Operation Agreement by John Sadler

Author:John Sadler
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9781472814906
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2016-04-05T04:00:00+00:00

Above the earth, on searchlight-silvered wings, rides death

In his most awful form – the hand of war;

And from the earth in shuddering cry goes up –

Sirens – whistles – bells warn the world

That death rides out with crosses on his wings.

Sergeant F. Cremer, RAMC, Untitled, September 1942

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE ‘DESPERATE GAMBLE’

It was time for the Air Force to do its bit. Australian soldiers, grumbling through the Greek disaster, had labelled the RAF ‘rare as fairies’. Whilst unfair, this was understandable in the circumstances, but by the late summer of 1942, the precious, vital balance in the skies above the desert had begun to tilt in the Allies’ favour.

The Desert Air Force (DAF), variously known as Air HQ Western Desert, the Western Desert Air Force and First Tactical Air Force, performed a vital role during the Desert War. Formed in 1941 to provide close air support to 8th Army, the DAF comprised squadrons drawn from the Royal Air Force, its South African and Australian counterparts, and latterly the USAAF. Prior to the formation of a united air arm, RAF Middle East Command, then under Air Chief Marshal Sir William Mitchell, was responsible for a quartet of regional areas: Egypt, Malta, Iraq and Aden. When war broke out in the Mediterranean theatre, the RAF, now under Air Vice-Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore, had some 29 squadrons with no more than 300 machines spread over this vast canvas.

In Egypt, Air Commodore Raymond Collishaw could deploy nine squadrons, whose primary tasks revolved mostly around support and aerial reconnaissance with the odd dogfight against planes of Mussolini’s Regia Aeronautica. Three squadrons were equipped with Gladiators,* largely outdated, one with Lysanders† and several squadrons had the medium bombers Blenheims‡ and Bombays.§ Despite the disparity in numbers, the RAF, soon augmented by Hawker Hurricanes,¶ began to gain an ascendancy through aggressive tactics and a certain sleight of hand to convince the Italians they were facing rather more squadrons than was the case.

* The Gloster Gladiator was the RAF’s last operational biplane. Obsolete by 1940, it nonetheless did good service, famously in the defence of Malta. Gladiators flew many sorties during the Desert War; on 17 August 1940 they destroyed eight Italian bombers for no loss.

† The Westland Lysander, famed for its role in SOE (Special Operations Executive) operations, was a highly versatile liaison aircraft that could land and take off on remarkably short strips.

‡ The Bristol Blenheim, a medium bomber, was later converted to long-range fighter and night-fighter duties.

§ The Bristol Bombay medium bomber was obsolete by 1940. It had a fixed undercarriage, could carry a bomb payload or 24 troops, and was used by Colonel David Stirling’s fledgling SAS as a transport.

¶ The Hawker Hurricane, staple fighter aircraft of the RAF in 1940, was powered by the legendary Rolls-Royce ‘Merlin’ engine and produced in large numbers. It was a modernized variant of the earlier Hawker Fury biplane and was outclassed by the BF109 E and F.

Re-supply of aircraft was a major difficulty and this involved the long flight via Takoradi on West Africa’s Gold Coast.

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