ENEMY LOSSES OVER MALTA

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23771, 17 October 1942, Page 5

ENEMY LOSSES OVER MALTA

NINETY-FIVE PLANES IN FIVE DAYS

LITTLE DAMAGE IN LATEST RAIDS

(Rec. 11 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 16. Ninety-five Axis aircraft have been shot down over Malta since the blitz against the island was resumed five days ago. The Royal Air Force at Malta has lost 12 fighters in the same period, but five of the pilots are safe. Yesterday four enemy bombers and eight fighters were destroyed over the island. Once more the raiders had little to show for their attacks. Civilian damage was slight and there was no military damage. On Wednesday, when 23 Axis aircraft were destroyed over Malta, a strong force of Junker bombers, strongly escorted by fighters, was intercepted by British Spitfires before reaching the island. Twelve of the bombers and 11 fighters were destroyed, and before the remainder turned tail 40 more were damaged. < It was expected that at least one-third of this number would not return to their bases. The Roval Air Force News Service in the Middle East states that the Axis air forces lost in daylight 56 aircraft and more than 130 airmen oyer Malta in three days this week. Little damage of importance has been inflicted on military targets in the island, although there have been several civilian casualties. Twenty-five Junkers 88’s have been shot down and only four of 100 men who flew in them were rescued' by Royal Air Force launches. Twentytwo Messerschmitt 109’s, eight Macchi 202’s, and one RE2OOI were also shot down, with none of the pilots saved. Royal Air Force losses in the same period were seven Spitfires, with two of the pilots safe.

AXIS PLANS IN EGYPT

DEPTH OF POSITIONS INCREASED

LONDON. Oct. 15. "The Axis forces in Egypt have abandoned all offensive- dispositions," reports the Cairo correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph.” “Marshal Rommel, who is back at the front after his visit to Berlin, has changed his plans with Teutonic thoroughness, and the Alamein front is intensively wired and mined, with a view to making it impregnable. “The main Axis positions across the Alamein neck are being steadily increased in depth, and they now extend back for nearly three miles.” “The visit to London of General Smuts may be a portent of a coming battle in Egypt,” says the “Daily Express” in a leading article. “The weight of the Axis air attacks against Malta reveals the importance of the convoys now reinforcing Marshal Rommel. The presence of U-boat packs off Africa shows how much the Axis desires to interrupt our Middle East reinforcements, for the cutting of this route is being given priority in the German sea war plans. For Germany, as well as for us, victory in Egypt could prbvide the master key to winning the war.”

THREAT TO NEAR EAST

GERMANS SAID TO HAVE ABANDONED PLAN

(Rec. 10 p.m.) NEW YORK, Oct. 15. After seeking corroboration of reports to Allied military intelligence sources in Istanbul, indicating that the Germans had abandoned a plan to invade the Near East from Aegean bases, the correspondent of the “New York Times” at Smyrna says that he has received evidence from reliable quarters that an Axis attack on this area is impossible this autumn, and that the entire Near East is probably secure until the spring of 1943. The correspondent adds: “Reports received in Smyrna from the German air bases on the islands of Lesbos, Chios, and Samos, have disclosed that the Germans and Italians have withdrawn all but skeleton garrison forces from the Greek Islands and the Dodecanese. “Allied military and naval circles say that the Germans committed the gravest error since the failure of their attempt to invade England after the collapse of France, when last May they failed to attack the weak defences of Syria and Palestine, concurrently with the Libyan offensive. Only the Turks were ready last May, and an operation aimed across Syria at the Iran oil and into Palestine, to sever Allied communications, was feasible.”

CROATS IN REVOLT

FIGHTING REPORTED FROM BERNE

(Rec. 7 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 15. A Berne report says that 4000 followers of Dr. Macek, the Croat peasant leader, are reported to have revolted against the Pavelic Government. Fighting is now stated to be raging in Croatia, independently of General Mikhailovic’s guerrilla forces.