air torpedoes. It is claimed that nearly 500 enemy aircraft were de- stroyed. The Japanese main fleet has not appeared yet in the present war, and now the Americans are hunting it. What would the British-trained Ad- miral Togo, the victor of Tsushima, have thought? The German Rout A FTER the depressing February, in •**• which air activity was brought to a standstill for days at a time, thus allowing the Germans to move back in order, the fine weather of March has let loose the full fury of the Allied air power. On almost all sectors of the West Front the Germans have been THE BIELEFELD VIADUCT : Picture taken after the attack with ten-ton bombs on March 14th. Many smaller bombs had been dropped previously, as shown by the many water-filled craters. withdrawing in haste towards the Rhine. Mechanical vehicles have moved at speed, and horse-drawn artillery has kept at the gallop. Up above this hurried procession the Tactical Air Forces have flown like Valkyries, choosers of the slain. When they appeared overhead the German drivers would often dive head- long for the nearest ditch, or whatever else seemed to offer a prospect of cover, leaving their vehicles to crash. The roads were lined with wreckage, as they were during the German retreat from Falaise. The infantry could not escape by speed, and almost embarrassing num- WHEN THE SMOKE CLEARED : A close-up March 17th. Note the huge craters made by the te destruction of several so bers of them have surrendered. These surrenders reduce the strength of Rundstedt's forces just as much as the slaughter of the flying columns do, and they have now reached remark- able totals. Not long ago it was announced that since D-Day over a million prisoners had been taken, and the number has gone up substantially since then. The squadrons of the. U.S. 19th T.A.F. which had been sent to roam farther afield reported that they could find few targets on the west side of the Rhine. They thought that all the bridges had been blown up, and, if so, that means that the fleeing columns on the roads have not much to look forward to. The men who reach the banks of the river may contrive to get across by night, but the equipment will have to be left as booty for the Allies. So the pilots of the 19th T.A.F. flew on and destroyed aircraft on the ground near Frankfurt. >4R Heavy bombers of both Bomber Command and of the U.S. 8th Air Force also took advantage of the fine weather, and ranged far and wide. Of course, oil plants and benzol plants received special attention, as well as crucial points of communications. In addition, the bombers from Britain as well as those from Italy made a special set at airfields and bases where the German jet-propelled aircraft have their lairs. On one very fine day some 1,300 Liberators and Fortresses struck heavily at a particular group of air- fields round Rheine. At the same time, the heavy bombers from Italy attack-d base for jet-propelled aircraft 50 miles to the north of Munich. The Germans have evidently been Uoping that the jet machines would do sotnething to restore tlteir lost position in \he air. It is known that their speed
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