COMPLETE DEFEAT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 27 November 1942, Page 5

COMPLETE DEFEAT

AXIS AIR FORCES IN LIBYA OUTSTANDING MERIT OF R.A.F. CONINGHAM TELLS THE STORY (.Rec. 11.25 a.m.) Rugby, Nov. 26. “Never has there been such a complete defeat of an enemy air force in the field as that inflicted on tjie Luftwaffe and Regina Aeronatica in North Africa during the recent campaign,” said Air Vice-Marshal Coningham, according to a Cairo message. “It was almost the wiping out of an entire air force, and it is infinitely greater than anything the Germans have been able to do in any theatre of the war. All the damaged tanks, guns and motor transport that lie in the trail of wreckage from El Alamein to the border and on across Libya is evidence of the work of the Air Force. “There has been the usual unanimity between the Air Force and the Army. On the other hand the enemy air force neglected his ground forces shamefully. Whether that was through lack of organisation or lack of ability I do not know, but if the R.A.F. had done that sort of thing it would have wanted to change the colour of its uniform. “The speed of the Allied advance was another great factor which contributed to the smashing of the Axis air force. In the seven days the R.A.F. had been shooting up Agheila, 750 miles from Alamein. The speed of the Allied advance exceeded anything we had thought possible. It was made possible only by everybody doing 48 hours of work in 24. Another great factor was the astounding efficiency of the ground crews. We managed to keep 95 per cent, of the aircraft serviceable —an amazing record. It was the keenness and efficiency of the men on the ground that made such a record possible.”

Malta was becoming more and more offensive. Attacks from Malta and North African aerodromes could be so great as to threaten Tripoli as a port. It was assumed that a flow of enemy planes was coming into North Africa all the time, but that would be limited by the number of landing grounds at the enemy’s disposal and supplies of fuel. There were indications that the enemy had been getting planes from the Russian front, so the North African campaign must have relieved pressure on the Russians. Axis pilots in the recent campaign had fought very badly. Disorganisation between the Luftwaffe and the Army in the recent offensive had been evident. Nobody denied that the Germans had ability to organise, but once solid pressure was brought to bear he somehow became disorganised. There was a possibility that the Germans would give priority to North Africa, but to do so they , would have to decrease their effort elsewhere. It seemed probable that Field Marshal Rommel would make a stand at Agheila with its strong forti-

fications and concrete emplacements. “One feature of the recent air activity was the fact that there had not been one dive-bomber attack on Allied group troops during the whole campaign. Stukas were limited to level bombing. Hundreds of enemy planes had fallen to the hands of the R.A.F. during the swift Allied advance across Cyrenaica.—B.O.W.