NEW TACTICS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 71, 25 March 1941, Page 6

NEW TACTICS.

MASSED PATROLS.

WAR'S TURNING POINT.

R.A.F. OVER EUROPE.

'This dispatch was written by * Jamous British aviation met. whose prmni <*u-]rs with Ihfr R.A.F. Ms an officer on ground dy'T prevent the use of his nan;-.) LONDON, Feb. 7. Britain has made its first claim to command of the air by bringing about an entire change in tactics. This week we have started for the lirst time massed fighter patrols over the Continent, which will now continue without stop until the H.I.F. (Royal Invasion Force) i- rcadv to step in where the Royal Air F..rcV leaves off. 1 his j» a definite new step and turning |>oinl in the air war. • Jormanv had to quit sending nia-scd lighter patrols over Britain la»t autumn owing ti> severe losses. Now, for the first time since the fall of Fran-.-e. the sk\ over Kurope is dark with uarpianes zooming and rolling and stailturning and Mazing and tiring and crashing to destruction. Britain i« sending out flight after flight of Spitfires and Hurricanes and Defiant*. which are crossing j ], 0 Channel at seven miles a minute and carrying the skv warfare awav from Biitain and o\cr Hit ler-occupied Europe Briti-h ships arc going up now in their hundreds to gatccra-h German territory.

Low Altitude Attacks. The spitfire formations join in with the biggest of Britain's new day l.omhers some of which are American machines, thrown into action for the lir-t time in this new battle of France. The lighter patrols protect the bomber* and escort them across the Channel, and as ihe French coast slides beneath, the lx.ml.ers pet ready for a new form of low altitude attack.

Below, behind, before and above the Rriti*h bomber*, are ma--cd fighters, reminiscent of tlie sj»oc:acul.ir <.]io« * i] )r Nazis put on over Britain in lfliO. A* the German ack-ack. gun- open file another fliyht of Hriti-li m.|. hincs whirl up into the ~un —they can climb !o.o<<oft in four minutes and yo up to ciyht milehigh where no bomber can climb—and take formation there. A second flight follows. *

One hundred and fifty mile* bark in the heart of Britain." at t iie -ec ret operations room commanding thir* newtactic, a lean hawk-face of the H..VI". barks a command, and !:ft\ Britisii fijjhtinp ships svviii£ in un:*on. like men performing drill on ihe barrack* *rj:iare. *1 hey may form an echelon, or ]j\ wedge, or in other wavs cab ula ted to annoy. Kight miles below • jic ncw-tvpe Meiiserschinitt twin-engined fighter'roar out to repel the day bomber*. These shi[>i are definitely -lower and les* acrobatic than the Spitfires and Hurricanes lurking above, unseen.

There comes a snap of a command as the first Nazi ship takes off. and the British dig their no?c* downward. Then, in a screeching power-dive, like a handful of thunderbolts they come down at more timn eight mile- a minute.

Foretaste of Hell. To r-it a! .» few thousand lee:, niomcn. tarily belp]e«, a* 'lie.e Nazis now do- - .'SOO m.p.h. seems crawling when vou see Spitfires diving at you: And hear nine of them firing from TJ gun- is a foretaste of hell. The noise alone nearly shakos you out of your -kin: your head seen!o to break into two red-hot parts. I have had Germans do that to me. The Germans no longer do that because it did not pay them. Now the H.A.F. hastolen the trick, with a few neat additions from the brains of some of Britain's be*t flying foxes. The fighters zoom down at the German*. doing acrobatic* to avoid the flaming curtain of flack from the enemy ack-ack guns. The new British daylight bomber* turn and let l.ghter engage lighter, and. manoeuvring beautifully, coming in at low height, thev lay their bombs. There are no German fighters to worry them, for the fighters at: having a death struggle with the cream of Britain's attack force. On this particular raid there were lines of German invasion ships tied in harbour along the French coa-t. In that hcllfire dash, a matter of minutes for the whole operation, our bomber* laid lack alter rack of bomb- on t lie sitting *hip«. The big pow cr-operated gun turrets of the bombers -trafed ground, invasion ship-, and harbours. Nazi troops ran in frantic hundred- tor -belter, falling in their track- as spruc - ing lead from the t-ky got them. The German anti-ai: ci .i ft d»ooinl.ed furiou.-ly. Kach of these very effective Nazi gun- tirei- ten -t'Jlb shell- a minute, and the medium 'J> pounders—.« lighter tvpe of gun—tire .00 Mb shells a minute. The German ground defence ia solid blare of machine guns, and above it all the air machine-gun- and air can lions of the rival fighter fleets kick up a terrific din. punctuated by bilge woomj — — British bombs. — (N.A.N.A. and "Auck. land Star. ")