ENEMY AIR LOSSES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20572, 4 June 1941, Page 9

ENEMY AIR LOSSES

MIDDLE EAST BAG 2243 THIS YEAR (British Official Wireless.) Reed. 2 p.m. RUGBY, June 2. Commenting on the figure of 244 enemy aircraft destroyed during May in the Middle East, a communique issued by the Royal Air Force headquarters states that this brings the total for the first five months of the year to 2243. It will be appreciated that this figure relates to enemy aircraft definitely known to have been destroyed and does not include numerous others badly damaged which probably became write-offs. The figures for the month have certain points of special interest. The East African front, which had been the most fruitful source of success for the Imperial air forces since the war began, dried up with the collapse of the Italians in Eritrea and southern Abyssinia. Only two enemy aircraft were destroyed in East Africa, one being shot down by fighters and the other by anti-aircraft fire. During the disturbances in Iraq, the rebel air force was wiped out in a week by our fighters. Towards the end of the month these included several German aircraft. Over Malta four enemy machines were shot down by antiaircraft fire and four by fighters. Large Proportion in Crete On other fronts; which include Crete, Syria, and infrequent theatres of operations such as Suez and Sicily, 37 enemy aircraft were shot down by fighters and 27 by anti-aircraft fire, and 72 were destroyed on the ground. The largest proportion of these were shot down in the Crete operations, where the enemy poured in aircraft and men without regard for loss of life or material.

The total for the month was 244 for the Middle East fronts and against this the Royal Air Force lost 67 aircraft, but the pilots of a number of these are safe. An analysis of communiques issued during the month of May reveals the comparative aircraft losses in the various theatres of war to be as follow: —Over Britain and British coastal water, British 18,, enemy 205; over Germany and occupied territory, British 67, enemy 31; at sea, British two, enemy 25. An Air Ministry communique states that a coastal command plane while on patrol yesterday encountered an enemy fighter off the west coast of France and shot it down in the sea. An aircraft of the same command is missing from patrol yesterday.