IMPORTANT PART
IN ATTACK ON ENEMY UNITS TAKEN BY FIGHTER-BOMBERS. DAMAGE DONE TO AXIS BASES. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.10 a.m.) RUGBY, July 8. Fighter-bombers contributed very largely to an attack on enemy ground positions yesterday, thus easing the effort of day bombers, states the R.A.F. Middle East news service. At dawn fighter-bombers began an- attack on enemy armoured units and, in their first few sorties, started several fires, two of which were large oil fires. Several times during the day their targets were switched. Once, in response to an Army request, they sought out and bombed enemy gun positions. Further details of our activity on Monday night show that medium bombers not only carried out a highly successful raid on Tobruk, but, in the Daba-Fuka area, started many fires and knocked out a heavy anti-aircraft gun. Medium bombers also ground-strafed enemy concentrations after the bombing. One of them machine-gunned tank and motor transport concentrations on the side of the road, from a very low height. 1 Naval aircraft bombed transport concentrations also in this area. The operations of fighters stationed at Malta on July 6 and 7 are now known in detail. On the afternoon of July 6, a formation of Junkers 88s and Messerschmitts 109 made a fruitless raid on the island. Spitfires shot down three Junkers and one Messerschmitt, probably destroying or damaging many others. The next wave consisted of three Junkers, with a large escort of Messerschmitts. All three bombers and three fighters were shot down by Spitfires, while other Messerschmitts were damaged. Yesterday, in the first raid, Spitfires destroyed three Messerschmitts and a Macchi and damaged several others. In a second enemy attack, made by quite a small bomber force with an extremely large escort of fighters, our Spitfires shot down five Messerschmitts and damaged all the bombers. Damage to the island from all these raids was negligible. From all these operations, over Egypt and Malta, nine of our aircraft are missing, but six of the pilots are safe.
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Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 July 1942, Page 3
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336IMPORTANT PART Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 July 1942, Page 3
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