NOTES ON THE WAR NEWS

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 130, 28 November 1940, Page 12

NOTES ON THE WAR NEWS

MIDDLE EAST WAR

WORK OF THE R.A.F.

TALE OF ACHIEVE-

MENT

Behind the story of the Royal Air Force attacks on Italian concentrations in the Middle East lies a little-known tale of difficulties faced and'problems overcome. .■■•■■• Greater Strength. ./The first problem which had to be faced "in recent months was the strengthening of the air formations there to the point where, they could successfully attack the forces opposed to them. Before the war, the Royal Air Force Command in the Middle East comprised Egypt, the Sudan, and Kenya, and units also had to'be maintained in Palestine and Transjordan. The last-named places, however, were under the operational control of the Army. . ; Since the war the command has been expanded by adding to it three previously, existing commands, those of the Mediterranean, with headquarters at Malta and-a branch at Gibraltar; arid the. others at Aden and in Irak. The headquarters of the Middle East Command are. at Cairo, and the Air Officer, Commanding-in-Chief has wide powers. He also has control of the air contingents from South Africa and Rhodesia. These forces have recently been receiving new equipment, which is a token of Britain's growing air power.' Italian Forbes. The strengthening of .the Middle East Command was made necessary by the French collapse and the entry "of Italy into the war. The are believed to have about 500 aircraft in. Libya, only some of them modern types. (Incidentally a recent British, calculation put the whole strength of the Regia Aeronautica at 1500 aircraft.) In the Dodecanese Islands the Italians have only about 30 bombers and 20 fighters and seaplanes. In Italian East Africa they have had about 170 machines, about one-quarter of them fighters. Attacks there are wearing down their strength. Ethiopian aerodromes are 1700 miles from Libya, so that though Italian bombers might make night flights from one place to the other reinforcement on a large scale is not considered practical. Our Fighters Feared. Gladiators (old aircraft by modern standards) have been used by us because they have shown themselves quite good enough. to defeat the Italians. However, there are also Hurricanes in- the Middle East, and these have proved of value against such, speedier Italian ships as the Savoia S 79's. They have probably also served to discourage the Italian airmen. It is not generally realised that in order to apologise for the poor results of their air attacks on Malta the Italians announced that Spitfires were stationed at the island. After this annouricemeni the raiding airmen showed, .noticeably less enthusiasm in pressing homo their attacks, and on one occasion they turned back as soon as the first British fighters were sighted. In fighting the Italians in Libya the R.A.F. follows the rule of relieving the advanced squadrons at intervals so as to rest the nien and to give all units experience against the enemy. " The need to rest v squadrons applies to aircraftmen even more than to pilots. A gentle breeze of 10 miles an hour lifts the sand so that it gets into everything. Men find that they.can breathe better in then? gas masks, but in time these get choked with sand. Heat, Sand, and Dust. In the engines sand mixes with oil to form an excellent "grinding compound" and to make work for the fitters. The machines have to stand out in the open and metal, parts get too hot to touch. This no doubt accounts for the preference of the Hurricane over' the all-metal Spitfire for desert work. The dust storms make a haze up to 10,000 feet with visibility nil. This explains the days when no great activity is shown by attacking planes. In a country where roads are few and water, determines movements, aircraft , have a . large role to ,play. Concentrations cannot be hidden and our medium bombers, mostly Blenheims, have done : good work. They have not only bombed the Italians but have cooperated with the small desert units which operate incessantly against the enemy,; Here the British have a notable advantage because they are using superior mechanical equipment, having regard to the conditions. . . No Great Respect. There is no doubt that, while th» best Italian pilots are very good, the men of the Middle East Command have small respect for the average quality of the Regia Aeronautica. Hundreds of its machines have been destroyed with few British losses (the Italian casualties have been 50 per cent, higher than the German ratio). In addition R.A.F. activity has resulted in at least 50 per cent, more raids being carried out on Italian-held points than Mussolini's force has launched on British positions. In Ethiopia the Italians have a particularly trying tune. They not only have to face our raids, but they are forced to use their aeroplanes and consume valuable petrol by flying over I territory where they fear rebellion, and even by bombing gatherings of natives. That must help the forces of rebellion quite a lot.

New Fleet Fighter. Recent reports of Fleet Air Arm i activity have mentioned the Fairey I Fulmar, the latest English fighter and I dive-bomber for use by the Fleet. The machine is a two-seater low-wing monoplane, resembling in these reI spects the other well-known Fleet Air Arm machines, the Blackburn Roc | and the Blackburn Skua, but it should ; have an advantage over them in being j powered with the famous Rolls-Royce i Merlin liquid-cooled motor. It is the i first aeroplane of the F.A.A. to be fitted with this engine, which makes it the' fastest machine the Navy has lever had, and it should certainly be j a match for any German or Italian fighter. Details are not yet released, I but it 'is known to be a development of' the: Fairey P4/34, which was exhibited at the Brussels Aero Show a few months before the war. It was tfieh purely a two-seater fighter, and Denmark ordered an eight-gun version bi it. The armament of the hew Fulmar remains an official secret, but if the machine does carry eight guns it. will be the most powerful as well as the speediest plane of its class in use by the Fleet Air Arm.