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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 0791.PDF
APRIL 26TH, I945 WA R IN THE AIR day this year was no occasion for jubi- lation in the Reich, though Dr. Gobbels' broadcast recalls the lines of Lewis Carrol: — The Snark, though a little aghast, As the lawyer to whom the de- fence was entrusted, Went bellowing on to the last. Hitler's birthday was speedily fol- lowed by the arrival of Russian shells in the centre of Berlin. Masses of Russian and German aircraft were soon in continual combat over the city; but the Luftwaffe evidently failed in what has always been the first duty of an Air Force ever since the Retreat from Mons, namely, the provision of information about the enemy's movements. The Germans were taken by surprise, so correspond- ents report, by finding that Marshal Zhuko^'s armour and guns^.^w'' attacking from unexpected^dffections. On Friday, April .aoith, Bomber Command Mosquitoes made six raids in the night on the Reich Capital. It them ti CAPTURED INTACT: A jet-propelled Me262 fighter found on an airfield near Frankfurt. It is credited with a speed of about 500 m.p.h. and 475 gallons of fuel can be carried. Four 30 mm. cannon and two 250 kilogram bombs constitute the offensive armament. It has a tricycle undercarriage. Two Junkers Jumo 004 turbine-jet units are on the ground. may i he- necessary the formidable Russian artillery have the matter in hand. Berlin was occupied by Napoleon's troops after the battle of Jena. Since then the idea of an enemy Army reaching its outskirts has never occurred to the mind of any German —least of all to that of Adolf Hitler. But ... Bologna was a prize which eluded the grasp of the 8th and 5th Armies all through the winter ; but by the time these words are published its fall will read like ancient history. As the Ger- mans retreated across the River Po the full power of the Tactical Air Force was turned on to them, and everyone can picture for himself that were devastating to the enemy. ' '^^ The. liberationxof Danzig by the Russians played ni&eli* into the hand:? of the Bpyal Air JEdjr^. The sinking of the iJldmyfi /Sc^f4r at Kiel has Then, on the 'terndftn ot Aptfl -rf>th, a small SWALLOW'S URGE : The starboard Junkers Jumo 004 turbine-jet unit of theMesserschmitt 262 (Swallow) fighter. It has a multi-stage compressor and a two-stage turbine. of Lancasters flew to Swinemunde, where the Lutzow had been dis- covered, and dropped 12,000 lb. bombs. Evidently ten-tonners were not considered necessary, and certainly the o'nes used did their work well enough. One fell beside a quay 60 feet away from the pocket battleship, which thereupon sank to the bottom without capsizing. Her plates must have been burst open by what has sometimes been called the water hammer. There will be no imposing German fleet to surrender as in 1918. Suicide Airmen AS for the war against the Japanese, •^ it is hard to keep count of the number of air raids on the Tokyo area and on Formosa and the islands round it. The Japanese seem to think that a soldier or airman who does not live to fight another day is a more useful person than one who does. Death, rather than victory, seems to be their ideal. So they organised an air corps called the "Divine Wind" to attack the Allied warships. It consisted ot high-class pilots who were prepared to dive and crash their machines on to the decks of Allied vessels. It was evidently regarded as a sort of reli- gious sacrifice, and the pilots dressed Themselves for it in flowing silk robes, which must have been" highly incon- venient in an aircraft. Then another corps was formed, called the Kami- kaze Corps, which had the same object, but dispensed with the silk robes. According to latest reports, these men were conscripts and not very skilful. Off Okinawa they suc- ceeded in sinking 15 ships, the largest of which was a destroyer; but did nothing to affect the naval superiority of the Allies in those waters. One British ship was slightly damaged, but none was sunk. However, the suicide of the pilots came off all right, and the number of aircraft destroyed rose to figures which the Japanese Air Force can certainly not afford to lose. In- Burma R.A.F. Liberators severely damaged the power plant at Bangkok with eighty bombs of 100 lb. calibre.
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