ARMY CO-OPERATION

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 88, Issue 3, 5 January 1944, Page 4

ARMY CO-OPERATION

KITTYHAWK SQUADRONS IN ITALY Recd. 6 p.m. London. Dec. 30. During the battle of the Sangro the air forces claimed to have reached the highest point of participation with the army yet attained in this war. One instance was a Group Captain who sat in a car in the forward area while Kittyhawks patrolled over the sea in a “cab rank.” The Army informed the Group Captain from time to time of the particular target they desired bombed. Then the Group Captain wirelessed the patrolling Kittyhawks and gave them the target in “Square so and so” on their maps and the Kittyhawks then dived down from the cab rank and blasted the target. One of the units in this cah rank was* the famous Australian Kittyhawk squadron nicknamed the “Desert Harassers,” which fought all the way from El Alamein. In the squadron taking part in the Sangro action were several New Zealanders: Warrant-Officer W. G. McConnochie (Central Otago), FlightSergeants 'l* A. Gillard (Morrinsville), J. E. Batten (Wellington), S. J. Fourneau (Hastings), and A. J. E. Rogers (Alexandra). In other squadrons of the same wing were Flight -Sergeants R. Twiname and O. P. Cross (Auckland). The New Zealanders have been with the Australians from as far back as Benghazi and Tripoli. They had experience of the desert, Tunis, and Sicily behind them. Their Kittyhawks carry one 5001 b. bomb or two 250’s or six 4(i-pounders, together with six-machine-guns of 0.5 calibre. In the Sangro battie they attacked several gun emplacements, often bombing only 500 yards ahead of the British troops. They met little fighter opposition but intense flak, and German flak is admitted everywhere as being very good and very a< curate. These Kittyhawks bomb towns, ports and shipping in addition to frontline targets. They also raid targets in Yugoslavia. Their bombing is very accura’e. On one occasion 10 Kittyhawks, carrying two bombs apiece scored 18 hits While bombing ships. These fighter-bomers have now attained a high pitch of efficiency.