AIRCRAFT LOSSES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24418, 2 October 1940, Page 7

AIRCRAFT LOSSES

FIGURES FOR SEPTEMBER NAZI MACHINES DESTROYED OVER ONE THOUSAND (British Official Wireless) (United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright) RUGBY, Sept. 30. During September, which was regarded by high officials as a critical niontlr the R.A.F destroyed over 1000 German aircraft with the loss of only 286 of our own fighters. The past month has further demonstrated the inability of enemy bombers, even with huge escorts, to overcome the defence of the R.A.F planes in daylight raids, and is regarded by the experts as establishing the ineffectiveness of night bombing owing to the fact that many raiding pilots lose their way An examination of the list of places upon which bombs have been dropped, in the past few nights suggests that at least half of them were dropped by pilots who were completely unaware of the localities over which they were flying—places remote from any objective which the Germans could claim to have any military or semi-military character. “In these cases.” says the Daily Telegraph’s air correspondent, “it is obviously not a question of missing legitimate targets by half a mile or so through inaccurate bomb-lay-ing. Either the enemy has mistaken the route assigned to him, or, knowing lie has lost his way, is bombing promiscuously.”

Unusual Disparities

Some unusual disparities between one day and another in proportion of our own losses to the enemy’s during the last week’s air war was discussed by the Daily Telegraph thus: “Whereas on Friday we destroyed 133 of the enemy’s machines at a cost of only 34 of our own, Saturday’s communique announced the loss of seven British fighters against only six of the enemy. A few days earlier the losses on both sides were equal at 11. It will be regarded as further testimony of the veracity of the Air Ministry’s communiques that they do not hesitate to admit relatively unfavourable figures in contrast to the Nazis’ practice of reversing the figures 19 days out of 20 when they are heavily adverse tc themselves There is no cause fc disquiet on the rare occasions wfien the R.A.F. fails to destroy three or four times as many of the enemy’s machines as they lose themselves. The reason for the two bad days last week was that the enemy sent- over only fighters unaccompanied by bombers, hoping to lure our fighters into combat with the local numerical superiority of his own.” Nazis Heavily Punished

German losses of aircraft in attacks on Britain vary so greatly, from the enormous figures on the days the Luftwaffe comes over in force to smaller figures when only a few enemy aircraft make reconnaissance flights, that periodic totalling is necessary in order to gain an idea of the punishment the German Air Force is taking from the R.A.F. During the week ended midnight September 28, the confirmed German aircraft losses were 222 machines in battles over Britain apart from machines damaged and believed, destroyed whose loss could not definitely be confirmed by the careful methods of checking the claims employed by the Air Ministry. The R.A.F. lost 69 planes in the same period, but 37 pilots were saved. The estimated German crew losses from aeroplanes whose loss was confirmed alone were not fewer than 550.