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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 1201.PDF
JUNE 2IST, 1945 R.A.F. Transport Command Flies Troops to India : Invasion of Borneo THE quickening of the tempo inthe war against Japan wasexemplified last week by news of the arrival in the Far East of the first military reinforcements to be flown out there from Britain. Initi- ally the actual numbers involved are admittedly small, but they are to be steadily increased until their numbers run into many thousands every month. R.A.F. Transport Command, of course, is being entrusted with this new and vital supply line between this country and Seac ; it entails a 6,000- miles flight which is completed in five days, allowing for a 48-hour rest in the Middle East to give the troops a certain amount of acclimatisation. From Britain they are flown to Lydda, in Palestine (it lies between Jerusalem and Jaffa on the coast), where they enjoy their two-day break, and are then flown on to Karachi, which one correspondent has romantically de- TO LAND-ON: A U.S. Navy Helldiver (S.B.2C) peels off from its formation to alight on the aircraft carrier below. scribed as " The aerial St. Pancras '' of that theatre of war. Just how much acclimatisation can be achieved within the short space of five days is, per- haps, a debatable point, but the brief rest at Lydda certainly breaks down the change in temperature from an English summer (especially the one enjoyed so far) and the Indian climate into two stages. Incidentally, the vast majority of the men, for whom this is the first taste of air travel, are all in favour of the swifter means of travel; getting there in a few days instead of taking weeks makes them feel they are not so far away from FOR FRESH FIELDS : U.S.A.A.F. Liberator, on its wave farewell to an 8th Commaffli.airfield at Valley, Wales, .merica. their homes and families, with a very beneficial effect upon morale. It seems likely, too, that trooping by air between the home country and dis - tant garrisons will prove no mere war- time expedient, but will be maintained in peacetime with very obvious advan- tages all round. Borneo Air Base HTHE landings on North Borneo, the significance of which calls for no explanation (especially to the Japsj have gone extremely well, thanks in the first place to the very thorough preliminary bombardment by Austra- lian and American ships and aircraft, whose co-ordinated efforts levelled the beach defences, after which aircraft covered the actual landings. One advantage to the attackers in such a vast theatre of operations as the- Pacific presents is that the Japs never know just where the Allies will strike next, and so, once again, they were taken by surp/ise and our casualties were light. One of the early objectives gained was the airfield on the island of Labuan and the adjacent town. Lying at the entrance of Brunei Bay on the south side of which is Brunei itself, also taken, its capture virtually neutralised any local air defence the Japs might have tried to offer and at the same time gave the Allies an additional air base of extreme strate- gic value. A British-owned island ol about 35 square miles, Labuan is also a coaling station and oil centre. The landing on the mainland was made at Brooketon, on Brunei Bluff and 16 miles from the capital; Brooketan was devastated by the pre-invasion bom- bardment. The importance attached to these operations is, in fact, indi-
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