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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 1060.PDF
£•*•• Fk lGHT Coastal Command at Gibraltar From Their Base Under the Sh of "The Rock" the White- Wellingtons and Venturas Fought the Qerman U'boats off the African Coast MAY 31 ST, 194.5 (Above) Venturas of the S.A.A.F. being refuelled on the R.A.F. air base with the famous "Rock " for a background. Powerful floodlights were set in the Rock and illuminated the scene for night operations. 'Above) To provide a necessary increase in runway length the airfield was built out into the sea. Here a Ventura is taking off while off-duty aircrew enjoy a well-earned sunbathe. (Above) Nissen huts pro- vide reasonably comfortable living quarters for the aircrews. (Left) R.A.A.F. Wellingtons also operated with "Coastal " from "Gib." The bulge under the nose houses part of their Radar equipment. (Below) A four-gun turret mounted on a chassis provides useful practice for air-gunners. IN the ceaseless battle waged against theGerman U-boats by R.A.F. Coastal Com- mand, a vital part was played by thesquadrons stationed at Gibraltar. These in- cluded Lockheed Venturas of the S.A.A.I".,and the ubiquitous Wimpey flown by R.A.A.F. aircrews. From their strategic outpost, the crewskept up an unrelenting vigil over the Atlantic waters off the north-west coastlineof Africa, attacking all " unterseebooten " which ventured within the wide fan of seacovered by their long-range operations which linked up with the similar activities ofother squadrons based in the Azores and farther down the West African shores.
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