BASES ATTACKED IN SARDINIA

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23401, 7 August 1941, Page 7

BASES ATTACKED IN SARDINIA

FLEET AIR ARM AND NAVY COOPERATE R.A.F. OPERATIONS IN CYRENAICA (U.P.A.-8.0.W.) LONDON. August 5. Naval units and aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm co-operated in a brilliant attack on enemy bases in Sardinia. Taking off from H.M.S. Ark Royal Swordfish aircraft attacked the seaplane base at Alghero m the north-west of the island. They were guided by fires already started by destroyers and their bombs set fire to hangars and a petrol dump, which were left burning fiercely. In preparation for the attack, des« troyers' had earlier steamed into the harbours of Alghero and Tocanto, which are only a few miles apart, and had bombarded the bases. Describing the Mediterranean Fleet s attack on Sardinian ports, an agency correspondent on board the Ark Royal states: “Below me is the flight deck, wider than an arterial road and scarcely discernible. It is 3 a.m. and the night air is sounding with the hum of aeroplane engines. Their bomb racks are full, for the Gibraltar force of Rear-Admiral Sir James Somerville is on the offensive. In fact, the offensive has already begun, for three-quarters of an hour ago there was a luminous reflection in the sky far away over the coast of north Sardinia. It came from star shells fired by destroyers, which had been sent in to bombard the seaplane base of Alghero and shipping in the harbour there., Final Instructions

"Now our bombers are to follow and four tons of bombs beneath their wings are destined for the Alghero aerodrome. Zero hour is near and the crews are already in the aircraft. A few minutes ago, wearing flying suits and lifebelts, the pilots and observers, under carefully shaded lights in the air intelligence department, were receiving final instructions for the raid. "The hum of engines increases with a shattering crescendo and suddenly the flight deck is picked out in tiny points of light. They match the stars in the dark sky and are so cunningly devised that they cast no radiance to the sky to advertise our presence to possible lurking U-boats but they give the minimum guiding light for a sale take off. “The deck vibrates as the first bomber thunders forward. Its shadowy outline seems terribly menacing. As it passes the bridge the orange glow of the exhaust illuminates a few feet of the fuselage and a flurry of red sparks swirl madly in the wind before they vanish. The centre row of safety lights disappear for an instant and we know that the bomber is in the air. Within a few minutes all are away."

Bombers Over Cyrenaica Successful operations by British bombers in Cyrenaica are reported in a Royal Air Force communique, which says: “Royal Air Force bombers carried out a number of successful operations in Cyrenaica during the night of August 3-4. One formation attacked the port of Derria, causing considerable damage and starting a number of fires. Two buildings at the base of the mole were destroyed. Bombs were also dropped on a landing ground and a battery, which was silenced. “Other aircraft attacked the landing ground and the dispersal area at El Gazala, causing a series of explosion* and several fires. Huts and a camp nearby were machine-gunned from a few hundred feet and about 29 tents caught fire. At Martuba the landing ground was also bombed and fires and explosions were observed among dispersed aircraft. "An attack was delivered on enemy shipping off the coast near Appollonia. Hits were made on one ship and possibly another. Enemy merchant vessels were again attacked in the same area yesterday and two are believed to have been hit. Royal Air Force bombers carried out a successful attack on shipping in the harbour at Tripoli on August 3. A merchant vessel of about 8000 tons was hit by a heavy bomb and a violent explosion followed, throwing a great quantity of wreckage into the air. Two direct hits were obtained on military buildings which were also machine-gunned. “A reconnaissance of Reggio, in southern Italy, showed that in the attack reported in yesterday’s communique 10 Macchi 200's and a Breda 20 were destroyed while about 20 more Macchis were damaged, several very badly. . “From all these operations all our aircraft returned safely.” An Egyptian communique report* that 90 were killed and 109 injured la a raid on the Suez Canal area last night.

THE ABYSSINIAN CAMPAIGN

WORK OF ALLIED AIR FORCES

STRENGTH OP ENEMY SLIGHTLY GREATER

(8.0. W.) RUGBY, August 5. Details of the activities of the Em* pire and Allied air forces in the AbyJsinian campaign show that Free French forces co-operated with squadrons ot the South African and Rhodesian Air Forces as well as with the Royal Aif Fcrce in widespread operations which culminated successfully in the freeing of the territory from the Italian yoke. Among the diverse aircraft usedthey ranged from Hartbeeste to Hurricanes—were several German-built machines—Junkers 86’s flown by the South African Air Force. In all, the Allied strength varied between 160 and 190 aircraft. The enemy strength, it is believed, never exceeded 220 at one time, of which 140 were bombers and 70 fighters. It is calculated that up to July IT some 306 enemy aircraft were destroyed at the cost of 144 to the Allies. Six squadrons of Allied bombers to that date had raided 121 different target areas in more than 650 separate attacks.

Ingenious camouflage by the Italians was a feature of the campaign, but the Allied reconnaissance aircraft seem readily to have spotted the attempted deception, which included the creation of artificial dust storms by running airscrews of unserviceable aircraft placed on the edges of aero* dromes.

The Allied operations were carried out from Aden, the Sudan, and Kenya, and gradually attained intensity until in August, 1940, the three-pronged attack by the Royal Air Force, the Rhodesian Air Force, and the South African Air Force covered points from Massawa to Kismayu and from Mogadisho to Gondar. In September, 1940, in the Gondar region, a successful raid destroyed a large ammunition dump, and there were other successes. With the invasion of Abyssinia, the air forces operated in close so-opera-tion with the troops, and from Febru. ary, 1941, onwards were more directly ccncerned with sfipport of the ground forces.

In March and April, Swordfish air* craft of the Fleet Air Arm joined the Royal Air Force in an attack on fiv» destroyers in the Red Sea, and when the general offensive was accelerated towards the end of April bombing sorties increased, as many as 225 being made against enemy concentrations in a single week. After the Duke of Aosta’s surrender in May, the campaign gradually diminished, and by June 17 the operations mainly consisted of harassing the remnants of the Italian forces in central Abyssinia.