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Aviation History
1948
1948 - 1823.PDF
OCTOBER 28TH, 194a The V'l and V-2 Battle \ LTHOUGH more than three and a•£*• hail years have passed since the last of over 10,000 flying bombs androckets were launched against this coun- try by the Geimans, Air Chief MarshalSir Roderic Hill's newly-published report on the campaign against the V-weapons*makes interesting and informative read- ing. Sir Roderic commanded Air De-fence ot Great Britain from the date of its inception, November 15th, 1943, untilits former title of Fighter Command was restored on October 15th, 1944. Heremained as A.O.C. Fighter Command until the end of the war in Europe. Six months before the first flyingbomb fell near Gravesend in the early hours of June 13th, 1944, Sir RodericHill and General Sir Frederick Pile, the officer commanding A.A. Command, hadjointly completed a plan of defence against the attacks by pilotless aircraftthen known to be in advanced stages of preparation. The beginning of theattacks found the defences well prepared and deployment of the guns and balloonswas completed according to plan in a surprisingly short time. Problemsquickly arose—the old difficulty of pre- venting interference between A.A. gunsand fighters was finally settled by estab- lishing rigid gun-belts, and prohibitingfighters from entering under any con- ditions. The fighter aircraft availablewere not capable of giving their best per- formances at 2-3,000 feet—the height atwhich the bombs flew. Modifications were made to the engines of our aircraftto enable 150-octane fuel to be used, with correspondingly higher boost pres-sures, and a wing of Mustang 3s, which were very fast at the operational alti-tude, was borrowed from the 2nd T.A.F. Orders were given that all fighters oper-ating exclusively against flying bombs were to be stripped of paint, armour andunnecessary external fittings, and outer surfaces were to be polished ; speed in-creases of as much as 30 m.p.h. were gained with some aircraft. The speedadvantage of the Spitfire 9 and 14, and Tempest 5, was, says Sir Roderic, onlyfractional. Very close control of fighters was necessary to provide successful inter-ception. Although the majority of pilots preferred shooting down enemy aircraftover France, attacking the V-is was not without risk, a fact grimly illustrated bythe death of five pilots and one navigator through exploding the missiles in the airat a range closer than 200 yards. One feature of the operations, perhaps pre-viously unknown to pilots taking part, is related in the report—" In order thatour pilots should not lose their lives by colliding with the barrage we perpetrateda pious fraud on them by allowing them to believe that the balloons would flycontinuously." A.Cdre. G. H. Ambler, C.B.E.,A.F.C., Deputy Senior Air Staff Officer to Sir Roderic Hill, suggested on July13th the plan of moving the A.A. guns from the folds in the North Downs,where they had been located from the beginning of the operation in order tominimize possible jamming of their *" Air Operations by Air Defence of GreatBritain and Fighter Command in Connection with the German Flying Bomb and Rocket Offensives,1944-1945." A Report submitted to the Secretary of State for Air on April \7th. 1948, by Air ChiefMarsha! Sir Roderic Hill, K.C.B., M.C., A.F.C., published on October 30*i as a Supplement to theLondon Gazette, obtainable from His Majesty's Stationery Office. B 29 529 OPPOSITE NUMBERS : General Rodrigues, Chief of Staff of the Portuguese Army, met lord Tedder during his recent visit. R.A.F. Vampires were demonstrated for the General and his Staff at Odiham. radar, to the coast, where " proximityfuses" could b" used without danger to inland property, and the gunners wouldhave a clearer view of their targets. Time was vital, and after consulting SirRobert Watson-Watt, the radar expert, General Pile, and A.V-M. Saunders, theA.O.C. 11 Group, to ensure that the pro- posal was both technically and tacticallysound. Sir Roderic personally ordered the re-deployment of the guns, whichbegan on the same day. On July 17th all the heavy guns were in action on thecoast and were joined by the light guns two days later. The move was soonfollowed by a notification from the Air Ministry that permission at a higherlevel should first have been obtained, and Sir Roderic "was left in no doubtthat he would be held personally respon- sible for the outcome." The operationalresults, however, were excellent, and he records that '' while flying over theSouth Coast on August 29th I could see over Romney Marsh a wall of blacksmoke marking the position of the bar- rage. From time to time a fresh salvowould be added to repair the slow erosion of the wind. On the far side ofthe barrage fighters were shooting down flying bombs into the Channel; on thenearer side more fighters waited on its fringe to pounce on the occasional bombthat got so far. The whole was as fine a spectacle of co-operation as any com-mander could wish to see." Capture of the launching bases byAllied armies ended the main attack in September, and the later offensive withbombs air-launched from He Ills, and missiles of longer range, from bases inHolland, was sporadic and less power- ful. The operations to counter thesedesperate last measures, including the launching of A-4 (V-2) rockets fromSeptember 8th, 1944, until March 27th, 1945, are described fully in Sir Roderic'sreport. W.A.A.F. Commissions WOMEN entering the W.A.A.F. ontwo- or three-year engagements may now be recommended for shortservice commissions of five years' active list service. Since the war ended onlyairwomen already serving on extended service engagements have been eligiblefor commissioning. Pending decisions on pay and conditions in the permanentwomen's service, airwomen who come under this scheme will receive gratuitiesof ^50 for each year of commissioned ser- vice. Branches at present open forW.A.A.F. officers are catering, equip- ment, provost, administrative and secre-tarial, including intelligence, and the raid-reporting section of aircraft control. R.A.F. Swimming Success THE Singapore inter-Services 1948swimming championships were held at the Singapore Swimming Club lastmonth. The R.A.F. team won with a total of 74 points to the Army's 64 andthe Navy's 63. Paper Chase HPHE Organization and Methods-«- Division of the Air Ministry are to attempt to reduce the number of formsused by the R.A.F. Their intention is to eliminate unnecessary forms and reducewhere possible the number of copies printed. The Jolliffe Trophy FOR seven years, the Jolliffe silverchallenge trophy has been awarded annually to the R.A.F. Station judgedto have the best dining hall. This year's winner is Scampton, of Bomber Com-mand, a station now accommodating U.S.A.F. Superfortress squadron person-nel as well as R.A.F. men. Airmen of both air forces mess together, and theircooks co-operate in the kitchen, where rations are pooled. The normal service-man's attitude to his cooks was amus- ingly in evidence, when Americans madethe coffee and British cooks brewed the tea. The immediate result wras that theAmerican airmen chose tea, while the British drank coffee! Interesting ingenuity has brightened
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