WAR IN THE AIR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 January 1942, Page 3

WAR IN THE AIR

BRITISH PROGRESS IN PAST YEAR RELENTLESS OFFENSIVE MAINTAINED. ( WAY PREPARED FOR GREATER ONSLAUGHTS. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, December 31. The increasingly aggressive character of the British air operations is clearly shown in a comprehensive account of the work of all commands during 1941. The Bomber Command, using more and bigger bombers, has maintained a relentless offensive, and an outstanding event has been the development of the daylight offensive in co-operation with the Fighter Command. The long immobilisation of the German warships Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen provides a typical example of the value of these attacks. The offensive of the Fighter Command, which was opened last June on a big scale, has pinned down the fighter strength of the Luftwaffe when the latter „was sorely needed on the Russian front, and from the middle of June to the end of August 500 enemy fighters were destroyed for 250 British. The review also pays a tribute to the work of the night-fighters and of the Coastal Command. It adds, in connection with the latter, that nearly 200 attacks have been made on marauding U-boats during the year by Catalinas. Sunderlands and other types, and planes of the Coastal Command played a valuable part in the destruction of the Bismarck and the crippling of the Lutzow. Most spectacular, perhaps, during 1941 has been the work of the Middle East Command, which has had a large share in the victorious battles in North Africa and the bombing of Italian bases. The review concludes: “In all commands 1941 sees the way prepared for greater onslaughts against the enemy to be expected in 1942.”