SPITFIRES IN ACTION
SURPRISE SPRUNG IN LIBYA. KITTYHAWKS AS BOMBERS. LONDON, May 30. German spokesmen, says the Vichy radio, describe the fighting in Libya as the greatest battle ever fought outside Europe. Reuter’s Cairo correspondent says that Lieut.-General Ritchie remains confident, but the fighting is very hard and the battle is critical. The enemy yesterday put up stronger air protection for his columns, but the low-flying R.A.F. fighters and fighter-bombers pressed home their attacks. The R.A.F. sprang a surprise by releasing Spitfires and bomb-carrying Kittyhawks over the great tank battlefields south-west of Tobruk. It is the first time Spitfires have been used in Libya, while Kittyhawks have hitherto played only a fighter role. The Spitfires have now displaced the Messerschmitt 109 as the fastest fighter in this theatre.
There is no sign that the Navy is playing any special part in the Libyan developments, says the Exchange Telegraph agency’s correspondent with the Mediterranean Fleet. It is carrying on the normal lyork of guarding our supply lines and strenuously attempting to inflict the maximum damage on the Axis convoys proceed-, ing to Africa, but the fleet is not at full strength because ,of the Navy’s widespread commitments, so more Axis supplies have been getting through and will continue to do so.
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Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 June 1942, Page 3
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210SPITFIRES IN ACTION Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 June 1942, Page 3
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