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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 1439.PDF
FLIGHT JULY 26TH, 1945 CLOSE SUPPORT IN BURMA to it has been large—and all those who have seen the General and the A.O.C. setting out on their walking con- ferences together, will agree that 15 Corps and 224 Group march as one. General Slim, G.O.C. of the 14th Army, wouldn't thank anyone for calling him " air-minded." He regards air and land all as part of the continuum of war, and he is out- spoken about anyone who makes a special virtue of what he regards as a simple military axiom. Coming down the scale, the same close-weaving of the two Forces is found at,.^ divisional, brigade and comperffy H.Cj.s, at Group, at Wing, and at Squadron. Many forwarc positions of the Army have attached to them a V.C.P. (Visual Control Post) manned by Army and Air Force officers. This V.C.P. directs close support attacks by R / T; and is one of the favourite '' opera- tional rest'' occupations of the S.E.A.C. pilots. In this case the change must be as good as the rest— no one can rail a V.C.P. a quiet job. At the squadrons there are always A.L.O.s (Army Liaison Officers) who do most of the pilot briefing, while there are R.A.¥,> liaison officers dotted about as specialist advisers with each 14th Army division. As well as this official interweaving, there is a lot of unofficial liaison. Parties of pilots spend a few days with the Army, and the technical problems of pin-point rapport are thrashed out by the junior officers of both services whose lot it is to carry out those tactical orders which come from "on high." Many " snags" of armament and method of attack and approach have been ironed out by these for- ward unit "get togethers"—and in many places the friendliest basis is in operation between,Army V.C.P.s and the pilots they are directing by R^TT Standard of Co-operation It is not surprising, therefore, that, in such an atmo- sphere, R.A.F. "Burma claims to have reached an "All time high" in Army-co-op. They say out there that if a higher standard is- ever reached it will be 221 and 224 Groups that reach it. The aircraft on the job have been, in the main, Vengeances, Hurribombers, Spitfires and Thunderbolts. The Vengeances, about which Flight had an article the other week, are now "out"—but they did a grand job at a critical time. The Hurribombers are on their way out— but if and when they do go, there will be a pang of regret through the com- mand. The Hurribomber always was a gentleman's aircraft, and it has been manoeuvrable, accurate and^««sy to maintain throughout its jungle career. The '' T-bolts '' are now gaining favour in the eyes of the men who fly them. At first they weren't too popu- lar, and petrol vent trouble made them less so. Also they meant conversion courses, and it is in the nature of things to object to change when one is quite happy with the existing equip- R.A.F. Thunderbolts being serviced ona forward airstrip on the Arakan front. Air Vice-Marshal the Earl of Bandon,D.S.O., who commands No. 224 Group in Burma. ment. The position was summed up by the commander of a " T-bolt" wing who said, "Nobody likes the Thunder- bolt until he's flown it—then he does." I myself have spoken to ex-Hurribomber pilots now on T-bolts, who say they wouldn't change back—especially after flying them on ops. Spitfires, Mustangs, Mosquitos, Beaufighters, Lightnings, Liberators and Wimpeys have, as I have said, all played their part in close support. But the main tactical duties during the Burma advance were shouldered by the Thunderbolts and Hurribombers. Strike Timetable The pinpoint bombing that these squadrons have done compares very well with the work in Europe of the special Mosquito sorties which coped with No. 10 Hitlerstrasse in some town or other while leaving numbers 8 and 12 untouched. A typical routine and timetable for pinpoint target during the advancT d troops held up by chaung (gulley).r Brigade) H.Q. in- rme<f—with full details ofn of our troops—posi- tion/of Japs and suggestedment and "time on tar- (say 12.15).IV. H.Q. request R.A.F. Group Combined Ops.' Roomfor ^Istrike. Group decides frojft. ti^ Hask and situationbeard *wrich wing can accept he *rtke and at what timetfiel aircraft will be on target. .B.—There were very fewfusals, and the time was usually that originally sug-gested by the Army.) The chosen wing notified and wingdetails a squadron. A.L.O. at chosen squadronbriefed. Stand by squadron briefed byA.L.O. Time of take-off fixed; target described; direction of attacks laid down, armament to be useddecided; call-sign of the V.C.P. issued, and pilots told by what route to "escape" if shot down. Squadron (or, if small job, flight) takes off. For- ward troops notified of time on target. Strike carried out under R/T. control from V.C.P. In the days of the jungle war the elapsed time betweeii' request and strike was fantastically low—sometimes at Imphal it came down to five or ten minutes, as/many of the targets were almost '' on the circuit'' of oar own air- fields. Then, as the 14th advanced on to the Burma plain the time lag naturally lengthened. The R.A.F. and R.I.A.F. squadrons cut this factor' down as much as 11.10: IT.15: 11.40: 12.15 • 7,
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