FATAL MISTAKE

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 309, 24 September 1943, Page 6

FATAL MISTAKE

How Nazis Lost Battle

Of Britain BOMBING OF LONDON (By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Special Correspondent.) (Received September 23, 7 p.m.) LONDON, September 22. Britain never had more than 25 day fighter squadrons deployed to meet the whole of Hie Luftwaffe in any one day along the south coast during lhe Battle of Britain. The Germans came within sight of winning that battle, but made a fatal mistake. This was when they thought they had smashed Hie fighter stations and broken the R.A.F.’s fighter strength, and they then switched the attack to Lon'don on September 7, 1940. They switched too soon, for though tlie fighter stations in southern England had been badly bombed they were still just operating, and these vital aerodromes were given a ’breathing space in which to reorganize and finally beat the Luftwaffe.

These facts were explained to me in Hie only' interview on the .Battle of Britain so far given by Air Vice-Marshal Sir Keith Bark, K.8.E., C. 8., M.C., D.F.C., Air Officer Commanding at Malta. Tills famous New Zealander, when • commanding the No. 11 Fighter Group, played a decisive part in winning that struggle, which turned Hie whole course of the war. Sir Keith is on leave in England for 10 days after spending two years in Egypt and Malta. Recalling Hint vital period three years ago. he said: “Dunkirk was the most exciting time —it was one of the most exciting operations in this war. I believed at that time that if we could not get the Army out. from Dunkirk and that if it was captured or its shipping sunk thik would have a far-reaching effect on the war from a political as well as a military viewpoint. We could never have got the'Army out if it had not been for the lighter protection giyen over Calais, Boulogne and Cherbourg, as well as Dunkirk. Invaluable Experience. “The Battle of France and the Battle of Dunkirk gave our lighter squadrons their first real fighting experience. It was invaluable when the Battle of Britain came. 'The casualties were relatively low considering that we were taking on the bulk of the Luftwaffe, and for every lighter we lost we shot down five of the enemy —and we were fighting over enemy territory at long range. • “It is somewhat difficult to talk about lhe Battle of Britain. It went on from July 'to October. My most lasting and vivid impression of that period was those enormous raids of 400 to 500 enemy aircraft being plotted on a table in Hie No. 11 Group operations room, all converging on our aerodromes round London. I’ll never forget that —nor Hie magnificent show the fighter pilots put up. They met odds of four or five to one. I think the reason why we all kept up our high morale was because we had done so well at. Dunkirk. We felt confident that we could beat the Hun over England if we kept on long enough and that we would smash his morale by sheer weight of casualties inflicted week after week. Another fact which kept us going was that we knew we hud to win that battle or bust. We knew very well from our reconnaissance that he had masses of barges collected along Hie coasts of Holland, Belgium and France, and that if lie could land in England there would be nothing to prevent the panzers over-running Kent in quick tiuie. A Loudon Burning. “The Hun lost, the Battle of Britain when he switched from bombing my fighter stations 'to bombing Ixtudon oil September 7. It was my normal routine in those days to begin work iu lhe operations room at 7.30 a.m. and to continue till 5.30 p.m., then to take off in my Hurricane from Northolt and fly round the stations which had been blitzed that day to see how the squadrons and pilots were standing up to it. On September 7 1 flew over London. It was burning all down tlie river. It was a horrid sight, 'but I looked down and said: •Thank God for that!’ because I knew the Hun had switched his attack from my fighter aerodromes, thinking he had knocked them out, but they weren t knocked out; they were very groggy, and if he had continued his bombing of them he might have finished them off, but though he put out many essentials they were still just functioning. He was probably working to a sot schedule, and no doubt his reconnaissance and photos showed there was little left of my aerodromes. They must have looked pretty bad yet they weren’t out. “That pause gave my fighter stations the breather they required, and time to come back. From then on we ne\ei looked back. From then on we began to slaughter him, and his bombers began to drop their bombs at the sight of a few B “f do not think it has been told before, but we never had more than 25 day fighter squadrons in the line to meet the whole German Air Force in any one- day deployed along ’the south coast during the Battle of Britain, and from those 2o squadrons some aircraft were being serviced. The pilots had to get a little time off for meals, otherwise they would have ibeen grounded in a week. Gallant Men and Women. “It should never be forgotten that the men who did almost as much as Hie fighter pilots were the airmen who serviced Hie Spitfires and Hurricanes. Those fellows worked 16 hours a day, and often hungry because the kitchens had beeu bombed, and they would be in thenslit ’trenches sheltering from the bombs. The fighters would return and out they would come, refuel and rearm the aircraft, and to ffiell with the bombs. I hey stuck to their jobs and if they hadn’t the Battle of Britain would never have be ‘“nd°the W.A.A.F.S ! Those W.A.A.F.’s were first class —telephonists, plotters and switchboard girls. They were magnificent. At some stations they set an example to the men. They, carried on at their jobs when others —yquite rightly had gone to shelter. By jove, they .were stout-hearted girls! Many of them were decorated for bravery. “.Malta, from July to October, 194-, was like the Battle of Britain in minmture, except that we wore fighting against heavier odds because we had only a very small fighter force, added to which our men were hungry. We were very short of food, and so short, of petrol that we were unable to carry out engine tests, which meant that the pilots had to take off and trust. *to luck, but there were very few accidents. The airmen did good work again. They were first-class magnificent. 'I used exactly the same tactics in Malta as in the Battle of Britain.