FLIGllI,

January

1941 IN

ist, 1942.

RETROSPECT

came a ground defence unsupported

by aircraft. A considerable p a r t of
our troops was evacuated with t h e
help of t h e N a v y , b u t our losses were
grievous, especially in cruisers and
other ships.
However, t h e defence of Crete saved
Iraq and Syria. German aircraft began
to land in Syria with the connivance of
the Vichy authorities. Consequently
our authorities decided t o occupy the
country, a n d t h e F r e e F r e n c h (who
had hitherto declined t o fight against
their countrymen) agreed t o co-operate. I n this campaign we h a d air
superiority, a n d , after sharp fighting,
the Vichy F r e n c h surrendered in J u l y .
The F r e e F r e n c h took over the
country.
W e m u s t not leave t h e
sphere of t h e Mediterranean w i t h o u t a
tribute to gallant Malta, so resolute
in defence, so incisive in hitting back.
The middle of August saw a heavy daylight attack by Blenheims of Bomber
Command on the power station of Cologne. The Blenheims flew at 50 ft. or less
T h e w a r entered upon a new phase
all the way from the coast and back.
when, on J u n e 22nd, Hitler invaded
Russia w i t h o u t a declaration of war.
Force had been making strenuous a t t a c k s on t h e convoys
The Russian resistance surprised t h e whole world, b u t their
which the enemy was sending from E u r o p e to Africa, and
troops were slowly driven back.
Strategically, the most
h a d been sinking a high proportion of t h e ships. O u r
dangerous development was t h e German a d v a n c e in t h e
bombers also regularly raided the ports of embarkation,
Ukraine, which threatened t h e oilfields of Russia, and also
especially Naples a n d Brindisi, a n d t h e ports of arrival,
of Persia a n d I r a q .
Accordingly, t o w a r d s t h e end of
Tripoli, Benghazi, a n d others.
August, Russian a n d British-Indian forces b o t h entered
Persia. The autocratic Shah abdicated, a n d his son began a
H.M.S. "Ark Royal"
new policy of friendship with t h e Allies. These successes
in western Asia were a considerable offset t o the Allied
Throughout the summer a n u m b e r of sweeps was m a d e
losses in Greece and Crete. W e m a y pass over some interby both sections of t h e Mediterranean Fleet, and t h e Ark
vening m o n t h s to say t h a t , as t h e year drew to a close,
Royal, which was based on Gibraltar, h a d m a n y advenMarshal Timoshenko reorganised t h e Russian forces in the
tures and m a n y escapes.
T h e coming of the F u l m a r
south a n d commenced t o drive t h e Germans back. On
fighters greatly helped the carriers in t h e Mediterranean,
nearly all p a r t s of t h e long front t h e Russians developed
for their speed a n d gun-power enabled t h e m to catch a n d
air superiority, and t h e Germans also were driven back
speedily destroy enemy scouting machines which might
from in front of Moscow.
otherwise h a v e escaped, and also t o shoot down diveN e w A d v a n c e in L i b y a
This reversal of fortune coincided with, and was doubtless related t o , a new advance in N o v e m b e r b y British
forces in L i b y a . H e r e we held an undoubted air superiority, b o t h in n u m b e r s of aircraft and in the ability of our
pilots a n d crews. On t h e ground t h e fighting was mainly
between t a n k s , and it was found t h a t attacking h e a v y t a n k s
was not t h e best use t o which aircraft could be p u t . While
Empire fighters k e p t t h e m a s t e r y of t h e air, reconnaissance
machines provided information of w h a t the enemy was
doing, a n d our bombers concentrated on destroying his supply columns.
The Germans m a d e desperate efforts to
strengthen their air squadrons, withdrawing units from
other areas, b u t in vain. T h e Luftwaffe,
after its serious
losses in Russia, was a t last stretched beyond its capacity.
Before t h i s L i b y a n b a t t l e began, t h e N a v y a n d t h e Air
Our Russian allies pulled several good types of aircraft
out of the bag. Among them was the shapely Stormovik
dive-bomber shown below.

bombers in considerable numbers. B u t in November t h e

stout old Ark Royal fell a victim t o a torpedo, a n d sank,
despite gallant efforts to get her into port. Only one rating
was lost.
B u t before she was lost, the Ark Royal h a d t a k e n a
prominent p a r t in the B a t t l e of t h e Atlantic. During t h e
summer t h e rate of sinkings caused no little a n x i e t y , which
the P r i m e Minister did not a t t e m p t to conceal. T h e N a v y
h a d t o contend with U-boats based on Lorient and FockeWulf Condors from Merignac, near B o r d e a u x . I n addition
German battleships, battle cruisers, a n d other cruisers went
o u t raiding in t h e Atlantic. I n F e b r u a r y , a 10,000-ton
cruiser of t h e Hipper class was known to have entered
Brest harbour, and B o m b e r C o m m a n d m a d e violent a t t a c k s
on t h e place, b u t t h e warship seems t o h a v e escaped. T h e n
in March the powerful warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau
returned t o Brest from t h e Atlantic a n d t h e latter went
into d r y dock. A t once B o m b e r C o m m a n d launched a
long series of heavy raids on t h a t port, which was very
strongly defended.
Armour-piercing b o m b s h a d t o be
dropped from a height a t which t h e y would be able t o